Turbulent flow past a bubble and an ellipsoid using shadow-image and PIV techniques

An experimental investigation on flow around an oscillating bubble and solid ellipsoid with a flat bottom was conducted. A single air bubble (equivalent diameter D_e=9.12 mm) was attached to a small disk (∼1 mm) at the end of a needle and suspended across a vertical square channel (100 mm) by wire wherein water flowed downward at a constant flowrate. The solid ellipsoid (D_e∼9.1 mm) was suspended across the square channel in the same manner. The equivalent diameter-based Reynolds and Eotvos number range, 1950<Re<2250 and 11<Eo<11.5, placed the bubble in the ‘wobbly’ regime while the flow in its wake was turbulent. A constant flowrate and one bubble size was used such that flow in the wake was turbulent. Velocity measurements of the flow field around the bubble or solid were made using a one CCD camera Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) system enhanced by Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF). The shape of the bubble or solid was simultaneously recorded along with the velocity using a second CCD camera and an Infrared Shadow Technique (IST). In this way both the flow-field and the boundary of the bubble (solid) were measured. The velocity vector plots of flow around and in the wake of a bubble/solid, supplemented by profiles and contours of the average and root-mean-square velocities, vorticity, Reynolds stress and turbulent kinetic energy, revealed differences in the wake flow structure behind a bubble and solid. One of the significant differences was in the inherent, oscillatory motion of the bubble which not only produced vorticity in the near-wake, but as a result of apparent vorticity stretching distributed the turbulent kinetic energy associated with this flow more uniformly on its wake, in contrast to the solid.     

Large-scale vortical structure of turbulent separation bubble affected by unsteady wake

The large-scale vortical structure of a turbulent separation bubble under the influence of an unsteady wake was investigated. The unsteady wake was generated by a spoked-wheel type wake generator installed in front of the separation bubble. This wake generator was rotated either clockwise or counter-clockwise at Re _H=5.600. The mechanism of vortex shedding from the separation bubble was analyzed in detail by taking a conditional average as well as a phase average. Spatial box filtering (SBF) was used to extract the large-scale vortical structure from the turbulent separation bubble affected by the unsteady wake. To elucidate the influence of the unsteady wake on the large-scale vortical structure, conditional averages of the velocity, vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy were calculated. The nature of the convection of the vortical structure under the influence of an unsteady wake was analyzed. The dipole acoustic pressure level was predicted using Curle's integral of wall-pressure fluctuations.     

A numerical investigation of the effects of the spanwise length on the 3-D wake of a circular cylinder

The numerical prediction of vortex-induced vibrations has been the focus of numerous investigations to date using tools such as computational fluid dynamics. In particular, the flow around a circular cylinder has raised much attention as it is present in critical engineering problems such as marine cables or risers. Limitations due to the computational cost imposed by the solution of a large number of equations have resulted in the study of mostly 2-D flows with only a few exceptions. The discrepancies found between experimental data and 2-D numerical simulations suggested that 3-D instabilities occurred in the wake of the cylinder that affect substantially the characteristics of the flow. The few 3-D numerical solutions available in the literature confirmed such a hypothesis. In the present investigation the effect of the spanwise extension of the solution domain on the 3-D wake of a circular cylinder is investigated for various Reynolds numbers between 40 and 1000. By assessing the minimum spanwise extension required to predict accurately the flow around a circular cylinder, the infinitely long cylinder is reduced to a finite length cylinder, thus making numerical solution an effective way of investigating flows around circular cylinders. Results are presented for three different spanwise extensions, namely πD/2, πD and 2πD. The analysis of the force coefficients obtained for the various Reynolds numbers together with a visualization of the three-dimensionalities in the wake of the cylinder allowed for a comparison between the effects of the three spanwise extensions. Furthermore, by showing the different modes of vortex shedding present in the wake and by analysing the streamwise components of the vorticity, it was possible to estimate the spanwise wavelengths at the various Reynolds numbers and to demonstrate that a finite spanwise extension is sufficient to accurately predict the flow past an infinitely long circular cylinder.     

DNS OF 2D TURBULENT FLOW AROUND A SQUARE CYLINDER

Two-dimensional ‘turbulent’ flow around a rectangular cylinder has been simulated at Re=10,000 using a sixth- order-accurate finite volume method for the discretization of convection and diffusion. The spatial discretization consists of a combination of a seventh- order upwind-biased method for the convective terms and an eighth-order central method for the diffusive terms, discretized on a stretched and staggered grid. To cope with the stretching of the grid, Lagrange interpolations are used. The method applied to obtain a boundary condition for the velocity in the x-direction at the outflow boundary is shown not to affect the flow in the interior of the computational domain in a way that is visible in various snapshots of the vorticity field. The variation in the velocity in the x-direction with time is itself found to be relatively small near the outflow boundary. Several turbulence statistics have been gathered from a simulation of the flow developed during 77 dimensionless time units. Snapshots of the vorticity field of the developed flow show the presence of a vortex-street- like structure. Typical 2D turbulent behaviour, such as the appearance of monopolar, dipolar and tripolar vortices due to the amalgamation of vorticity in the wake and the x^−1/2 scaling of the velocity defect in the wake, has been obtained. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Active flow control for reduction of fluctuating aerodynamic forces of a blunt trailing edge profiled body

Vortex shedding in the wake of two-dimensional bluff bodies is usually accompanied by three dimensional instabilities. These instabilities result in streamwise and vertical vorticity components which occur at a certain spanwise wavelength. The spanwise wavelength of the instabilities (λ_Z) depends on several parameters, including profile geometry and Reynolds number. The objective of the present work is to study the three dimensional wake instabilities for a blunt trailing edge profiled body, comprised of an elliptical leading edge and a rectangular trailing edge, and to manipulate these instabilities to control the aerodynamic forces. Results of numerical simulations of flow around the body at Re(d) = 400, 600, and 1000, as well as planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) flow visualizations at Re(d) = 600 and 1000 are analyzed to determine the wake vorticity structure and λ_Z. Based on the findings of these analyses, an active flow control mechanism for attenuation of the fluctuating aerodynamic forces on the body is proposed. The flow control mechanism is comprised of a series of trailing edge injection ports distributed across the span, with a spacing equal to λ_Z. Injection of a secondary flow leads to amplification of the three dimensional instabilities and disorganization of the von Kármán vortex street. Numerical simulations indicate that the flow control mechanism can attenuate the fluctuating aerodynamic forces at lower Reynolds numbers (Re(d) = 400 and 600) where λ_Z is constant in time. However, the control mechanism loses its effectiveness at Re(d) = 1000, due to the temporal variations of λ_Z.     

The ultra-low Reynolds number airfoil wake

Lift force and the near wake of an NACA 0012 airfoil were measured over the angle (α) of attack of 0°–90° and the chord Reynolds number (Re _c ), 5.3 × 10³–5.1 × 10⁴, with a view to understand thoroughly the near wake of the airfoil at low- to ultra-low Re _c . While the lift force is measured using a load cell, the detailed flow structure is captured using laser-Doppler anemometry, particle image velocimetry, and laser-induced fluorescence flow visualization. It has been found that the stall of an airfoil, characterized by a drop in the lift force, occurs at Re _c  ≥ 1.05 × 10⁴ but is absent at Re _c  = 5.3 × 10³. The observation is connected to the presence of the separation bubble at high Re _c but absence of the bubble at ultra-low Re _c , as evidenced in our wake measurements. The near-wake characteristics are examined and discussed in detail, including the vortex formation length, wake width, spanwise vorticity, wake bubble size, wavelength of K–H vortices, Strouhal numbers, and their dependence on α and Re _c .     

Turbulent wake and vortex shedding for a stack partially immersed in a turbulent boundary layer

The effect of the jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio, R, on the turbulent wake and Kármán vortex shedding for a cylindrical stack of aspect ratio AR=9 was investigated in a low-speed wind tunnel using thermal anemometry. The cross-flow Reynolds number was Re_D=2.3×10⁴, the jet Reynolds number ranged from Re_d=7.6×10³ to 4.7×10⁴, and R was varied from 0 to 3. The stack was partially immersed in a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer, with a boundary layer thickness-to-stack-height ratio of δ/H=0.5 at the location of the stack. From the behaviour of the turbulent wake and the vortex shedding, the flow around the stack could be classified into three regimes depending on the value of R, which were the downwash (R<0.7), cross-wind-dominated (0.7R<1.5), and jet-dominated (R1.5) flow regimes. Each flow regime had a distinct structure to the mean velocity (streamwise and wall-normal directions), turbulence intensity (streamwise and wall-normal directions), and Reynolds shear stress fields, as well as the variation of the Strouhal number and the power spectrum along the stack height.     

Multi-resolution analysis of the large-scale coherent structure in a turbulent separation bubble affected by an unsteady wake

Multi-resolution analysis (MRA) was applied to the large-scale coherent structure in a turbulent separation bubble affected by an unsteady wake. The unsteady wake was generated using a spoked-wheel type wake generator, which was installed in front of the separation bubble. The wake generator was rotated either clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) with a normalized passing frequency of St_H=0.2. The Reynolds number based on the half-thickness of the blunt body was Re_H=5600. To show the unsteady dynamic flow structures between the ‘cutting’ and ‘wrapping’ regimes, a MRA using the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) was performed. This method enabled delineation of the coherent structure of the turbulent separation bubble through a scale-resolved analysis. Reconstruction of the flow field in combination with conditional averaging was attempted. Flapping motions as well as sawtooth movements of the unsteady separation bubble were analyzed using the MODWT. The unsteady wakes decayed faster in the system with CCW rotation than in that with CW rotation.     

PIV analysis of flow around a container ship model with a rotating propeller

The flow characteristics of the propeller wake behind a container ship model with a rotating propeller were investigated using a two-frame PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique. Ensemble-averaged mean velocity fields were measured at four different blade phases and ensemble-averaged to investigate the flow structure in the near-wake region. The mean velocity fields in longitudinal planes show that a velocity deficit is formed in the regions near the blade tips and hub. As the flow develops in the downstream direction, the trailing vortices formed behind the propeller hub move upward slightly due to the presence of the hull wake and free surface. Interaction between the bilge vortices and the incoming flow around the hull causes the flow structure to be asymmetric. Contour plots of the vorticity give information on the radial distribution of the loading on the blades. The radial velocity profiles fluctuate to a greater extent under the heavy (J=0.59) and light loading (J=0.88) conditions than under the design loading condition (J=0.72). The turbulence intensity has large values around the tip and trailing vortices. As the wake develops in the downstream direction, the strength of the vorticity diminishes and the turbulence intensity increases due to turbulent diffusion and active mixing between the tip vortices and the adjacent wake flow.     

Bubble deformation and flow structure measured by double shadow images and PIV/LIF

An experiment on bubble motion in a simple shear layer was performed in order to obtain fundamental knowledge of the force on the bubble and its lateral motion induced by the surrounding flow field. We explored the flow structure in the vicinity of the bubble in one plane and its deformation in two planes by particle image velocimetry (PIV)–laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and a projection technique for two perpendicular planes, respectively. For our experiment, we chose a single air bubble with an equivalent bubble diameter D _eq of 2~6 mm in a vertical shear flow. Velocity measurements were made using a digital high-speed CCD camera for PIV with fluorescent tracer particles. The second and third CCD cameras were used to detect the bubbles shape and motion via backlighting from an array of infrared LEDs. We quantitatively studied the three-dimensional wake structure from measurements of the two-dimensional vortex structure and approximated three-dimensional shape deformation arranged from two perpendicular bubble images.     

Numerical study of effects of pulsatile amplitude for transitional turbulent pulsatile flow in pipes with ring‐type constrictions

The effects of pulsatile amplitude on sinusoidal transitional turbulent flows through a rigid pipe in the vicinity of a sharp‐edged mechanical ring‐type constriction have been studied numerically. Pulsatile flows were studied for transitional turbulent flow with Reynolds number (Re) of the order of 10⁴, Womersley number (Nw) of the order of 50 with a corresponding Strouhal number (St) of the order of 0.04. The pulsatile flow considered is a sinusoidal flow with dimensionless amplitudes varying from 0.0 to 1.0. Transitional laminar and turbulent flow characteristics in an alternative manner within the pulsatile flow fields were observed and studied numerically. The flow characteristics were studied through the pulsatile contours of streamlines, vorticity, shear stress and isobars. It was observed that fluid accelerations tend to suppress the development of flow disturbances. All the instantaneous maximum values of turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent viscosity, turbulent shear stress are smaller during the acceleration phase when compared with those during deceleration period. Various parametric equations within a pulsatile cycle have also been formulated through numerical experimentations with different pulsatile amplitudes. In the vicinity of constrictions, the empirical relationships were obtained for the instantaneous flow rate (Q), the pressure gradient (dp/dz), the pressure loss (P_loss), the maximum velocity (V_max), the maximum vorticity (ζ_max), the maximum wall vorticity (ζ_w,max), the maximum shear stress (τ_max) and the maximum wall shear stress (τ_w,max). Elliptic relation was observed between flow rate and pressure gradient. Quadratic relations were observed between flow rate and the pressure loss, the maximum values of shear stress, wall shear stress, turbulent kinematic energy and the turbulent viscosity. Linear relationships exist between the instantaneous flow rate and the maximum values of vorticity, wall vorticity and velocity. The time‐average axial pressure gradient and the time average pressure loss across the constriction were observed to increase linearly with the pulsatile amplitude. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A vorticity stretching diagnostic for turbulent and transitional flows

Vorticity stretching in wall-bounded turbulent and transitional flows has been investigated by means of a new diagnostic measure, denoted by Γ, designed to pick up regions with large amounts of vorticity stretching. It is based on the maximum vorticity stretching component in every spatial point, thus yielding a three-dimensional scalar field. The measure was applied in four different flows with increasing complexity: (a) the near-wall cycle in an asymptotic suction boundary layer (ASBL), (b) K-type transition in a plane channel flow, (c) fully turbulent channel flow at Re _τ = 180 and (d) a complex turbulent three-dimensional separated flow. Instantaneous data show that the coherent structures associated with intense vorticity stretching in all four cases have the shape of flat ‘pancake’ structures in the vicinity of high-speed streaks, here denoted ‘h-type’ events. The other event found is of ‘l-type’, present on top of an unstable low-speed streak. These events (l-type) are further thought to be associated with the exponential growth of streamwise vorticity in the turbulent near-wall cycle. It was found that the largest occurrence of vorticity stretching in the fully turbulent wall-bounded flows is present at a wall-normal distance of y ⁺?=?6.5, i.e. in the transition between the viscous sublayer and buffer layer. The associated structures have a streamwise length of ~200–300 wall units. In K-type transition, the Γ-measure accurately locates the regions of interest, in particular the formation of high-speed streaks near the wall (h-type) and the appearance of the hairpin vortex (l-type). In the turbulent separated flow, the structures containing large amounts of vorticity stretching increase in size and magnitude in the shear layer upstream of the separation bubble but vanish in the backflow region itself. Overall, the measure proved to be useful in showing growing instabilities before they develop into structures, highlighting the mechanisms creating high shear region on a wall and showing turbulence creation associated with instantaneous separations.     

On the interaction of Taylor bubbles rising in two-phase co-current slug flow in vertical columns: turbulent wakes

An experimental study on the interaction between Taylor bubbles rising through a co-current flowing liquid in a vertical tube with 32 mm of internal diameter is reported. The flow pattern in the bubble's wake was turbulent and the flow regime in the liquid slug was either turbulent or laminar. When the flow regime in the liquid slug is turbulent (i) the minimum distance between bubbles above which there is no interaction is 5D-6D; (ii) the bubble's rising velocity is in excellent agreement with the Nicklin relation; (iii) the experimental values of the bubble length compare well with theoretical predictions (Barnea 1990); (iv) the distance between consecutive bubbles varied from 13D to 16D and is insensitive to the liquid Reynolds number. When the flow regime in the liquid slug is laminar (i) the wake length is about 5D-6D; (ii) the minimum distance between bubbles above which there is no interaction is higher than 25D; (iii) the bubble's rising velocity is significantly smaller than theoretical predictions. These results were explained in the light of the findings of Pinto et al. (1998) on coalescence of two Taylor bubbles rising through a co-current liquid. Received: 2 February 2000 / Accepted: 15 March 2001     

Free-stream turbulence effects on vortex-induced vibration of two side-by-side elastic cylinders

The effect of free-stream turbulence on vortex-induced vibration of two side-by-side elastic cylinders in a cross-flow was investigated experimentally. A turbulence generation grid was used to generate turbulent incoming flow with turbulence intensity around 10%. Cylinder displacements in the transverse direction at cylinder mid-span were measured in the reduced velocity range 1.45<U_r0<12.08, corresponding to a range of Reynolds number (Re), based on the mean free-stream velocity and the diameter of the cylinder, between Re=5000–41 000. The focus of the study is on the regime of biased gap flow, where two cylinders with pitch ratio (T/D) varying from 1.17 to 1.90 are considered. Results show that the free-stream turbulence effect is to enhance the vortex-induced force, thus to restore the large-amplitude vibration associated with the lock-in resonance. However, the enhancement is significant at a different Strouhal number (St) for different pitch ratios. When the spacing between two cylinders is relatively small (1.17<T/D<1.50), the enhancement is significant at St≈0.1. When the spacing is increased, the Strouhal number at which the enhancement is significant shifts to St≈0.16. This enlarges the range of reduced velocity to be concerned. An energy analysis showed that free-stream turbulence feeds energy to the cylinder at multiple frequencies of vortex shedding. Therefore, the lock-in region is still of main concern when the approach flow is turbulent.     

Performance of a 12-sensor vorticity probe in the near field of a rectangular turbulent jet

The design and operational characteristics of a 12-sensor hot wire probe for three-dimensional velocity–vorticity measurements in turbulent flow fields is described and discussed. The performance of the probe is investigated in comparison with X-sensor probe measurements in the near field of a rectangular turbulent jet with aspect ratio 6. Measurements have been conducted at Reynolds number Re _D = 21,000 at nozzle distances of x/D = 1, 3, 6 and 11, where D is the width of the nozzle. The results obtained with the 12-sensor probe compare well to the results of the X-sensor probe. Distributions of mean and fluctuating velocity–vorticity fields are presented and discussed. Among the results the most prominent is the experimental confirmation of the high levels of fluctuating vorticity in the shear layers.     

Bubble generation and transport in a microfluidic device with high aspect ratio

Bubble generation and transport in a micro-device composed of a micro-T-junction and a following serpentine micro-channel was experimentally investigated. It has a rectangular cross-sectional with an aspect ratio of 7.425. Air and water were used as gas and liquid, respectively. Mixtures of water–glycerol and water–Tween-20 were used to study the effects of liquid viscosity and surface tension. Compared with previous T-junction bubble generation, the liquid and gas inlets orientation was switched in this work. The continuous flow was driven from the perpendicular channel and the dispersion flow was from the main channel. It shows that the break-up process has three periodic steps under certain operating conditions. The dimensionless bubble length L/w in the micro-channel with high aspect ratio is much larger than that in square microchannels. A correlation is proposed to correlate L/w with liquid flow rate J_L, gas flow rate J_G, and liquid viscosity μ_L. Surface tension σ can change the bubble shape but almost does not affect the bubble length in this fast break-up process. Additionally, a long bubble may be broken up at the corners at the same time because the locations of gas and liquid are exchanged relative to the concave and convex portions of an elbow after a turn which may result in the change of fluid velocities and gas–liquid pressure drop.     

The role of shape and relative submergence on the structure of wakes of low-aspect-ratio wall-mounted bodies

The effects of shape and relative submergence (the ratio of flow depth to obstacle height, d/H) are investigated on the wakes around four different low-aspect-ratio wall-mounted obstacles at Re _H  = 17,800: semi-ellipsoids with the major axes of the base ellipses aligned in the streamwise and transverse directions, and two cylinders with aspect ratios matching the ellipsoids (H/D = 0.89 and 0.67, where D is the maximum transverse dimension). Particle Image Velocimetry was used to interrogate the flow. Streamwise features observed in the mean wake include counter-rotating distributions of vorticity inducing downwash (tip structures), upwash (base structures), and horseshoe vortices. In particular, the relatively subtle change in geometry produced by the rotation of the ellipsoid from the streamwise to the transverse orientation results in a striking modification of the mean streamwise vorticity distribution in the wake. Tip structures are dominant in the former case, while base structures are dominant in the latter. A vortex skeleton model of the wake is proposed in which arch vortex structures, shed from the obstacle, are deformed by the competing mechanisms of Biot-Savart self-induction and the external shear flow. The selection of tip or base structures in the ellipsoid wakes is caused by tilting of the arch structures either upstream or downstream, respectively, which is governed by ellipsoid curvature. An inverse relationship was observed between the relative submergence and the strength of the base structures for the ellipsoids, with a dominant base structure observed for d/H = 1 in both cases. These results demonstrate a means by which to achieve significant modifications to flow structure and thereby also to transport mechanisms in the flow. Therefore, this work provides insight into the modeling and control of flow over wall-mounted bodies.     

An experimental study on unsteady turbulent near wake of a rectangular cylinder in channel flow

 Unsteady turbulent near wake of a rectangular cylinder in channel flow has been studied experimentally with a laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The time-averaged and phase-averaged statistics were measured for the cylinders having various width-to-height ratios, b/h. It is shown that the turbulent intensities on the centerline of the channel have their maxima near the rear stagnation point of a recirculation region. The contours of coherent vorticity and streamline reproduce clearly the shed vortices from the cylinder observed by the flow visualization. The characteristics of the flow field, which depends on b/h, are discussed and the significant contribution of the coherent structure to the flow field is clarified. Moreover, the turbulent kinetic energy budget has been examined. Received: 19 January 1998/Accepted: 21 July 1998     

Simultaneous PIV and pulsed shadow technique in slug flow: a solution for optical problems

A recent technique of simultaneous particle image velocimetry (PIV) and pulsed shadow technique (PST) measurements, using only one black and white CCD camera, is successfully applied to the study of slug flow. The experimental facility and the operating principle are described. The technique is applied to study the liquid flow pattern around individual Taylor bubbles rising in an aqueous solution of glycerol with a dynamic viscosity of 113×10^–3 Pa s. With this technique the optical perturbations found in PIV measurements at the bubble interface are completely solved in the nose and in annular liquid film regions as well as in the rear of the bubble for cases in which the bottom is flat. However, for Taylor bubbles with concave oblate bottoms, some optical distortions appear and are discussed. The measurements achieved a spatial resolution of 0.0022 tube diameters. The results reported show high precision and are in agreement with theoretical and experimental published data.Symbols D internal column diameter (m) - g acceleration due to gravity (m s^–2) - l _w wake length (m) - Q _v liquid volumetric flow rate (m³ s^–1) - r radial position (m) - r * radial position of the wake boundary (m) - R internal column radius (m) - U _s Taylor bubble velocity (m s^–1) - u _z axial component of the velocity (m s^–1) - u _r radial component of the velocity (m s^–1) - z distance from the Taylor bubble nose (m) - Z * distance from the Taylor bubble nose for which the annular liquid film stabilizes (m) Dimensionless groups Re Reynolds number ( ) - N _f inverse viscosity number ( ) Greek letters liquid film thickness (m) - liquid kinematic viscosity (m² s^–1) - liquid dynamic viscosity (Pa s) - liquid density (kg m^–3)     

PIV analysis of near-wake behind a sphere at a subcritical Reynolds number

The vortical structure of near-wake behind a sphere is investigated using a PIV technique in a circulating water channel at Re = 11,000. The measured velocity fields show a detailed vortical structure in the recirculation region such as recirculation vortices, reversed velocity zone, and out-of-plane vorticity distribution. The vorticity distribution of the sphere wake shows waviness in cross-sectional planes. The time-averaged turbulent structures are consistent with the visualized flow showing the onset of shear layer instability. The spatial distributions of turbulent intensities provide turbulent statistics for validating numerical predictions.