Turbulent flow over a rough backward-facing step

This work characterizes the impacts of the realistic roughness due to deposition of foreign materials on the turbulent flows at surface transition from elevated rough-wall to smooth-wall. High resolution PIV measurements were performed in the streamwise-wall-normal (x–y) planes at two different spanwise positions in both smooth and rough backward-facing step flows. The experiment conditions were set at a Reynolds number of 3450 based on the free stream velocity U_∞ and the mean step height h, expansion ratio of 1.01, and the ratio of incoming boundary layer thickness to the step height, δ/h, of 8. The mean flow structures are observed to be modified by the roughness and they illustrate three-dimensional features in rough backward-facing step flows. The mean reattachment length X_r is significantly reduced by the roughness at one PIV measurement position while is slightly increased by the different roughness topography at the other measurement position. The mean velocity profiles at the reattachment point indicate that the studied roughness weakens the perturbation of the step to the incoming turbulent flow. Comparisons of Reynolds normal and shear stresses, productions of normal stresses, quadrant analysis of the instantaneous shear-stress contributing events, and mean spanwise vorticity reveal that the turbulence in the separated shear layer is reduced by the studied roughness. The results also indicate an earlier separation of the turbulent boundary layer over the current rough step, probably due to the adverse pressure gradient produced by the roughness topography even before the step.     

Structure of the turbulent boundary layer over a rod-roughened wall

Turbulent coherent structures near a rod-roughened wall are scrutinized by analyzing instantaneous flow fields obtained from direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of a turbulent boundary layer (TBL). The roughness elements used are periodically arranged two-dimensional spanwise rods, and the roughness height is k/δ = 0.05 where δ is the boundary layer thickness. The Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness is varied in the range Re_θ = 300–1400. The effect of surface roughness is examined by comparing the characteristics of the TBLs over smooth and rough walls. Although introduction of roughness elements onto the smooth wall affects the Reynolds stresses throughout the entire boundary layer when scaled by the friction velocity, the roughness has little effect on the vorticity fluctuations in the outer layer. Pressure-strain tensors of the transport equation for the Reynolds stresses and quadrant analysis disclose that the redistribution of turbulent kinetic energy of the rough wall is similar to that of the smooth wall, and that the roughness has little effect on the relative contributions of ejection and sweep motions in the outer layer. To elucidate the modifications of the near-wall vortical structure induced by surface roughness, we used two-point correlations, joint weighted probability density function, and linear stochastic estimation. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of coherent structures in the instantaneous flow field over the rod-roughened surface.     

On the impacts of coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on a forward-facing step turbulent flow

The present work explores the impacts of the coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on the turbulent boundary layers over forward-facing steps. The surface topographies of different scale resolutions were obtained from a novel multi-resolution analysis using discrete wavelet transform. PIV measurements are performed in the streamwise–wall-normal (x–y) planes at two different spanwise positions in turbulent boundary layers at Re_h = 3450 and δ/h = 8, where h is the mean step height and δ is the incoming boundary layer thickness. It was observed that large-scale but low-amplitude roughness scales had small effects on the forward-facing step turbulent flow. For the higher-resolution model of the roughness, the turbulence characteristics within 2h downstream of the steps are observed to be distinct from those over the original realistic rough step at a measurement position where the roughness profile possesses a positive slope immediately after the step’s front. On the other hand, much smaller differences exist in the flow characteristics at the other measurement position whose roughness profile possesses a negative slope following the step’s front.     

Flow field analysis of a turbulent boundary layer over a riblet surface

The near-wall flow structures of a turbulent boundary layer over a riblet surface with semi-circular grooves were investigated experimentally for the cases of drag decreasing (s ⁺=25.2) and drag increasing (s ⁺=40.6). One thousand instantaneous velocity fields over riblets were measured using the velocity field measurement technique and compared with those above a smooth flat plate. The field of view was 6.75 × 6.75 mm² in physical dimension, containing two grooves. Those instantaneous velocity fields were ensemble averaged to get turbulent statistics including turbulent intensities and turbulent kinetic energy. To see the global flow structure qualitatively, flow visualization was also carried out using the synchronized smoke-wire technique under the same experimental conditions. For the case of drag decreasing (s ⁺=25.2), most of the streamwise vortices stay above the riblets, interacting with the riblet tips frequently. The riblet tips impede the spanwise movement of the streamwise vortices and induce secondary vortices. The normalized rms velocity fluctuations and turbulent kinetic energy are small near the riblet surface, compared with those over a smooth flat plate. Inside the riblet valleys, these are sufficiently small that the increased wetted surface area of the riblets can be compensated. In addition, in the outer region (y ⁺ > 30), these values are almost equal to or slightly smaller than those for the smooth plate. For the case of drag increasing (s ⁺=40.6), however, most of the streamwise vortices stay inside the riblet valleys and contact directly with the riblet surface. The high-speed down-wash flow penetrating into the riblet valley interacts actively with the wetted riblet surface and increases the skin friction. The rms velocity fluctuations and turbulent kinetic energy have larger values compared with those over a smooth flat plate. Received: 24 March 1999/Accepted: 10 March 2000     

脊状表面减阻特性的风洞试验研究

利用热线风速仪,对光滑表面和多个脊状表面在低速风洞中进行了表面流场测试。基于测得的边界层速度分布数据,利用对数律区速度分布公式,编程分别计算出光滑表面和脊状表面的壁面摩擦速度和虚拟原点。研究发现,脊状表面最大减阻量达13．5％;有减阻效果的脊状表面使边界层速度曲线上移、湍流强度下降;与光滑表面相比,脊状表面的位移厚度和动量损失厚度明显减小,也表明脊状表面具有减阻效果;位移厚度和动量损失厚度减少量随槽间距s^＋的增加呈现先变大后变小的趋势,在S^＋=12时达到最大。     

Effects of the roughness height in turbulent boundary layers over rod- and cuboid-roughened walls

Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of spatially developing turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) over two-dimensional (2D) rod-roughened walls and three-dimensional (3D) cuboid-roughened walls are conducted to investigate the effects of the roughness height on the flow characteristics in the outer layer. The rod elements are periodically aligned along the downstream direction with a pitch of p_x/θ_in = 12, and the cuboid elements are periodically staggered with a pitch of p_x/θ_in = 12 and p_z/θ_in = 3, where p_x and p_z are correspondingly the streamwise and spanwise pitches of the roughness and θ_in is the momentum thickness at the inlet. The first surface roughness is placed 80θ_in downstream from the inlet, leading to a step change from a smooth to rough surface. The rod and cuboid roughness height (k) is varied in the range of 0.1 ≤ k/θ_in ≤ 1.8 (13 ≤ δ/k ≤ 285), respectively (δ is the boundary layer thickness), and the Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness (θ) is varied in the range of Re_θ = 300 ~ 1400. For each case, the self-preservation form of the velocity-defect and the turbulent Reynolds stresses is achieved along the downstream direction. As the roughness height increases, the roughness function (ΔU⁺) extracted from the mean velocity profiles increases, although the velocity-defect profiles for the rough-wall cases show good agreement with the profile from the smooth-wall case. The magnitude of the Reynolds stresses in the outer layer increases with an increase of k/δ. The outer layer similarity between the flows over the rough and smooth-walls is found when δ/k ≥ 250 and 100 for the 2D rod and 3D cuboid, respectively. The continuous increase of the Reynolds stresses in the outer layer with an increase of k/δ is explained by a large population of very long structures over the rough-wall flows. Because the characteristic width of the structures increases continuously with an increase of k/δ for the rod and cuboid roughness, a wide width of the structures leads to frequent spanwise merging between adjacent structures. The active spanwise merging events with an increase of k/δ increase the streamwise coherence of the structures with the appearance of significant meandering.     

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.     

Modification of the large-scale features of high Reynolds number wall turbulence by passive surface obtrusions

A high Reynolds number boundary-layer wind-tunnel facility at New Mexico State University was fitted with a regularly distributed braille surface. The surface was such that braille dots were closely packed in the streamwise direction and sparsely spaced in the spanwise direction. This novel surface had an unexpected influence on the flow: the energy of the very large-scale features of wall turbulence (approximately six-times the boundary-layer thickness in length) became significantly attenuated, even into the logarithmic region. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first experimental study to report a modification of ‘superstructures’ in a rough-wall turbulent boundary layer. The result gives rise to the possibility that flow control through very small, passive surface roughness may be possible at high Reynolds numbers, without the prohibitive drag penalty anticipated heretofore. Evidence was also found for the uninhibited existence of the near-wall cycle, well known to smooth-wall-turbulence researchers, in the spanwise space between roughness elements.     

脊状表面减阻机理研究

针对脊状表面流场的特点,通过实验测量和数值模拟的方法对脊状表面微观流场进行了深入研究,获得了脊状表面湍流边界层的时均速度分布曲线、湍流度分布曲线和微观流场结构.为了得到脊状结构对壁面物性的影响,对脊状表面进行了疏水性测试,获得了液滴在脊状表面上的表观接触角,并通过水洞试验验证了脊状表面的减阻效果.研究表明,与光滑表面相比,脊状表面微观流场结构中存在"二次涡",近壁区的黏性底层厚度比平板的要厚得多,湍流度显著降低,且脊状表面表现出明显的疏水性.由此提出了基于壁面隔离效应、增大湍流阻尼效应和改变壁面物性效应的减阻机理.     

Turbulence modulation in a particle-laden flow over a hemisphere-roughened wall

Turbulence modulation by the inertia particles in a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer flow over a hemisphere-roughened wall was investigated using the direct numerical simulation method. The Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches were used for the gas- and particle-phases, respectively. An immersed boundary method was employed to resolve the hemispherical roughness element. The hemispheres were staggered in the downstream direction and arranged periodically in the streamwise and spanwise directions with spacing of p_x/d= 4 and p_z/d= 2 (where p_x and p_z are the streamwise and spanwise spacing of the hemispheres, and d is the diameter). The effects of particles on the turbulent coherent structures, turbulent statistics and quadrant events were analyzed. The results show that the addition of particles significantly damps the vortices structures and increases the length scales of streak structures. Compared with the particle-laden flow over the smooth wall, the existence of the wall roughness decreases the mean streamwise velocity in the near wall region, and makes the peaks of Reynolds stresses profiles shift up. In addition, the existence of particles also increases the percentage contributions to Reynolds shear stress from the Q4 events, however, decreases the percentage contributions from other quadrant events.     

Distributed Roughness Effects on Transitional and Turbulent Boundary Layers

A numerical investigation is carried out to study the transition of a subsonic boundary layer on a flat plate with roughness elements distributed over the entire surface. Post-transition, the effect of surface roughness on a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is explored. In the transitional regime, the onset of flow transition predicted by the current simulations is in agreement with the experimentally based correlations proposed in the literature. Transition mechanisms are shown to change significantly with the increasing roughness height. Roughness elements that are inside the boundary layer create an elevated shear layer and alternating high and low speed streaks near the wall. Secondary sinuous instabilities on the streaks destabilize the shear layer promoting transition to turbulence. For the roughness topology considered, it is observed that the instability wavelengths are governed by the streamwise and spanwise spacing between the roughness elements. In contrast, the roughness elements that are higher than the boundary layer create turbulent wakes in their lee. The scale of instability is much shorter and transition occurs due to the shedding from the obstacles. Post-transition, in the spatially developing TBL, the velocity defect profiles for both the smooth and rough walls collapsed when non dimensionalized in the outer units. However, when compared to the smooth wall, deviation in the Reynolds stresses are observable in the outer layer; the deviation being higher for the larger roughness elements.     

Periodicity of large-scale coherence in turbulent boundary layers

This study examines the pronounced periodicity of large-scale coherent structures in turbulent boundary layers, which are of the order of the boundary layer thickness (δ) and reside in the logarithmic and wake regions. To this end, a series of multi-camera planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are conducted in a streamwise/spanwise and streamwise/wall-normal planes at a friction Reynolds number of Re_τ ≈ 2500. The experiments are configured to capture a large field-of-view with velocity fields that cover a streamwise extent in excess of 15δ. The resulting vector fields reveal large-scale streamwise and spanwise organisation instantaneously, which is often lost when only examining mean statistics. By extracting the dominant streamwise and spanwise Fourier modes of the large-scale motions, a clearer picture of these structural organisations and coherence is presented. A targeted inspection of these dominant modes reveal that these features remain coherent over a significant fraction of the boundary layer thickness in the wall-normal direction, but only a fraction of them have coherence that extends to the wall (wall-coherent). Further, the spatial extents and the population density of these wall-coherent and wall-incoherent modes are characterised, with the former conforming to the attached eddy arguments of Townsend (1976) and the subsequent attached eddy models. Collectively, through the evidence gathered here, we provide a conceptual picture of the representative large-scale structures in turbulent boundary layers, which are likely to have implications on the type of representative structures to be used in structure-based models for these flows.     

Experimental Control of Turbulent Boundary Layers with In-plane Travelling Waves

The experimental control of turbulent boundary layers using streamwise travelling waves of spanwise wall velocity, produced using a novel active surface, is outlined in this paper. The innovative surface comprises a pneumatically actuated compliant structure based on the kagome lattice geometry, supporting a pre-tensioned membrane skin. Careful design of the structure enables waves of variable length and speed to be produced in the flat surface in a robust and repeatable way, at frequencies and amplitudes known to have a favourable influence on the boundary layer. Two surfaces were developed, a preliminary module extending 152 mm in the streamwise direction, and a longer one with a fetch of 2.9 m so that the boundary layer can adjust to the new surface condition imposed by the forcing. With a shorter, 1.5 m portion of the surface actuated, generating an upstream-travelling wave, a drag reduction of 21.5% was recorded in the boundary layer with Re _τ =?1125. At the same flow conditions, a downstream-travelling produced a much smaller drag reduction of 2.6%, agreeing with the observed trends in current simulations. The drag reduction was determined with constant temperature hot-wire measurements of the mean velocity gradient in the viscous sublayer, while simultaneous laser Doppler vibrometer measurements of the surface recorded the wall motion. Despite the mechanics of the dynamic surface resulting in some out-of-plane motion (which is small in comparison to the in-plane streamwise movement), the positive drag reduction results are encouraging for future investigations at higher Reynolds numbers.     

Air flow aerodynamic on a wall-mounted hemisphere for various turbulent boundary layers

Air flow field around a surface-mounted hemisphere of a fixed height for two different turbulent boundary layers (thin and thick) are investigated experimentally and numerically. Flow measurements are performed in a wind tunnel using hot-wire anemometer and streamwise component of velocity fluctuation are calculated using a special developed program of the hardware system. Mean surface pressure coefficients and velocity field for the same hemisphere are determined by the numerical simulation. Turbulent flow field and intensity are measured for two types of boundary layers and compared at various sections in both streamwise and spanwise directions. Numerical scheme based on finite volume and SIMPLE algorithm is used to treat pressure and velocity coupling. Studies are performed for Reynolds number, Re_H = 32,000. Based on the numerical simulation using RNG k–ε turbulence model, flow pathlines, separation region and recirculation area are determined for the two types of turbulent boundary layer flows and complex flow field and recirculation regions are identified and presented graphically.     

Transient growth in the asymptotic suction boundary layer

In the present experimental setup, the transient disturbance growth in a spatially invariant boundary layer flow, i.e., the asymptotic suction boundary layer (ASBL), has been investigated. The choice of the ASBL brings along several advantages compared with an ordinary spatially growing boundary layer. A unique feature of the ASBL is that the Reynolds number (Re) can be varied without changing the boundary layer thickness, which in turn allows for parameter variations not possible to carry out in traditional boundary layer flows. A spanwise array of discrete surface roughness elements was mounted on the surface to trigger modes with different spanwise wavenumbers (β). It is concluded that for each mode there exists a threshold roughness Reynolds number (Re _k ), below which no significant transient growth is present. The experimental data suggests that this threshold Re _k is both a function of β and Re. An interesting result is that the energy growth curves respond differently to a change in Re _k when caused by a change in roughness height k, implying that Re remains constant, compared with a change in the free-stream velocity U_￥U_\infty, which also affects the Re. The scaling of the energy growth curves both in level and the downstream direction is treated and appropriate scalings are found. The result shows a complex non-linear receptivity mechanism. Optimal perturbation theory, which has failed to predict the energy evolution in growing boundary layers, is tested for the ASBL and shows that it may satisfactorily predict the evolution of all transiently growing modes that are triggered by the roughness elements.     

Riblet drag reduction in mild adverse pressure gradients: A numerical investigation

Riblet films are a passive method of turbulent boundary layer control that can reduce viscous drag. They have been studied with great detail for over 30 years. Although common riblet applications include flows with Adverse Pressure Gradients (APG), nearly all research thus far has been performed in channel flows. Recent research has provided motivation to study riblets in more complicated turbulent flows with claims that riblet drag reduction can double in mild APG common to airfoils at moderate angles of attack. Therefore, in this study, we compare drag reduction by scalloped riblet films between riblets in a zero pressure gradient and those in a mild APG using high-resolution large eddy simulations. In order to gain a fundamental understanding of the relationship between drag reduction and pressure gradient, we simulated several different riblet sizes that encompassed a broad range of s⁺ (riblet width in wall units), similarly to many previously published experimental studies. We found that there was only a slight improvement in drag reduction for riblets in the mild APG. We also observed that peak values of streamwise turbulence intensity, turbulent kinetic energy, and streamwise vorticity scale with riblet width. Primary Reynolds shear stresses and turbulence kinetic energy production however scale with the ability of the riblet to reduce skin-friction.     

Drag measurements on V-grooved surfaces on a body of revolution in axial flow

In water flows with velocities of up to 9 m/s the friction drag of a body of revolution in axial flow was investigated for dependence on the body surface structure. This was done for different types of riblet film fixed on the surface with the riblet direction aligned with the flow. The lateral spacing between the triangular shaped riblets varied between 0.033 mm and 0.152 mm. In all cases the riblet spacing was equal to the riblet height. For comparison a smooth reference film was used.Depending on the Reynolds number and the non-dimensional riblet spacings ⁺, a turbulent drag reduction of up to 9% could be achieved with riblets in comparison with the flow over a smooth surface.In the region of transition to turbulent flow and with non-dimensional riblet spacings ofs ⁺10–15 drag reductions of up to 13% were obtained. It is therefore conjectured, that in addition to hampering the near wall momentum exchange, the riblets can delay the development of initial turbulent structures in time and space.     

Numerical and experimental investigation of the laminar boundary layer over riblets

One of the main aims of this work is to show to what extent drag reduction in a turbulent boundary layer can be ascribed to a purely viscous effect. A numerical and experimental study is performed in a laminar boundary layer over triangular riblets. The 2-D parabolic equations of motion are integrated using an x marching method and the discretised system is solved with the MSI algorithm. The influence of the riblet geometrical parameters and of the number of grid points is studied. Measurements are carried out in a water tunnel with forward scatter and backscatter laser-Doppler velocimetry extending within the riblets. The longitudinal velocity component measurements and computations are practically identical. Numerical results presented herein show that a slight drag reduction is obtained for s/h=1.2. It appears that, as far as friction is concerned, the wetted area is not the surface to be considered. Thus, the boundary layer over riblets would behave like a boundary layer on an equivalent smooth plate located beneath the crest plane. The numerical study in terms of the riblet height h shows best results are for h tending to zero, with the ratio s/h being equal to 1.2.     

Spalding公式在脊状表面湍壁摩擦力测量中的应用

在低速风洞中来流速度一定的情况下使用IFA300恒温热线风速仪测量了光滑表面和两种不同尺寸的脊状表面湍流边界层平均速度分布剖面,并验证了试验段湍流发展的充分性;通过应用Spalding壁面公式使用最小二乘法精准拟合了实验测量的边界层内层速度分布曲线,得到了湍流边界层壁面摩擦速度并进一步求得湍流壁面摩擦应力,较准确地计算出脊状表面的虚拟原点位置,并通过与对数律公式拟合结果比较分析,证实了该方法更加准确有效. 最后分别计算了3种实验模型的湍流边界层动量损失厚度. 通过对比脊状表面与光滑表面动量损失厚度和壁面摩擦应力,反映了动量损失厚度的大小与壁面摩擦应力的大小具有一致性,充分证实了脊状表面在湍流中具有一定的减阻效果.      

Numerical Study of Turbulent Channel Flow over Surfaces with Variable Spanwise Heterogeneities: Topographically-driven Secondary Flows Affect Outer-layer Similarity of Turbulent Length Scales

Wall-bounded turbulent flows over surfaces with spanwise heterogeneous surface roughness – that is, spanwise-adjacent patches of relatively high and low roughness – exhibit mean flow phenomena entirely different to what would otherwise exist in the absence of spanwise heterogeneity. In the outer layer, mean counter-rotating rolls occupy the depth of the flow, and are positioned such that “upwelling” and “downwelling” occurs above the low and high roughness, respectively. It has been comprehensively shown that these secondary flows are Prandtl’s secondary flow of the second kind (Anderson et al., J. Fluid Mech. 768, 316–347 2015). This behaviour indicates that spanwise spacing, s _y , between adjacent patches of high and low roughness is, itself, a problem parameter; in this study, we have systematically assessed how s _y affects turbulence structure in high Reynolds number channel flows via two-point correlations. “High roughness” is imposed with streamwise-aligned pyramid elements with height, h, selected to be ≈ 5% of the channel half height, H. For \(s_{y}/H \gtrsim 1\), we find that the aforementioned domain-scale mean circulations exist and the surface may be regarded as a topography. For s _y /H ? 0.2, turbulence statistics show characteristics very similar to a homogeneous roughness and thus the surface may be regarded as a roughness. For 0.2 ? s _y /H ? 2, the spatial extent of the counter-rotating rolls is controlled by proximity to adjacent rows, and we define such surfaces as being intermediate. We refer to such surfaces as intermediate state.