Spanwise characteristics of the separated flow in a suddenly expanding duct

Summary The secondary flow due to the growth of the streamwise vortices near the side walls serves to diminish the spanwise uniformity of the time-mean flow properties. In the region adjacent to the side walls, momentum mixing is enhanced due to the existence of the secondary flow and the separated shear layer spreads faster. There is a corresponding increase in the non-coherent turbulence in this region near the side walls. The increased spreading rates and overall turbulence in the shear layer, in turn, tend to suppress the rolling-up of the separated shear layer into organized structures. This effect is rapidly carried into the core two-dimensional flow region as the streamwise vortex grows under the influence of the adverse pressure gradient. The surface visualizations provide further evidence of the existence of secondary flows near the side walls.     

Shallow cavity flow tone experiments: onset of locked-on states

Fully turbulent inflow past a shallow cavity is investigated for the configuration of an axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe. Emphasis is on conditions giving rise to coherent oscillations, which can lead to locked-on states of flow tones in the pipe–cavity system. Unsteady surface pressure measurements are interpreted using three-dimensional representations of amplitude–frequency, and velocity; these representations are constructed for a range of cavity depth. Assessment of these data involves a variety of approaches. Evaluation of pressure gradients on plan views of the three-dimensional representations allows extraction of the frequencies of the instability (Strouhal) modes of the cavity oscillation. These frequency components are correlated with traditional models originally formulated for cavities in a free-stream. In addition, they are normalized using two length scales: inflow boundary-layer thickness and pipe diameter. These scales are consistent with those employed for the hydrodynamic instability of the separated shear layer, and are linked to the large-scale mode of the shear layer oscillation, which occurs at relatively long cavity length. In fact, a simple scaling based on pipe diameter can correlate the frequencies of the dominant peaks over a range of cavity depth.The foregoing considerations provide evidence that pronounced flow tones can be generated from a fully turbulent inflow at very low Mach number, including the limiting case of fully developed turbulent flow in a pipe. These tones can arise even for the extreme case of a cavity having a length over an order of magnitude longer than its depth. Suppression of tones is generally achieved if the cavity is sufficiently shallow.     

Generation of tones due to flow past a deep cavity: Effect of streamwise length

Shear flow past a deep cavity can generate self-sustained oscillations, including locked-on flow tones, due to coupling between the inherent instability of the separated shear layer and an acoustic mode of the cavity resonator. This investigation focuses on the dimensionless pressure amplitude response within a deep cavity, as a function of the streamwise length of the cavity opening; for each length, the pressure response is characterized over a wide range of dimensionless inflow velocity. Criteria for locked-on flow tones are assessed. They include a measure of the strength of lock-on, SoL and the quality factor Q. All self-excited oscillations are assessed using both of these criteria, in order to interpret dimensionless forms of the fluctuation pressure amplitude. The dimensionless pressure amplitude response of the cavity involves several successive regimes, due to variations of streamwise length L of the cavity opening. These regimes are defined in relation to L/θ, where θ is the momentum thickness of the inflow boundary layer. Below a minimum value of L/θ, flow tones cannot be generated. Furthermore, these regimes are defined in terms of the possible hydrodynamic modes (stages) of the unsteady shear layer and the acoustic modes of the deep cavity.     

Oscillation of shallow flow past a cavity: Resonant coupling with a gravity wave

Self-excited oscillations of flow past a cavity are generated in a shallow free-surface system. The shear layer past the cavity opening has two basic forms: a separated free-shear flow; and a shear flow along a slotted plate. Instabilities of these classes of shear flows can couple with the fundamental gravity-wave mode of the adjacent cavity. The dimensionless frequencies of both types of oscillations scale on the length of the cavity opening, rather than the gap distance between the slats, i.e., a large-scale instability is always prevalent. A technique of high-image-density particle image velocimetry allows acquisition and interpretation of global, instantaneous images of the flow pattern, including patterns of vorticity and Reynolds stress correlation. Use of a cinema approach provides representations of the timewise evolution of the global, instantaneous flow structure, and thereby definition of the amplitude peaks and phase angles of the coupled fluctuations via auto- and cross-spectral techniques. These methods, along with global, averaged representations of the fluctuating flow field, provide insight into the onset of fully coupled (phase-locked) oscillations of the shear flow past the resonator cavity. The common, as well as the distinctive, features of the resonant-coupled instability of the shear flow past the slotted plate are characterized, relative to the corresponding coupled instability of the free-shear layer. Varying degrees of resonant coupling between the unstable shear layer and the adjacent resonator are attained by variations of the inflow velocity, which yield changes of the predominant oscillation frequency, relative to the resonant frequency of the adjacent cavity. Well-defined, coherent oscillations are indeed attainable for the case of the shear flow along the slotted plate, though their amplitude is significantly mitigated relative to the case of a free-shear layer. The degree of organization of the self-excited, resonant-coupled oscillation and the manner in which it varies with open area ratio and geometry of the plate are interpreted in terms of the flow structure on either side of, and within, the slotted plate; these features are compared with the corresponding structure of the free-shear layer oscillations.     

Effect of system rotating on turbulent boundary layer flow

This paper experimentally investigated the effect of rotating on the turbulent boundary layer flow using hot-wire. The experiments were completed in a rotating rig with a vertical axis and four measured positions along the streamwise direction in channel, which focuses on the flow flied in the rotating channel. The rotating effects on velocity profile, wall shear stress and semi-logarithmic mean velocity profile are discussed in this paper. The results indicated that: due to the Coriolis force induced by rotating, the phenomenon of velocity deficit happens near the leading side. The velocity deficit near the leading side, do not increase monotonically with the increase of Ro. The trend of the velocity deficit near the leading side is also affected by the normal component of pressure gradient, which is another important force in the cross-section of the rotating channel. The wall shear stress near the trailing side is larger than that on the leading side, and the semi-logarithmic mean velocity profile is also different under rotating effects. The phenomenon reveals that the effect of rotation penetrates into the logarithm region, and the flow near the leading side tends to turn into laminar under the effect of rotation. The rotation correction of logarithmic law is performed in current work, which can be used in the wall function of CFD to increase the simulating accuracy at rotating conditions.     

Global stability analysis of axisymmetric boundary layer over a circular cylinder

This paper presents a linear global stability analysis of the incompressible axisymmetric boundary layer on a circular cylinder. The base flow is parallel to the axis of the cylinder at inflow boundary. The pressure gradient is zero in the streamwise direction. The base flow velocity profile is fully non-parallel and non-similar in nature. The boundary layer grows continuously in the spatial directions. Linearized Navier–Stokes (LNS) equations are derived for the disturbance flow quantities in the cylindrical polar coordinates. The LNS equations along with homogeneous boundary conditions forms a generalized eigenvalues problem. Since the base flow is axisymmetric, the disturbances are periodic in azimuthal direction. Chebyshev spectral collocation method and Arnoldi’s iterative algorithm is used for the solution of the general eigenvalues problem. The global temporal modes are computed for the range of Reynolds numbers and different azimuthal wave numbers. The largest imaginary part of the computed eigenmodes is negative, and hence, the flow is temporally stable. The spatial structure of the eigenmodes shows that the disturbance amplitudes grow in size and magnitude while they are moving towards downstream. The global modes of axisymmetric boundary layer are more stable than that of 2D flat-plate boundary layer at low Reynolds number. However, at higher Reynolds number they approach 2D flat-plate boundary layer. Thus, the damping effect of transverse curvature is significant at low Reynolds number. The wave-like nature of the disturbance amplitudes is found in the streamwise direction for the least stable eigenmodes.     

Oscillations of the fluid flow and the free surface in a cavity with a submerged bifurcated nozzle

The free surface dynamics and sub-surface flow behavior in a thin (height and width much larger than thickness), liquid filled, rectangular cavity with a submerged bifurcated nozzle were investigated using free surface visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Three regimes in the free surface behavior were identified, depending on nozzle depth and inlet velocity. For small nozzle depths, an irregular free surface is observed without clear periodicities. For intermediate nozzle depths and sufficiently high inlet velocities, natural mode oscillations consistent with gravity waves are present, while at large nozzle depths long term self-sustained asymmetric oscillations occur.For the latter case, time-resolved PIV measurements of the flow below the free surface indicated a strong oscillation of the direction with which each of the two jets issue from the nozzle. The frequency of the jet oscillation is identical to the free surface oscillation frequency. The two jets oscillate in anti-phase, causing the asymmetric free surface oscillation. The jets interact through a cross-flow in the gaps between the inlet channel and the front and back walls of the cavity.     

Passively controlled supersonic cavity flow using a spanwise cylinder

An experimental investigation of a passively controlled open cavity with a length to depth ratio of six and freestream Mach number of 1.4 was conducted to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the observed surface pressure reductions. The passive control comes from placing a spanwise aligned cylinder in the boundary layer near the leading edge of the cavity. The two control configurations were isolated from previous experiments of the fluctuating surface pressure and correspond to a larger diameter rod near the top of the boundary layer and a smaller diameter rod placed near the wall. These were further analyzed using particle image velocimetry in an attempt to elicit the responsible mechanism for the flow control. The use of two-point statistics revealed the wall normal turbulent velocity correlation’s evolution became elongated in the wall normal direction. This suggests that the shear layer may be less-organized and consists of smaller-scale structures. The disturbance of the feedback receptivity loop is clearly demonstrated for the controlled configurations evidenced by weakened correlation signals between the aft wall sensor and positions on the cavity floor. The presence of the rod is shown to decrease the mean shear gradient, more effectively for the large rod placed at the top of the boundary layer, throughout the shear layer. The efficacy of the control leads to an initially thicker shear layer which spreads more rapidly and is clearly demonstrated by vorticity growth rates, mean, and turbulent flowfield statistics.     

Self-sustained oscillations of shear flow past a slotted plate coupled with cavity resonance

Shear flow past a slotted plate configuration can give rise to highly coherent, self-sustained oscillations when coupling occurs with a resonant mode of an adjacent cavity. The distinctive feature of these oscillations is that the wavelength of the coherent instability along the plate is of the order of the plate length. This observation is in contrast to previous investigations of flow past perforated or slotted surfaces, where the instability scales on the diameter of the perforation or the gap length of a slot. The present oscillations occur even when the inflow boundary layer is turbulent and an inflectional form of the shear flow cannot develop along the cavity opening, due to the presence of the slotted plate. Instigation of a resonant mode of the cavity, in conjunction with an inherent instability of the shear flow along the plate, gives rise to ordered clusters of instantaneous vorticity and instantaneous velocity correlation. During the oscillation, ejection of flow occurs from the cavity to the region of the shear flow; this ejection is in accord with the convection of the large-scale cluster of vorticity along the slotted plate. This oscillation can be effectively detuned by adjusting the inflow velocity, such that the inherent instability of the shear flow past the slotted plate is no longer coincident with the resonant frequency of the cavity. Certain features of this self-sustained oscillation are directly analogous to recent findings of oscillations due to shear flow past a perforated plate bounded by a cavity, but in the absence of cavity resonance effects.     

Numerical simulation of tangentially injected turbulent swirling flow in a divergent tube

This paper studies the properties of turbulent swirling decaying flow induced by tangential inlets in a divergent pipe using the realizable k–ε turbulence model and discusses the effects of the injector pressure and injection position. The results of transient solutions show that both the recirculation zone near the wall in upstream of the injectors and the vortex breakdown in downstream of the injectors increase in size during the whole period. A nearly axisymmetric conical breakdown is formed and its internal structure consists of two asymmetric spiral‐like vortices rotating in opposite directions. The stagnation point shifts slowly toward the pipe outlet over time. The maxima of the three velocity components, which are located near the wall, decrease gradually with streamwise direction. It can also be inferred that Mach number approaches 1.0 near the injector outlets. The velocities increase with the increasing injector pressure. However, its increasing trend is not significant. With the increase of the injection position, vortex breakdown moves in downstream direction and the pitch along the streamwise direction increases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental measurement of flow past cavities of different shapes

Experiments are carried out in order to investigate the flow structure past a rectangular, triangular and semi-circular cavity of length-to-depth ratio of 2:1 using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. The experiments are performed in a large scale water channel with three different upstream velocities resulting in Reynolds numbers of 1230, 1460 and 1700, based on inflow momentum thickness, for each cavity type. Contours of constant averaged streamwise and transverse components of velocity, contours of constant averaged vorticity, Reynolds stress and streamline plots for each cavity type for the aforementioned three Reynolds numbers are presented. In addition, streamwise velocity, Reynolds stress and turbulence intensity values are compared for all cavity types. Effect of cavity shape on flow structure within the cavity is discussed in detail. Moreover, spectrum of instantaneous streamwise velocity fluctuations in shear layer near the downstream of the leading corner and the upstream of the trailing corner of the cavities are obtained and it was found that no organized oscillations are present in the flow; rectangular and triangular cavities have the largest amplitudes while semi-circular cavity has the smallest. Calculated turbulence intensities also reveal that the maximum turbulence intensities occur at cavity lid in the centerline section and rectangular and triangular cavities have larger turbulence intensity compared to semi-circular cavity.     

Velocity statistics along the stagnation line of an axi- symmetric stagnating turbulent flow

 Velocity statistics along the stagnation line of an axi-symmetric wall stagnating turbulent flow are studied experimentally. A low turbulence, uniform air flow from a nozzle type air supply with an exit diameter of 50 mm stagnates at a wall located 50 mm downstream. A flow velocity is set to 3 m/s, 10 mm downstream from the exit of the air supply. Instantaneous values of streamwise and radial velocities are measured by laser-Doppler velocimetry. The turbulence level in the air flow is changed by use of turbulence generator. When the turbulence generator is not installed in the air supply, the mean velocity profile in the streamwise direction fits well with that of a laminar viscous flow with the rms value of velocity fluctuations low near the wall. With the turbulence generator installed, a significant turbulence structure appears near the wall. When the wall is approached, the rms value of velocity fluctuations in the streamwise direction decreases monotonically while the profile of the rms value in the radial direction reaches a maximum near the wall. The increase in the rms value of velocity fluctuations in the radial direction near the wall is attributed to the bi-modal histogram of the fluctuating velocity in the radial direction. Near the wall, the instantaneous stagnation streamline fluctuates and the probability of the mean location of the stagnation point reaches a maximum not at the stagnation line but on a circle around the stagnation line, resulting in the bi-modal histogram. Turbulence statistics, the rms value of velocity fluctuation and the turbulent kinetic energy, can be normalized successfully by similarity parameters based on the strain rate and the reference turbulent kinetic energy introduced by Champion and Libby. Received: 7 April 1995/Accepted: 27 September 1996     

Unsteady phenomena of an oscillating turbulent jet flow inside a cavity: Effect of aspect ratio

Self-sustained oscillatory phenomena in confined flow may occur when a turbulent plane jet is discharging into a rectangular cavity. An experimental set-up was developed and the flow analysis has been made using mainly hot-wire measurements, which were complemented by visualisation data. Previous studies confirmed that periodic oscillations may occur, depending on the location of the jet exit nozzle inside the cavity, and also the distance between the side-walls. The present study deals with the symmetrical interaction between a turbulent plane jet and a rectangular cavity and the influence of the geometrical characteristics of the cavity on the oscillatory motion. The size and aspect ratio of the cavity were varied together with the jet width compared to that of the cavity. The study is carried out both numerically and experimentally. The numerical method solves the unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations (URANS) together with the continuity equation for an incompressible fluid. The closure of the flow equations system is achieved using a two-scale energy-flux model at high Reynolds number in the core flow coupled with a wall function treatment in the vicinity of the wall boundaries. The fundamental frequency of the oscillatory flow was found to be practically independent of the cavity length. Moreover, the oscillations are attenuated as the cavity width increases, until they disappear for a critical value of the cavity width. Contour maps of the instantaneous flow field are drawn to show the flow pattern evolution at the main phases of oscillation. They are given for several aspect ratios of the cavity, keeping constant values for the cavity width and the jet thickness. The proposed approach may help to investigate further the oscillation mechanisms and the entrainment process occurring in pressure driven jet–cavity interactions.     

Mode transition and oscillation suppression in supersonic cavity flow

Supersonic flows past two-dimensional cavities with/without control are investigated by the direct numerical simulation(DNS). For an uncontrolled cavity, as the thickness of the boundary layer declines, transition of the dominant mode from the steady mode to the Rossiter Ⅱ mode and then to the Rossiter Ⅲ mode is observed due to the change of vortex-corner interactions. Meanwhile, a low frequency mode appears. However, the wake mode observed in a subsonic cavity flow is absent in the current simulation.The oscillation frequencies obtained from a global dynamic mode decomposition(DMD)approach are consistent with the local power spectral density(PSD) analysis. The dominant mode transition is clearly shown by the dynamic modes obtained from the DMD. A passive control technique of substituting the cavity trailing edge with a quarter-circle is studied. As the effective cavity length increases, the dominant mode transition from the Rossiter Ⅱ mode to the Rossiter Ⅲ mode occurs. With the control, the pressure oscillations are reduced significantly. The interaction of the shear layer and the recirculation zone is greatly weakened, combined with weaker shear layer instability, responsible for the suppression of pressure oscillations. Moreover, active control using steady subsonic mass injection upstream of a cavity leading edge can stabilize the flow.     

Steady Flow Generated by a Core Oscillating in a Rotating Spherical Cavity

Steady flow generated by oscillations of an inner solid core in a fluid-filled rotating spherical cavity is experimentally studied. The core with density less than the fluid density is located near the center of the cavity and is acted upon by a centrifugal force. The gravity field directed perpendicular to the rotation axis leads to a stationary displacement of the core from the rotation axis. As a result, in the frame of reference attached to the cavity, the core performs circular oscillation with frequency equal to the rotation frequency, and its center moves along a circular trajectory in the equatorial plane around the center of the cavity. For the differential rotation of the core to be absent, one of the poles of the core is connected to the nearest pole of the cavity with a torsionally elastic, flexible fishing line. It is found that the oscillation of the core generates axisymmetric azimuthal fluid flow in the cavity which has the form of nested liquid columns rotating with different angular velocities. Comparison with the case of a free oscillating core which performs mean differential rotation suggests the existence of two mechanisms of flow generation (due to the differential rotation of the core in the Ekman layer and due to the oscillation of the core in the oscillating boundary layers).     

The near-wall layer beneath a moderately converging three-dimensional turbulent separated and reattaching flow

Pulsed-wire mean velocity and surface shear stress measurements have been made in a three-dimensional separation bubble in which there is a mild lateral convergence, bounded by side regions of spanwise invariance. Even though the convergence is mild the bubble parameters change considerably with lateral position. Velocity measurements near the surface were made with a special through-wall pulsed-wire probe. The cross-flow layer is substantially thicker than the reverse-flow layer even in the invariant region. Cross-flow and reverse-flow velocity profiles are each remarkably close in shape, though probably not exactly self similar. Surface shear stresses in the cross- and reverse-flow directions conform to local scalings and Reynolds-number dependences based on thickness and `external' velocity. These scalings also apply (quantitatively) downstream of and, it appears, through attachment. The surface shear stress in the cross-flow direction is higher than the streamwise stress, consistent with a distinctly fuller mean velocity profile. There is a striking comparability with three-dimensional boundary layers once the flow directions are transposed, the cross flow taking the part of the primary flow, and the reverse flow the secondary flow.     

Oscillatory flow of second grade fluid in cylindrical tube

The unsteady oscillatory flow of an incompressible second grade fluid in a cylindrical tube with large wall suction is studied analytically. Flow in the tube is due to uniform suction at the permeable walls, and the oscillations in the velocity field are due to small amplitude time harmonic pressure waves. The physical quantities of interest are the velocity field, the amplitude of oscillation, and the penetration depth of the oscillatory wave. The analytical solution of the governing boundary value problem is obtained, and the effects of second grade fluid parameters are analyzed and discussed.     

Fluctuating flow of a second-order fluid near a stagnation point

Summary The boundary layer equations for axisymmetric flow of an incompressible second-order fluid have been deduced. The flow of such a fluid near a stagnation point when the main stream outside the boundary layer fluctuates in magnitude but not in direction has been discussed. The velocity distribution is found for various values of the steady mean in two limiting cases of small and large values of the frequency of the oscillation of the main stream. The frequency for which two approximate solutions overlap has been calculated in each case.     

Effects of the side walls on unsteady flow of a second grade fluid over a plane wall

The effects of the side walls on unsteady flow of a second grade fluid over a plan wall are considered. The solution of the governing equation for velocity is obtained by the sine transform method. This gives a correct result for the shear stress at the bottom wall. The shear stress at the bottom wall is minimum at the middle of the plate and it increases near the side walls. It is shown that the mean thickness of the layer of the liquid over the plate increases with time and the ratio of the mean thickness to the distance between the side walls becomes ultimately 0.2714.     

Numerical predictions of flow and thermal fields in an enclosure with two periodically moving walls

Numerical predictions of transient flow and thermal fields in a rectangular enclosure with two periodically moving vertical walls are presented. The combined influence of the movement of the walls and the buoyancy as well on the flow pattern and heat transfer performance is evaluated. The compressible‐flow model is adopted, and governing equations are expressed in integral form and discretized on the moving grids, which deform in resonance with the walls to accommodate the variation in the volume of the enclosure. A two‐stage pressure‐correction scheme is applied for simultaneously determining the distributions of absolute pressure, density, temperature, and velocity of the compressible flow field in the enclosure during the periodically stable periods. Effects of the frequency, stroke, and the phase angle of the wall oscillations on the flow are of major concerns in this study. The frequency is ranged between 5 and 25 Hz and the dimensionless strokes (l/H) of the wall are varied from 0.4 to 1.0. Results for Nusselt numbers on the walls as well as the dimensionless input work required to excite the wall oscillation are provided. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.