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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
Rapid path to transition via nonlinear localized optimal perturbations in a boundary-layer flow
S Cherubini1, P De Palma, J-Ch Robinet
1DIMeG and CEMeC, Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy. s.cherubini@gmail.com
Abstract:
Recent studies have suggested that in some cases transition can be triggered by some purely nonlinear mechanisms. Here we aim at verifying such an hypothesis, looking for a localized perturbation able to lead a boundary-layer flow to a chaotic state, following a nonlinear route. Nonlinear optimal localized perturbations have been computed by means of an energy optimization which includes the nonlinear terms of the Navier-Stokes equations. Such perturbations lie on the turbulent side of the laminar-turbulent boundary, whereas, for the same value of the initial energy, their linear counterparts do not. The evolution of these perturbations toward a turbulent flow involves the presence of streamwise-inclined vortices at short times and of hairpin structures prior to breakdown.
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