Dynamics and Control of the 2-d Navier-Stokes Equations

The control problem of the dynamics of the two-dimensional (2-d) Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations with spatially periodic and temporally steady forcing is studied. First, we devise a dynamical system of several nonlinear differential equations by a truncation of the 2-d N-S equations. Then, we study the dynamics of the obtained Galerkin system by analyzing the system's attractors for different values of the Reynolds number, $R_e$. By applying the symmetry of the equation on one of the system's attractors, a symmetric limit trajectory that is part of the dynamics is obtained. Next, a control strategy to drive the dynamics from one attractor to another attractor for a given $R_e$ is designed. Finally, numerical simulations are undertaken to validate the theoretical developments.