Alignment of vorticity and scalar gradient with strain rate in simulated Navier–Stokes turbulence

The alignment between vorticity and eigenvectors of the strain‐rate tensor in numerical solutions of Navier–Stokes turbulence is studied. Solutions for isotropic flow and homogeneous shear flow from pseudospectral calculations using 1283 grid points have been examined. The Taylor Reynolds number is 83 or greater. In both flows there is an increased probability for the vorticity to point in the intermediate strain direction and at three‐fourths of the sample points this strain is positive (extensive). This propensity for vorticity alignment with a positive intermediate strain is a consequence of angular momentum conservation, as shown by a restricted Euler model of the coupling between strain and vorticity. Probability distributions for intermediate strain, conditioned on total strain, change from a symmetric triangular form at small strain to an asymmetric one for large strain. The most probable value of the asymmetric distribution gives strains in the ratios of 3:1: −4. The evolution of the distribution from a symmetric to an asymmetric form as the strain magnitude increases is essentially the same in both flows, indicating a generic structure of intense turbulence. The alignment between the gradient of a passive scalar and eigenvectors of the strain‐rate tensor for Prandtl numbers of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 has also been studied. There is an increased probability for the scalar gradient to align in the most compressive strain direction, and the average gradient is larger when it is pointing in that direction. Estimates for the scalar dissipation from the turbulent kinetic energy, its dissipation, and the root‐mean‐square scalar value are in reasonable agreement with calculated scalar dissipation if no explicit Prandtl number dependence is used in the estimate. Statistical analysis of scalar dissipation conditioned on energy dissipation yields a power‐law relation between conditioned mean values. Both simulated flows are found to obey the qualitative predictions of the Gurvich–Yaglom (lognormal) intermittency model. Energy and scalar intermittency exponents are estimated and compared to measured values.