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Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Evolution of Staircase Structures in Diffusive Convection
Published on: September 5, 2018
Self-sustaining process through streak generation in a flat-plate boundary layer.
Thomas Duriez1, Jean-Luc Aider, José Eduardo Wesfreid
1Laboratoire PMMH, UMR7636 CNRS/ESPCI/Paris 6/Paris 7, Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
Researchers experimentally demonstrated a self-sustaining process between streamwise vortices and streaks, a mechanism previously only theorized. This finding, observed above a critical Reynolds number, offers new insights into fluid dynamics and turbulence generation.
Area of Science:
- Fluid dynamics
- Turbulence research
- Experimental fluid mechanics
Background:
- A self-sustaining process involving streamwise vortices and streaks has been hypothesized in fluid dynamics.
- Experimental evidence for this mechanism, particularly at moderate Reynolds numbers, has been lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally demonstrate the existence of a self-sustaining process between streamwise vortices and streaks.
- To investigate the role of vortex generators in initiating and sustaining this process.
- To characterize the energy dynamics of velocity perturbations associated with this phenomenon.
Main Methods:
- Utilized small cylinders as vortex generators to create streamwise counterrotating vortices.
- Employed particle image velocimetry (PIV) to capture instantaneous velocity fields in a horizontal plane.
- Analyzed the spatial transient growth of longitudinal and spanwise velocity perturbation energy.
Main Results:
- Confirmed the existence of a self-sustaining process between streamwise vortices and streaks above a critical Reynolds number.
- Demonstrated that small cylinders can effectively generate the necessary vortices to initiate this process.
- Observed that the self-sustaining process is linked to the longitudinal destabilization of streamwise streaks.
Conclusions:
- The study provides the first experimental validation of the self-sustaining process between streamwise vortices and streaks.
- This mechanism plays a significant role in turbulence generation and maintenance in certain flow regimes.
- Findings have implications for understanding and potentially controlling turbulent flows.

