Exact theory of material spike formation in flow separation 61
Lagrangian spiking point: (sp , 0)
∇ · f 6= 0 ∇·f =0
∂ηs κ t0 (sp , 0) = 0 ∂ηηs κ t0 (sp , 0) = 0
t0 +T
t0 +T
∂ηss κ t0 (sp , 0) < 0
t0 +T
∂ηηss κ tt00 +T (sp , 0) < 0
∂η κ t0 (sp , 0) > 0 ∂ηη κ tt00 +T (sp , 0) > 0
t0 +T
TABLE 2. Equations determining the Lagrangian spiking point on a flat no-slip boundary
in terms of the Lagrangian curvature change κ tt00 +T for compressible and incompressible
flows over the time interval [t0 , t0 + T].
∇ · f 6 = 0. Lagrangian spiking point: (sp , 0)
Steady Time-periodic: f (z, t + Tp ) = f (z, t) Temporally aperiodic
T = nTp , n ∈ N+
Z t0 +Tp Z t0 +T
vsssη (sp , 0, t) dt = 0 vsssη (sp , 0, t) dt = 0
vsssη (sp , 0) = 0
t0
t0
t0 +Tp
Z t0 +T
Z
vssssη (sp , 0) > 0 vssssη (sp , 0, t) dt > 0 vssssη (sp , 0, t) dt > 0
t0 t0
vssη (sp , 0) < 0
Z t0 +Tp
Z t0 +T
vssη (sp , 0, t) dt < 0 vssη (sp , 0, t) dt < 0
t0 t0
TABLE 3. The same as the left column of table 2, but expressed in terms of averaged
Eulerian quantities.
the point where the backbone of separation connects to the wall (cf. figure 5). Because
κ tt00 +T (s, 0) ≡ 0 at the wall, (sp , 0) is a distinguished point on the wall with positive
maximal curvature change in the limit of η → 0. In appendix D, we derive explicit
formulae for the spiking point on a flat no-slip boundary in the case of compressible
https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2018.206 Published online by Cambridge University Press
and incompressible flows. We summarize our results in tables 2–4. Specifically, table 2
describes the location of (sp , 0) in terms of the curvature change function.
In tables 3 and 4, we give an equivalent formulation of the results in table 2 in
terms of averaged Eulerian quantities in the case of steady, time-periodic and unsteady
flows. We have briefly introduced the results of table 4 already in § 1.2.
In our definition of (sp , 0), the first two conditions ensure that (sp , 0) is a maximum
of the curvature change κ tt00 +T , and the third one ensures that the curvature change at
(sp , 0) is positive, i.e. wall-parallel material lines undergo upwelling-type deformation.
The formulae in tables 3 and 4 highlight three important facts. First, in the case of
steady flows, the spiking pointy is fixed, independent of T, and can be computed from
derivatives of the velocity field on the wall. Second, in the case of Tp -periodic flows,
with T equal to any arbitrary multiple of Tp , the spiking point is fixed, independent
of t0 , and can be computed by averaging derivatives of the velocity field on the wall
over one period. Third, for general unsteady flows or time-periodic flows with T 6 =
nTp , n ∈ N+ , the spiking point moves depending on t0 and T, and can be computed by
averaging derivatives of the velocity field over [t0 , t0 + T]. We summarize the results
of this section in the following proposition.
