Analytical investigation of boundary layer growth and swirl intensity decay rate in a pipe

In this research, the developing turbulent swirling flow in the entrance region of a pipe is investigated analytically by using the boundary layer integral method. The governing equations are integrated through the boundary layer and obtained differential equations are solved with forth-order Adams predictor-corrector method. The general tangential velocity is applied at the inlet region to consider both free and forced vortex velocity profiles. The comparison between present model and available experimental data demonstrates the capability of the model in predicting boundary layer parameters (e.g. boundary layer growth, shear rate and swirl intensity decay rate). Analytical results showed that the free vortex velocity profile can better predict the boundary layer parameters in the entrance region than in the forced one. Also, effects of pressure gradient inside the boundary layer is investigated and showed that if pressure gradient is ignored inside the boundary layer, results deviate greatly from the experimental data.     

Effects of sub-millimeter-bubble injection on transition to turbulence in natural convection boundary layer along a vertical plate in water

Temperature and velocity measurements are performed to clarify the effects of sub-millimeter-bubble injection on the transition to turbulence in the natural convection boundary layer along a vertical plate in water. In particular, we focus on the relationship between the bubble injection position L and the transition to turbulence in the natural convection boundary layer. The bubble injection positions used in our experiments are L = 1.6 and 3.6 mm. Bubble injection at L = 1.6 mm delays the transition to turbulence in the natural convection boundary layer, while that at L = 3.6 mm accelerates the transition to turbulence in the boundary layer. In the case of L = 1.6 mm, the appearance region of the liquid velocity fluctuation in the bubble-induced upward flow in the upstream unheated section is restricted to near the wall, although the peak of the liquid velocity fluctuation is high. In contrast, in the case of L = 3.6 mm, the relatively large liquid velocity fluctuation is distributed widely over the laminar boundary layer width. These results suggest that the effect of the liquid velocity fluctuation on the laminar boundary layer is quite different between L = 1.6 and 3.6 mm. It is therefore expected that the transition to turbulence in the natural convection boundary layer for the case with bubble injection is dependent on the magnitude and appearance region of the liquid velocity fluctuation in the bubble-induced upward flow in the upstream unheated section.     

The entrance effect of laminar flow over a backward-facing step geometry

The study investigates the entrance effect for flow over a backward-facing step by comparing predictions that set the inlet boundary at various locations upstream of the sudden expansion. Differences are most significant in the sudden expansion region. If the geometry has an inlet channel, then shorter reattachment and separation lengths are predicted. Comparisons with experimental data indicate that better agreement is found using a long inlet channel, but only for low Reynolds numbers where the experimental error is less significant. For certain cases, predictions with a high expansion number are perturbed by the entrance effect more than low-expansion-number predictions; however, the effect is localized in the sudden expansion region. Channels with low expansion numbers always experience a greater entrance effect after some distance upstream and downstream of the sudden expansion. The boundary layer growth in the inlet channel was examined using a uniform inlet velocity profile. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near-wall flow in a three-dimensional boundary layer on the endwall of a 30° bend

 Turbulence measurements are reported on the three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer along the centerline of the flat endwall in a 30° bend. Profiles of mean velocities and Reynolds stresses were obtained down to y ⁺≈2 for the mean flow and y ⁺≈8 for the turbulent stresses. Mean velocity data collapsed well on a simple law-of-the-wall based on the magnitude of the resultant velocity. The turbulence intensity and turbulent shear stress magnitude both increased with increased three-dimensionality. The ratio of these two quantities, the a ₁ structure parameter, decreased in the central regions of the boundary layer and showed profile similarity for y ⁺<50. The shear stress vector angle lagged behind the velocity gradient vector angle in the outer region of the boundary layer, however there was an indication that the shear stress vector tends to lead the velocity gradient vector close to the wall. Received: 16 July 1996/Accepted: 14 July 1997     

A note on velocity-profile similarity of turbulent boundary layers with negligible wall stress

Summary The velocity profiles of a turbulent boundary layer with zero skin friction throughout its region of pressure rise, measured by Stratford in 1959, are analyzed in terms of a law of the wall and a velocity-defect law with a common velocity scale and a logarithmic velocity profile in the region of overlap. The analysis deviates from earlier work by Stratford and Townsend. It is shown that the flow in Stratford's boundary layer, even at the largest value of x ₁ at which measurements were taken, is not yet in a state of equilibrium. The velocity scale for turbulent boundary layers with zero skin friction is proportional to the cube root of the pressure gradient.     

Influence of the inlet velocity profiles on the prediction of velocity distribution inside an electrostatic precipitator

The influence of the velocity profile at the inlet boundary on the simulation of air velocity distribution inside an electrostatic precipitator is presented in this study. Measurements and simulations were performed in a duct and an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). A four-hole cobra probe was used for the measurement of velocity distribution. The flow simulation was performed by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Numerical calculations for the air flow were carried out by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with the realizable k-ε turbulence model equations. Simulations were performed with two different velocity profiles at the inlet boundary – one with a uniform (ideal) velocity profile and the other with a non-uniform (real) velocity profile to demonstrate the effect of velocity inlet boundary condition on the flow simulation results inside an ESP. The real velocity profile was obtained from the velocity measured at different points of the inlet boundary whereas the ideal velocity profile was obtained by calculating the mean value of the measured data. Simulation with the real velocity profile at the inlet boundary was found to predict better the velocity distribution inside the ESP suggesting that an experimentally measured velocity profile could be used as velocity inlet boundary condition for an accurate numerical simulation of the ESP.     

Laminar boundary layer flow of a nanofluid along a wedge in the presence of suction/injection

The behavior of an incompressible laminar boundary layer flow over a wedge in a nanofluid with suction or injection has been investigated. The model used for the nanofluid integrates the effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters. The governing partial differential equations of this problem, subjected to their boundary conditions, are solved by the Runge-Kutta-Gill technique with the shooting method for finding the skin friction and the rate of heat and mass transfer. The result are presented in the form of velocity, temperature, and volume fraction profiles for different values of the suction/injection parameter, Brownian motion parameter, thermophoresis parameter, pressure gradient parameter, Prandtl number, and Lewis number. The conclusion is drawn that these parameters significantly affect the temperature and volume fraction profiles, but their influence on the velocity profile is comparatively smaller.     

Temperature distribution in a Newtonian fluid injected between two semi-infinite plates

The analysis of the temperature distribution in time and place of a hot heat-conducting Newtonian fluid injected between two cooled parallel plates is presented. The 2-dimensional flow has a free flow front moving with constant velocity. The kernel of the fluid remains almost at the inlet temperature, but at the walls boundary layers occur with steeply descending temperature. The inner solutions inside these boundary layers are determined. To this end, the total region is divided into three distinct regions: the region G_I far behind the flow front, the flow front region G_II, and the intermediate region G_III between G_I and G_II. The asymptotics owing to each region are presented. The fundamental small parameter here is the thickness-to-length ratio of the 2-dimensional flow region. In most of the cases, similarity solutions are found. In the flow front region, for the formulation of the inner solution a Wiener–Hopf technique is used. Via matching procedures, the separate boundary layers are linked to each other to form one global boundary layer for the whole front region. All calculations in this paper are performed by analytical means, and all results are in analytical form. Comparison of our results with numerical solutions shows perfect agreement.     

Analytical study of heat transfer and boundary layer flow with suction and injection

The Governing Principle of Dissipative Processes (GPDP) formulated by Gyarmati into non-equilibrium thermodynamics is employed to study the effects of heat transfer, two dimensional, laminar and constant property fluid flow in the boundary layer with suction and injection. The flow and temperature fields inside the boundary layer are approximated by simple third degree polynomial functions and the variational principle is formulated over the region of the boundary layer. The Euler–Lagrange equations of the principle are obtained as polynomial equations in terms of momentum and thermal layer thicknesses. These equations are solvable for any given values of Prandtl number Pr, wedge angle parameter m and suction/injection parameter H. The obtained analytical solutions are compared with known numerical solutions and the comparison shows the fact that the accuracy is remarkable.     

A parametric study of adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers

There are many open questions regarding the behaviour of turbulent boundary layers subjected to pressure gradients and this is confounded by the large parameter space that may affect these flows. While there have been many valuable investigations conducted within this parameter space, there are still insufficient data to attempt to reduce this parameter space. Here, we consider a parametric study of adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers where we restrict our attention to the pressure gradient parameter, β, the Reynolds number and the acceleration parameter, K. The statistics analyzed are limited to the streamwise fluctuating velocity. The data show that the mean velocity profile in strong pressure gradient boundary layers does not conform to the classical logarithmic law. Moreover, there appears to be no measurable logarithmic region in these cases. It is also found that the large-scale motions scaling with outer variables are energised by the pressure gradient. These increasingly strong large-scale motions are found to be the dominant contributor to the increase in turbulence intensity (scaled with friction velocity) with increasing pressure gradient across the boundary layer.     

Effect of injection on the flow in the inlet region of a channel

Momentum and energy integrals are used to study the effect of injection on the flow in the inlet region of a channel, taking into account the loss of energy due to viscous dissipation in the boundary layer. Analytical expressions for boundary layer development and inlet region pressure distribution are presented. A comparison of the results of the present analysis is made with earlier studies.     

Drag reduction of a nonnewtonian fluid by fluid injection on a moving wall

Summary A boundary layer problem of a nonnewtonian fluid flow with fluid injection on a semi-infinite flat plate whose surface moves with a constant velocity in the opposite direction to that of the uniform mainstream is analyzed. Concluding similarity equations are solved numerically to show the dependence of the problem to the velocity ratio λ of the plate to uniform flow and to the injection velocity parameter C. The critical values of λ and C for each nonnewtonian power-law index n are obtained, and their significance in drag reduction is discussed. Received 26 August 1997; accepted for publication 21 October 1998     

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.     

Effects of thermal stratification on flow and heat transfer past a porous vertical stretching surface

The aim of this paper is to present the boundary layer flow of viscous incompressible fluid due to a porous vertical stretching surface with a power-law stretching velocity in a thermally stratified medium. Using a special form of Lie group transformations viz. scaling group of transformations, similarity solutions for this problem are obtained. The equations are then solved numerically. With increasing values of the stratification parameter, the velocity as well as temperature decreases. At a particular point of the porous stretching sheet, the velocity decreases with the increasing suction parameter. The dimensionless temperature at a point of the sheet decreases due to suction but increases due to injection. The findings of this study reveal that stratification and suction can be used as means of cooling the boundary layer flow region.     

Laminar flow in the entrance region of a porous-wall channel

Summary The effect of fluid injection at the walls of a two-dimensional channel on the development of flow in the entrance region of the channel has been investigated. The integral forms of the boundary layer equations for flow in the channel were set up for an injection velocity uniformly distributed along the channel walls.With an assumed polynomial of the n-th degree for the one-parameter velocity profile a solution of the above boundary layer equations was obtained by an iteration method. A closed form solution was also obtained for the case when a similar velocity profile was assumed. The agreement between the entrance region velocity profiles of the present analysis for an impermeable-walled channel and of Schlichting¹) and Bodoia and Osterle²) is found to be very good.The results of the analysis show that fluid injection at the channel walls increases the rate of the growth of the boundary layer thickness, and hence reduces considerably the entrance length required for a fully developed flow.Nomenclature h half channel thickness - L entrance length with wall-injection - L ₀ entrance length without wall-injection - p static pressure - p=p/U ₀ ² dimensionless pressure - Re=U ₀ h/ Reynolds number at inlet cross-section - u velocity in the x direction at any point in the channel - =u/U ₀ dimensionless velocity in the x direction at any point in the channel - U _av average velocity at a channel cross-section - U _c center line velocity - U ₀ inlet cross-section velocity - _c =U _c /U ₀ dimensionless center line velocity - v velocity in the y direction at any point in the channel - v ₀ constant injection velocity of fluid at the wall - v=v/v ₀ dimensionless velocity in the y direction at any point in the channel - x distance along the channel wall measured from the inlet cross-section - x=x/hRe dimensionless distance in the x direction - y distance perpendicular to the channel wall - y=y/h dimensionless distance in the y direction - thickness of the boundary layer - =/h dimensionless boundary layer thickness - =/ dimensionless distance within the boundary layer region - =v ₀ h/ injection parameter or injection Reynolds number - kinematic viscosity - 1+ie - mass density of the fluid - parameter defined in (14)     

Boundary layer development in a gas flow with stagnation enthalpy varying across the streamlines

We consider a laminar boundary layer for which the stagnation enthalpy specified in the initial section is variable with height. Such problems arise, for example, for bodies located in the wake behind another body, for hypersonic flow past slender blunted bodies (as a result of the large transverse entropy gradients in the highentropy layer), for stepwise variation of the temperature of a surface on which there is an already developed boundary layer, for sudden expansion of the boundary layer as a result of its flow past a corner of the surface, etc.Strictly, we should in such cases solve the boundary layer equations (if the longitudinal gradients are much smaller than the transverse) with the specified initial distribution of the quantities. However, from the physical point of view, the distributed region may be broken down into two regions, the near-wall boundary layer and an outer region which is a gas flow with constant velocity and the specified initial temperature profile, whose calculation yields the edge conditions for the boundary layer. The boundary between the regions is determined from the condition of adequately smooth matching of the solutions. This approach is much preferable to the first, since it permits avoiding (within the framework of boundary layer theory) the difficulties associated with the presence of a possible singularity at the initial point of the surface due to the discontinuity of the boundary conditions at this point, and also permits using conventional boundary layer theory if the effect of the viscosity in the outer region is not significant. However, this partition requires additional justifications of the possibility of independent determination of the solution in the outer region and the determination of the edge of the boundary layer, considered as the region of influence of the wetted surface. The boundary layer in a nonuniform flow has been considered in several works for a linear initial velocity or temperature profile [1–3].It should be noted that the linear initial enthalpy or velocity profiles for constant gas properties do not undergo changes under the influence of viscosity or thermal conductivity. Thus the fundamental characteristic features noted above which are associated with the presence of the two regions and their interaction in essence cannot be investigated using these examples.In this study we obtain and analyze the exact solutions of the equations of the compressible boundary layer for a power-law variation of the initial stagnation enthalpy profile as a function of the stream function for a constant initial velocity. Here it is shown that the influence of the boundary conditions at the wall are actually localized in the near-wall boundary layer, which is similar in dimensions to the conventional velocity or thermal boundary layers. In the region which is external with relation to this layer, in accordance with the physical picture described above, the solution coincides with the solution of the Cauchy problem for the heat conduction equation, which describes the development of the initial temperature profile in an infinite steady-state flow with constant velocity.It is shown that for the sufficiently smooth initial profiles which are of interest in practice the outer flow undergoes practically no changes until we reach the inner boundary layer, and it may be calculated using the perfect gas laws.     

Effect of transverse stream velocity in an incompressible boundary layer on the stability of the laminar flow regime

The stability of the laminar flow regime in the boundary layer developed on a wall is increased considerably by the relatively slight extraction of fluid from the wall [1–4]. In the theoretical study of this phenomenon, all the investigators known to the present authors have taken into account only the increase in the fullness of the velocity profile in the boundary layer with suction. Computations of the stability characteristics have been made on the assumption that there are no transverse velocities in the laminar boundary layer.We present below an analysis of the stability of the laminar boundary layer in the presence of a constant transverse velocity in the near-wall region (suction). The calculations made show the existence for a given velocity profile in the boundary layer of a relative suction velocity v=v such that with suction velocities greater than v the flow remains stable at all Reynolds numbers, while the method used in the cited references gives a definite finite critical Reynolds number, equal in our notation to the Reynolds number at v=0, for each relative suction velocity.It was found that with suction of fluid from the boundary layer the region of instability has finite dimensions, i.e., there exist lower and upper critical Reynolds numbers. The flow is stable if its Reynolds number is less than the lower, or greater than the upper values of the critical Reynolds number.The instability region diminishes with increase in the relative suction velocity, and at a value of this velocity which is specific for each value of the velocity profile the instability region degenerates into a point-the flow becomes absolutely stable. Thus, with distributed suction it is advisable to increase the relative suction velocity only to a definite magnitude corresponding to disappearance of the instability region. The computational results presented make it possible to estimate this velocity for velocity profiles ranging from a Blasius profile to an asymptotic profile. Specific calculations were made for a family of Wuest profiles, since under actual conditions with suction there always exists a starting segment of the boundary layer [1, 2].     

Large Eddy Simulation of the Flow Over a Three-Dimensional Hill

This paper investigates the use of LES for a flow around a three-dimensional axisymmetric hill. Two aspects of this simulation in particular are discussed here, the resolution and the inlet boundary conditions. In contrast to the LES of flows with sharp edge separations which do not require the near-wall dynamics to be fully resolved, the hill flow LES relies on the resolution of the upstream boundary layer in order to provoke the separation at a correct position. Although around 15 ×10⁶ computational cells were used, the resolution of streaky structures in the near-wall region that are important for a LES is not achieved. Two different inlet boundary conditions were used: the steady experimental profile and the time-dependent boundary conditions produced from DNS results of low Reynolds number channel flow. No significant improvement in the results was obtained with the unsteady inlet condition. This indicates that, although the unsteady inlet boundary conditions may be necessary for a successful LES of this flow, they must be followed with the resolution of the boundary layer for a successful LES.     

Flow of power-law fluids over a moving wedge surface with wall mass injection

The boundary layer problem of a power-law fluid flow with fluid injection on a wedge whose surface is moving with a constant velocity in the opposite direction to that of the uniform mainstream is analyzed. The free stream velocity, the injection velocity at the surface, moving velocity of the wedge surface, the wedge angle and the power law index of non-Newtonian fluid are assumed variables. The fourth order Runge–Kutta method modified by Gill is used to solve the non-dimensional boundary layer equations for non-Newtonian flow field. Without fluid injection, for every angle of wedge β, a limiting value for velocity ratio λ _cr (velocity of the wedge surface/velocity of the uniform flow) is found for each power-law index n. The value of λ _cr increases with the increasing wedge angle β. The value of wedge angle also restricts the physical characteristics of the fluid to be used. The effects of the different parameters on velocity profile and on skin friction are studied and the drag reduction is discussed. In case of C = 2.5 and velocity ratio λ = 0.2 for wedge angle β = 0.5 with the fluid with power law-index n = 0.5, 48.8% drag reduction is obtained.     

On thermal boundary layer of a non-Newtonian fluid on a power-law stretched surface of variable temperature with suction or injection

 Heat transfer characteristics of a non-Newtonian fluid on a power-law stretched surface of variable temperature with suction or injection were investigated. Similarity solutions of the laminar boundary layer equations describing heat transfer and fluid flow in a quiescent fluid were obtained and solved numerically. Velocity and temperature profiles as well as the Nusselt number, Nu, were studied for two thermal boundary conditions; uniform surface temperature and variable surface temperature, for different parameters; Prandtl number Pr, temperature exponent b, velocity exponent m, injection parameter d and power-law index n. It was found that decreasing injection parameter d, and power-law index n and increasing Prandtl number Pr and surface temperature exponent b enhance the heat transfer coefficient. Received on 27 April 2000