Comparison of swirling strengths derived from two- and three-dimensional velocity fields in channel flow

Swirling strength is an effective vortex indicator in wall turbulence, and it can be determined based on either two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) velocity fields, written as λci2D and λci3D, respectively. A comparison between λci2D and λci3D has been made in this paper in sliced XY, YZ, and XZ planes by using 3D DNS data of channel flow. The magnitude of λci2D in three orthogonal planes differs in the inner region, but the difference tends to diminish in the outer flow. The magnitude of λci3D exceeds each λci2D, and the square of λci3D is greater than the summation of squares of three λci2D. Extraction with λci2D in XY, YZ, and XZ planes yields different population densities and vortex sizes, i.e., in XZ plane, the vortices display the largest population density and the smallest size, and in XY and YZ planes the vortices are similar in size but fewer vortices are extracted in the XY plane in the inner layer. Vortex size increases inversely with the threshold used for growing the vortex region from background turbulence. When identical thresholds are used, the λci3D approach leads to a slightly smaller population density and a greater vortex radius than the λci2D approach. A threshold of 0.8 for the λci3D approach is approximately equivalent to a threshold of 1.5 for the λci2D approach.