Vortex reynolds number in turbulent boundary layers

The effects of vortex Reynolds number on the statistics of turbulence in a turbulent boundary layer have been investigated. Vortex Reynolds number is defined as the ratio of circulation around the vortex structure to the fluid viscosity. The vortex structure of the outer region was modeled and a full numerical simulation was then conducted using a high-order spectral method. A unit domain of the outer region of a turbulent boundary layer was assumed to be composed of essentially three elements: a wall, a Blasius mean shear, and an elliptic vortex inclined at 45° to the flow direction. The laminar base-flow Reynolds number is roughly in the same range as that of a turbulent boundary layer based on eddy viscosity, and the vortex-core diameter based on the boundary-layer thickness is nearly the same as the maximum mixing length in a turbulent boundary layer. The computational box size, namely, 500, 150, and 250 wall units in the streamwise, surface-normal, and spanwise directions, respectively, is approximately the same as the measured quasi-periodic spacings of the near-wall turbulence-producing events in a turbulent boundary layer. The effects of vortex Reynolds number and the signs of the circulation on the moments of turbulence were examined. The signs mimic the ejection and sweep types of organized motions of a turbulent boundary layer. A vortex Reynolds number of 200 describes the turbulence moments in the outer layer reasonably well.     

微型射流涡流器对湍流边界层控制的数值研究

运用数值方法,模拟出展向分布的同向倾斜微型射流列与平板湍流边界层相互作用形成流向涡列的流场结构,验证了利用其来对湍流边界层进行控制的可能性.随射流间距减小,流向涡列控制作用流向渗透能力增强,但作用区域减小;随射流速度提高,流向涡列控制作用增强,但过大的射流速度反而会导致流向涡列在局部区域内控制作用的下降;随射流俯仰角减小、倾斜角增大,流向涡列初始控制作用增强,但过小的俯仰角、过大的倾斜角会导致流向涡列流向控制区域明显缩小.要保证流向涡列具有较强的湍流边界层控制作用,必须通过合理配置射流列各主要参数,在保证各流向涡具有一定强度的同时,还要确保各流向涡在形成时部分嵌入边界层内部.     

Experimental investigation of the unsteady structure of a transitional plane wall jet

 A laminar wall jet undergoing transition is investigated using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The plane wall jet is issued from a rectangular channel, with the jet-exit velocity profile being parabolic. The Reynolds number, based on the exit mean velocity and the channel width, is 1450. To aid the understanding of the global flow features, laser-sheet/smoke flow visualizations are performed along streamwise, spanwise, and cross-stream directions. Surface pressure measurements are made to correlate the instantaneous vorticity distribution with the surface pressure fluctuations. The instantaneous velocity and vorticity field measurements provide the basis for understanding the formation of the inner-region vortex and the subsequent interactions between the outer-region (free-shear-layer region) and inner-region (boundary-layer region) vortical structures. Results show that under the influence of the free-shear-layer vortex, the local boundary layer becomes detached from the surface and inviscidly unstable, and a vortex is formed in the inner region. Once this vortex has formed, the free-shear-layer vortex and the inner-region vortex form a vortex couple and convect downstream. The mutual interactions between these inner- and outer-region vortical structures dominate the transition process. Farther downstream, the emergence of the three-dimensional structure in the free shear layer initiates complete breakdown of the flow. Received: 8 November 1995/Accepted: 6 November 1996     

Vortex dynamics mechanisms of separated boundary layer in a highly loaded low pressure turbine cascade

This paper investigates the vortex dynamics in the suction-side boundary layer on an aero-engine low pressure turbine blade at two different Reynolds numbers at which short and long laminar separation bubbles occur. Different vortical patterns are observed and investigated through large eddy simulation (LES). The results show that at the higher Reynolds number, streamwise streaks exist upstream of separation line. These streaks initiate spanwise undulation in the form of vortex tubes, which roll-up and shed from the shear layer due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The vortex tubes alternately pair together and eventually distort and break down to small-scale turbulence structures near the mean reattachment location and convect into a fully turbulent boundary layer. At the lower Reynolds number, streamwise streaks are strong and the separated flow is unable to reattach to the blade surface immediately after transition to turbulence. Therefore, bursting of short bubbles into long bubbles can occur, and vortex tubes have larger diameters and cover a part of the blade span. In this case vortex pairing does not occur and vortex shedding process is promoted mainly by flapping phenomenon. Moreover, the results of dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) analysis show a breathing motion as a source of unsteadiness in the separation location, which is accompanied by the flapping phenomenon.     

Spatial characterization of the numerically simulated vorticity fields of a flow in a flume

The topology of large scale structures in a turbulent boundary layer is investigated numerically. Spatial characteristics of the large scale structure are presented through an original method, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the three-dimensional vorticity fields. The DNS results, obtained by Tiselj et al. [23] for a fully developed turbulent flow in a flume, are used in the present work to analyze coherent structures with the proposed methodology. In contrast to the reconstruction methods that use instantaneous flow quantities, this approach utilizes the whole dataset of the numerical simulation. The analysis uses one thousand 3D vorticity fields from 50000 time steps of the simulation for the Reynolds number of 2600 (the turbulent Reynolds number Re^*=171). The computational domain is 2146×171×537 wall units and the grid resolution is 128×65×72 points (in streamwise, wall-normal and spanwise directions, respectively). Experimental results obtained by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) in a fully developed turbulent boundary layer in a flume, which were analyzed with the same statistical characterization method, are in agreement with the DNS analysis: the dominant vortical structure appears to have a longitudinal streamwise orientation, an inclination angle of about 8°, streamwise length of several hundred wall units, and a distance between the neighboring structures of about 100 wall units in the spanwise direction. PACS 47.27.Nz, 47.54+r     

Method of mean-mass parameters for a three-dimensional boundary layer in a flow with vorticity

When a gas flows with hypersonic velocity over a slender blunt body, the bow shock induces large entropy gradients and vorticity near the wall in the disturbed flow region (in the high-entropy layer) [1]. The boundary layer on the body develops in an essentially inhomogeneous inviscid flow, so that it is necessary to take into account the difference between the values of the gas parameters on the outer edge of the boundary layer and their values on the wall in the inviscid flow. This vortex interaction is usually accompanied by a growth in the frictional stress and heat flux at the wall [2, 3]. In three-dimensional flows in which the spreading of the gas on the windward sections of the body causes the high-entropy layer to become narrower, the vortex interaction can be expected to be particularly important. The first investigations in this direction [4–6] studied the attachment lines of a three-dimensional boundary layer. The method proposed in the present paper for calculating the heat transfer generalizes the approach realized in [5] for the attachment lines and makes it possible to take into account this effect on the complete surface of a blunt body for three-dimensional laminar, transition, or turbulent flow regime in the boundary layer.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 80–87, January–February, 1981.     

The Tilting Mechanism of a Longitudinal Vortical Structure in a Homogeneous Shear Flow with and Without Spanwise Rotation

A longitudinal vortical structure is typically observed in near-wall turbulence. This vortical structure is elongated in the streamwise direction, though it is also tilted in the spanwise direction. The sense of this spanwise tilting is determined by the sign of the streamwise vorticity associated with the vortex, and longitudinal vortical structures with a different streamwise vorticity become asymmetric (mirror symmetric). The tilting must be due to the combined effects of the non-linear terms and mean spanwise vorticity associated with the mean shear. However, the detailed mechanism of the tilting is not well known. To study the tilting in detail, we performed direct numerical simulations of a homogeneous shear flow where the longitudinal vortical structures similar to those in the near-wall region are observed. In particular, the effects of spanwise system rotation as well as the Reynolds number on the vortical structure are studied. As a result, we found that spanwise system rotation has more marked effects on the vortical structure than the Reynolds number. When the system rotation is imposed in the same direction as the mean spanwise vorticity, the tilting is enhanced, while the system rotation of the opposite direction attenuates it. We also found that when the longitudinal vortical structure is tilted in the spanwise direction, it is sandwiched between the streamwise vorticity of the opposite sign. The cyclonic rotation enhances the streamwise vorticity of the opposite sign, though the longitudinal vortical structure at the center is attenuated. In the anticyclonic case, the streamwise vorticity of the opposite sign almost disappears and the longitudinal vortical structure is isolated from the surrounding flow.     

The effect of streamwise vortices on the turbulence structure of a separating boundary layer

A high Reynolds number flat plate turbulent boundary layer is investigated in a wind-tunnel experiment. The flow is subjected to an adverse pressure gradient which is strong enough to generate a weak separation bubble. This experimental study attempts to shed some new light on separation control by means of streamwise vortices with emphasize on the change in the boundary layer turbulence structure. In the present case, counter-rotating and initially non-equidistant streamwise vortices become and remain equidistant and confined within the boundary layer, contradictory to the prediction by inviscid theory. The viscous diffusion cause the vortices to grow, the swirling velocity component to decrease and the boundary layer to develop towards a two-dimensional state. At the position of the eliminated separation bubble the following changes in the turbulence structure were observed. The anisotropy state in the near-wall region is unchanged, which indicates that it is determined by the presence of the wall rather than the large scale vortices. However, the turbulence in the outer part of the boundary layer becomes overall more isotropic due to an increased wall-normal mixing and a significantly decreased production of streamwise fluctuations. The turbulent kinetic energy is decreased as a consequence of the latter. Despite the complete change in mean flow, the spatial turbulence structure and the anisotropy state, the process of transfer of turbulent kinetic energy to the spanwise fluctuating component seems to be unchanged. Local regions of anisotropy are strongly connected to maxima in the turbulent production. For example, at spanwise positions in between those of symmetry, the spanwise gradient of the streamwise velocity cause significant production of turbulent fluctuations. Transport of turbulence in the spanwise direction occurs in the same direction as the rotation of the vortices.     

A bypass wake induced laminar/turbulent transition

The process of laminar to turbulent transition induced by a von Karman vortex street wake, was studied for the case of a flat plate boundary layer. The boundary layer developed under zero pressure gradient conditions. The vortex street was generated by a cylinder positioned in the free stream. An X-type hot-wire probe located in the boundary layer, measured the streamwise and normal to the wall velocity components. The measurements covered two areas; the region of transition onset and development and the region where the wake and the boundary layer merged producing a turbulent flow. The evolution of Reynolds stresses and rms-values of velocity fluctuations along the transition region are presented and discussed. From the profiles of the Reynolds stress and the mean velocity profile, a ‘negative' energy production region along the transition region, was identified. A quadrant splitting analysis was applied to the instantaneous Reynolds stress signals. The contributions of the elementary coherent structures to the total Reynolds stress were evaluated, for several x-positions of the near wall region. Distinct regions in the streamwise and normal to the wall directions were identified during the transition.     

Strong vortex/boundary layer interactions

This is the second of two papers on the interaction between a longitudinal vortex pair, produced by a delta-wing at angle of attack, and a turbulent boundary layer developing on a flat plate. In the first paper only the outer parts of the vortices entered the boundary layer whereas in this paper the vortices merge with it. In the resultant interaction, the boundary layer between the vortices is kept thin by lateral divergence and a three-dimensional separation line is formed outboard of each vortex. Turbulent, momentum-deficient fluid containing longitudinal vorticity is entrained from the boundary layer along these lines and wrapped around the vortices. As a consequence, the turbulent region of the vortices increases in size and the circulation slowly decreases. It is shown that the flow near the separation line and in the vortices is complicated, and this interaction is expected to be more difficult to calculate than the first. Detailed mean flow and turbulence measurements are reported.     

Cross-Stream Vorticity Field Induced by Streamwise Vortices in Unbounded and Wall-Bounded Shear Flows

This computational study examines the unsteady cross-stream vorticity structures that form when one or more streamwise vortices are immersed in homogeneous and boundary-layer shear flows. A quasi-two-dimensional limit is considered in which the velocity and vorticity fields, while still possessing three nonzero components, have vanishing gradient in the streamwise direction. This idealization is suitable to applications such as streamwise vortices that occur along a ship hull or airplane fuselage and it can be used as an idealized representation of the quasi-streamwise vortices in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. In this quasi-two-dimensional idealization, the streamwise velocity has no effect on the cross-stream velocity associated with the vortex. However, the vortex acts to modify the cross-stream vorticity component, resulting in regions of the flow with strong deviations in streamwise velocity. This paper examines the complex structures that form as the cross-stream vorticity field is wrapped up by the vortex and the effect of these structures on the streamwise velocity field, first for vortices immersed in homogeneous shear flow and then for vortices immersed in a boundary layer along a flat wall. Received 2 January 2002 and accepted 13 August 2002 Published online 3 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*" This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant Number N00014-01-1-0015. Dr. Thomas Swain is the program manager. Communicated by T.B. Gatski     

Experiments on localized disturbances in a flat plate boundary layer. Part 1. The receptivity and evolution of a localized free stream disturbance

The receptivity of a laminar boundary layer to free stream disturbances has been experimentally investigated through the introduction of deterministic localized disturbances upstream of a flat plate mounted in a wind tunnel. Hot-wire measurements indicate that the spanwise gradient of the normal velocity component (and hence the streamwise vorticity) plays an essential role in the transfer of disturbance energy into the boundary layer. Inside the laminar boundary layer the disturbances were found to give rise to the formation of longitudinal structures of alternating high and low streamwise velocity. Similar streaky structures exist in laminar boundary layers exposed to free stream turbulence, in which the disturbance amplitude increases in linear proportion to the displacement thickness. In the present study the perturbation amplitude of the streaks was always decaying for the initial amplitudes used, in contrast to the growing fluctuations that are observed in the presence of free stream turbulence. This points out the importance of the continuous influence from the free stream turbulence along the boundary layer edge.     

Turbulent boundary layer flow with a step change from smooth to rough surface

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) dataset of a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) with a step change from a smooth to a rough surface is analyzed to examine the characteristics of a spatially developing flow. The roughness elements are periodically arranged two-dimensional (2-D) spanwise rods, with the first rod placed 80θ_in downstream from the inlet, where θ_in denotes the inlet momentum thickness. Based on an accurate estimation of relevant parameters, clear evidence for mean flow universality is provided when scaled properly, even for the present roughness configuration, which is believed to have one of the strongest impacts on the flow. Compared to previous studies, it is shown that overshooting behavior is present in the first- and second-order statistics and is locally created either within the cavity or at the leading edge of the roughness depending on the type of statistics and the wall-normal measurement location. Inspection of spatial two-point correlations of the streamwise velocity fluctuations shows a continuous increase of spanwise length scales of structures over the rough wall after the step change at a greater growth rate than that over smooth wall TBL flow. This is expected because spanwise energy spectrum shows presence of much energetic wider structures over the rough wall. Full images of the DNS data are presented to describe not only predominance of hairpin vortices but also a possible spanwise scale growth mechanism via merging over the rough wall.     

Near-field measurements and development of a new boundary layer over a flat plate with localized suction

Suction on a turbulent boundary layer is applied through a narrow strip in order to understand the effects suction can have on the boundary layer development and turbulent structures in the flow. Detailed two-component laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) based measurements have been undertaken in regions close to the suction strip and further downstream. The region close to the strip involves a flow reversal accompanied by a change in sign for the Reynolds shear stress and strong gradients in the flow variables. The mean streamwise velocity after suction remains larger than its corresponding no-suction value. Relative to the no-suction case, the velocity fluctuations first decrease with suction followed by a slow recovery which may involve a slight overshoot. LIF visualizations indicate that compared to the no-suction case, the low-speeds streaks stay closer to the wall and exhibit a smaller amount of spanwise and wall-normal oscillations with suction. The visualization results are consistent with two-point velocity correlation measurements. The streamwise and spanwise correlation measurements indicate that the structures are disrupted or removed from the boundary layer due to suction suggesting that the original boundary layer has been strongly influenced by suction. The results are explained by the development of a new inner layer that forms downstream of the suction strip.     

Direct numerical simulation of a particle-laden flow in a flat plate boundary layer

In this paper, a direct numerical simulation of particle-laden flow in a flat plate boundary layer is performed, using the Eulerian–Lagrangian point-particle approach. This is, as far as we know, the first simulation of a particle-laden spatially-developing turbulent boundary layer with two-way coupling. A local minimum of the particle number density is observed in the close vicinity of the wall. The present simulation results indicate that the inertial particles displace the quasi-streamwise vortices towards the wall, which, in turn, enhance the mean streamwise fluid velocity. As a result, the skin-friction coefficient is increased whereas the boundary layer integral thicknesses are reduced. The presence of particles augments the streamwise fluctuating velocity in the near-wall region but attenuates it in the outer layer. Nevertheless, the wall-normal and spanwise velocity fluctuations are significantly damped, and so is the Reynolds stress. In addition, the combined effect of a reduced energy production and an increased viscous dissipation leads to the attenuation of the turbulent kinetic energy.     

Dynamics of vortical structures in cylinder/wall interaction with moderate gap ratio

The interaction between the wake of a transverse circular cylinder and the underlying flat-plate boundary layer with a moderate gap ratio G/D=1.0 is investigated using both hydrogen-bubble-based and PIV-based visualization techniques. The spanwise rollers in the cylinder wake are found to be capable of inducing secondary vortices in the near-wall region. The mutual induction from the counter-clockwise rollers, which are closer to the wall, plays a primary role, so that these secondary vortices present linear lift-up motion at first. Their subsequent evolution dominantly determines the characteristics of the wake/boundary-layer interaction. Two different vortex interaction scenarios are observed: the secondary vortices can be either entrained into the rollers or pushed down towards the wall. This leads to a rapid three-dimensional destabilization process, through which streamwise vortices are generated. And it is suggested that these streamwise vortices are the dominant structures to promote the following boundary layer transition.     

Mean Flow and Turbulence Measurements in a Turbulent Free Cruciform Jet

The results of measurements of all three components of the mean velocity vector, the Reynolds normal and primary shear stresses and the mean static pressure in a turbulent free jet, issuing from a sharp-edged cruciform orifice, are presented in this paper. The measurements were made with an x-array hot-wire probe and a pitot-static tube in the near flow field of the jet. The Reynolds number, based upon the equivalent diameter of the orifice, was 1.70 × 10⁵. In addition to the quantities measured directly, the mean streamwise centreline velocity decay, the jet half-velocity widths, the jet spreading rate, the mean streamwise vorticity, the mass entrainment rate, the integral momentum flux and the one-dimensional energy spectra have been derived from the measured data. The results show that the mean streamwise centreline velocity decay rate of the cruciform jet is higher than that of a round jet issuing from an orifice with the same exit area as that of the cruciform orifice. The mean streamwise velocity field changed shape continuously from a cruciform close to the orifice exit plane to circular at 12 and half equivalent diameters downstream. The mean streamwise vorticity field, up to about three equivalent diameters downstream of the orifice exit plane, consists of four pairs of counter-rotating cells, which are aligned with the four edges in the centre of the cruciform orifice.     

Receptivity of the Blunt-Leading-Edge Plate Boundary Layer to Unsteady Vortex Perturbations

The response of the boundary layer on a plate with a blunt leading edge to frozen-in vortex perturbations whose vorticity is normal to the plate surface is found. It is shown that these vortices generate an inhomogeneity of the streamwise velocity component in the boundary layer. This inhomogeneity is analogous to the streaky structure developing as the degree of free-stream turbulence increases. The dependence of the amplitude and shape of the boundary layer inhomogeneity on the distance from the leading edge, the streamwise and spanwise scales, and other parameters is found for periodic and local initial perturbations. It is shown that the receptivity of the boundary layer decreases with increase in the frequency and with decrease in the streamwise perturbation scale.     

Effects of small changes in initial conditions on mixing layer three-dimensionality

Conclusions An experimental study which shows the effects of relatively small changes in the initial conditions on the development of the three-dimensional structure of a plane mixing layer originating from laminar boundary layers has been completed. It was shown that while the exact shapes and positions of the streamwise vortex structures are not the same for the two initial conditions, their overall distribution, reorganization and decay are very similar. The present results imply that while some of the specific details of the streamwise vortex structure may be facility dependent, a relatively strong structure, which produces significant three-dimensionality, should form in all mixing layers originating from laminar boundary layers. After some initial readjustments, the structure will appear in the form of counter-rotating pairs of streamwise vortices which, in the mean, grow with the mixing layer and decay in strength.The present results also serve as a warning that small changes in initial conditions may significantly affect the Reynolds stress distributions in the near-field. The most likely mechanism for this is through the effects of very small changes in initial boundary layer properties on the details (strength and location) of the spanwise vortex roll-up. Despite these relatively large differences in the near-field, both mixing layers attain comparable turbulence structure and growth rates in the far-field. In addition, the behavior of the streamwise vortex structure does not appear to be affected by the differences in the near-field Reynolds stress distributions.     

Observations of meandering superstructures in the roughness sublayer of a turbulent boundary layer

The existence of meandering superstructures in a turbulent boundary layer overlying irregular roughness is explored with high-frame-rate particle-image velocimetry measurements within the roughness sublayer at moderate Reynolds number. Elongated streamwise fields of view reconstructed from this data using a Taylor’s hypothesis approach revealed spanwise-meandering regions of low-streamwise-momentum fluid that extended several boundary-layer thicknesses in the streamwise direction. Such signatures are consistent with previous observations of superstructures in smooth-wall turbulence. Counter-rotating wall-normal vortex cores were found to reside along the spanwise boundaries of these superstructure patterns, consistent with the spatial characteristics of hairpin vortex packets.