General Reacting Flow Studies
Edward E. O'Brien Contributions to Reactive-Flow Turbulence
Dopazo, C., Givi, P. and Ladeinde, F., Physics of Fluids 33, 080403 (2021);
https://doi: 10.1063/5.0062933
Abstract
Professor Edward Ephraim O'Brien (“Ted”) has made lasting contributions to the theory
and modeling of scalar mixing and reaction in turbulent flows. With a doctoral dissertation
at The Johns Hopkins University in 1960, entitled “On the Statistical Behavior of
a Dilute Reactant in Isotropic Turbulence,” supervised by the legend Stanley Corrsin,
and in the company of notable pioneer of turbulence, John Leask Lumley, Ted's academic
training propelled him through a prolific career. In the opening article of this Special
Issue, we provide a review of some of Ted's contributions. First, a summary is presented
of his work on the examination of the failure of the cumulant discard approximation
for the scalar mixing. This is followed by a highlight of his impacts on other spectral
theories of turbulence including Kraichnan's direct interaction approximation. His
contributions to more modern theoretical/computational description of reactive turbulence
are discussed next, including the transported probability density function (pdf) formulation,
scalar-gradient pdf transport equation, scalar interfaces, and the filtered density
function. Finally, some of his research on Direct Numerical Simulation of compressible
turbulence is reviewed.
Fig. 1. Scalar interface, 𝜃(𝒙,𝑡)=0+θx,t=0+, separating regions where 𝜃(𝒙,𝑡)<0+θx,t<0+ from regions with 𝜃(𝒙,𝑡)>0+.θx,t>0+. The zone indicator function is zero and unity, respectively, in those regions.
Related Journal Papers
- Ladeinde, F., Givi, P. and Dopazo, C. “Preface to Special Issue: In Memory of Edward E. (Ted) O’Brien,” Physics of Fluids 33, 080402 (2021); https://doi: 10.1063/5.0062936
- Dopazo, C., Givi, P. and Ladeinde, F., “Edward E. O'Brien Contributions to Reactive-Flow Turbulence,” Physics of Fluids 33, 080403 (2021); https://doi: 10.1063/5.0062933