The three-dimensionalization of freely-decaying two-dimensional turbulence is studied numerically. Using two different basic states, it is shown that the hyperbolic instability of steady mixing layers generalizes to unsteady flow. The growth of three-dimensional (3D) perturbations is interpreted in terms of a “pressureless” analysis in which horizontal pressure gradients are neglected and the underlying physical mechanism is advective in nature. For a steady, pressureless base flow the (asymptotic) growth rate is exactly determined, in a few special cases, by variants of the so-called Weiss criterion; more generally, local growth rate estimates are obtained. For freely-decaying two-dimensional turbulence there is analogous behavior: while the 3D perturbation remains small the pressureless approximation holds at large horizontal scales and local growth rate estimates apply. The pressureless modes have a determining influence on the growth (the damping effect of the horizontal pressure gradient is small).
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ngan et al. (2004) studied this question.