Understanding coherent vortices through computational fluid dynamics

A new definition of coherent vortices in turbulence is proposed, where the vorticity equation reduces to a cyclostrophic balance. Afterward, we describe five fundamental vortex interactions, the sheet, the spiral, the pairing, the even longitudinal, and the odd longitudinal modes. Numerous examples of these interactions are provided from direct numerical or large-eddy simulations. The resulting vortices are responsible for the internal intermittent character of turbulence, with highly nongaussian tails for the probability density functions of vorticity, passive scalar, and low pressure. In a mixing layer, the combination of the odd longitudinal and the pairing modes (helical pairing) is inhibited by compressibility, above a convective Mach number of 0.7. When turbulence is submitted to a solid-body rotation, anticyclonic vortices of local Rossby number of the order of 1 transform into intense perpendicular Görtler-type alternate longitudinal vortices.The support of CCVR, CEA, CNRS, Dassault/CNES, DRET, LHF, and Région Rhône-Alpes is acknowledged. This paper is the text of an invited lecture given at the IUTAM Symposium on Eddy Structure Identification in Free Turbulent Shear Flows, Poitiers, 12–14 October 1992.     

Numerical simulation of boundary-layer transition at Mach two

The linear and early nonlinear stages of boundary-layer transition at free-stream Mach numberM ==2.0 are investigated by direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Results from simulations with a large computational box and small-amplitude random initial conditions are compared with linear stability theory. The growth rates of oblique waves are reproduced correctly. Two-dimensional waves show a growth that is modulated in time, indicating the presence of an extra unstable mode which moves supersonically relative to the free stream. Further simulations are conducted to investigate the nonlinear development of two- and three-dimensional disturbances The transition due to oblique disturbance waves is the most likely cause of transition at this Mach number, and is found to lead to the development of strong streamwise vortices.     

Large-eddy simulation of nonlinear evolution and breakdown to turbulence in high-speed boundary layers

The nonlinear evolution and laminar-turbulent breakdown of a boundary-layer flow along a cylinder at Mach 4.5 is investigated with large-eddy temporal simulation. The results are validated using the direct numerical simulation data of Pruett and Zang. The structure of the flow during the transition process is studied in terms of the vorticity field. The subgrid scales are modeled dynamically, where the model coefficients are determined as part of the solution from the local resolved field. In the numerical simulation the dynamic-model coefficients are obtained by using both the strain-rate contraction of Germano et al. and the least-squares contraction of Lilly; they produced some differences in the details of the vorticity structure inside the transition region. A new dynamic model that utilizes the second-order velocity structure function is used to parametrize the small-scale field. The evolution to turbulence is successfully simulated with dynamic subgrid-scale modeling at least in terms of average quantities as well as vorticity fields. This is achieved with one-sixth of the grid resolution used in direct numerical simulation.This work was sponsored by the Theoretical Flow Physics Branch of the Fluid Mechanics Division of NASA Langley Research Center under Contract NAS1-19320.     

A note on numerical simulation of vortical structures in shock diffraction

In numerical simulation of the Euler equations, the slipstream or shear layer that appears behind a diffracted shock wave may develop small discrete vortices using fine computational meshes. Similar phenomena were also observed in the simulation of a Mach reflection that is accompanied by a shear layer. However, these small vortices have never been observed in any shock-tube experiment, although the wave pattern and the shape of the main vortex agree very well with visualization results. Numerical solutions obtained with coarse grids may agree better with experimental photos than those with very fine grids because of the pollution of the small vortices. This note tries to investigate the effect of viscosity on the small vortices by comparing the solutions of the laminar Navier-Stokes equations and the turbulence model. It is found that the small vortices are still observed in the solution of the laminar Navier-Stokes equations, although they can be suppressed by using the turbulence model. Numerical and experimental factors that are responsible for the deviation of the laminar solutions from experimental results are discussed. The secondary vortex in shock diffraction is successfully simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations.Received: 28 March 2003, Accepted: 6 May 2003, Published online: 11 June 2003     

Direct simulation of breakdown to turbulence following oblique instability waves in a supersonic boundary layer

The late stages of transition to turbulence in a Mach two boundary layer are investigated by direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The primary instability at this Mach number consists of oblique waves, which are known to form a pattern of quasi-streamwise vortices. It is found that breakdown does not follow immediately from these vortices, which decay in intensity. The generation of new vortices is observed by following the evolution of the pressure and vorticity in the simulation, and analysed by consideration of vorticity stretching. It is found that the slight inclined and skewed nature of the quasi-streamwise vortices leads to a production of oppositely signed streamwise vorticity, which serves as a strong localised forcing of the shear layer alongside the original vortices, formed by convection and stretching of spanwise vorticity. The shear layer rolls up into many new vortices, and is followed by a sharp increase in the energy of higher frequencies and in the skin friction.     

Effect of Inflow Turbulence on an Airfoil Flow with Laminar Separation Bubble: An LES Study

The present paper is concerned with numerical investigations on the effect of inflow turbulence on the flow around a SD7003 airfoil. At a Reynolds number Re_c =?60,000, an angle of attack α =?4^° and a low or zero turbulence intensity of the oncoming flow, the flow past the airfoil is known to be dominated by early separation, subsequent transition and reattachment leading to a laminar separation bubble with a distinctive pressure plateau. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of inflow turbulence on the flow behavior. For this purpose, a numerical methodology relying on a wall-resolved large-eddy simulation, a synthetic turbulence inflow generator and a specific source term concept for introducing the turbulence fluctuations within the computational domain is used. The numerical technique applied allows the variation of the free-stream turbulence intensity (TI) in a wide range. In order to analyze the influence of TI on the arising instantaneous and time-averaged flow field past the airfoil, the present study evaluates the range 0% ≤ TI ≤?11.2%, which covers typical values found in atmospheric boundary layers. In accordance with experimental studies it is shown that the laminar separation bubble first shrinks and finally completely vanishes for increasing inflow turbulence. Consequently, the aerodynamic performance in terms of the lift-to-drag ratio increases. Furthermore, the effect of the time and length scales of the isotropic inflow turbulence on the development of the flow field around the airfoil is analyzed and a perceptible influence is found. Within the range of inflow scales studied decreasing scales augment the receptivity of the boundary layer promoting an earlier transition.     

HLLE++格式在高马赫数空腔流动模拟中的应用

空腔流动存在剪切层运动、涡脱落与破裂,以及激波与激波、激波与剪切层、激波与膨胀波和激波/涡/剪切层相互干扰等现象,流动非常复杂,特别是高马赫数(M>2)时,剪切层和激波更强,激波与激波干扰更严重,对数值格式的要求更高,既需要格式耗散小,对分离涡等有很高的模拟精度,又需要格式在激波附近具有较大的耗散,可以很好地捕捉激波,防止非物理解的出现。Roe和HLLC等近似Riemann解格式在高马赫数强激波处可能会出现红玉现象,而HLLE++格式大大改善了这种缺陷,在捕捉高超声速激波时避免了红玉现象的发生,同时还保持在光滑区域的低数值耗散特性。本文在结构网格下HLLE++格式的基础上,通过改进激波探测的求解,建立了基于非结构混合网格的HLLE++计算方法,通过无粘斜坡算例,验证了HLLE++格式模拟高马赫数流动的能力,并应用于高马赫数空腔流动的数值模拟,开展了网格和湍流模型影响研究,验证了方法模拟高马赫数空腔流动的可靠性和有效性。     

Shock waves and turbulence in a hypersonic inlet

A numerical investigation for an axisymmetric hypersonic turbulent inlet flow field of a perfect gas is presented for a three-shock configuration consisting of a biconic and a cowl. An upwind parabolized Navier-Stokes solver based on Roe's scheme is used to compute an oncoming flow Mach numberM =8, temperatureT =216 K, and pressureP =5.5293×10³ N/m². In order to assess the flow quantities, the interaction between shock and turbulence, and the inlet efficiency, three different flow calculations — laminar, turbulent with incompressible and compressible two-equationk- turbulence models — have been performed in this work.Computational results show that turbulence is markedly enhanced across an oblique shock with step-like increases in turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation rate. This enhancement is at the expense of the mean kinetic energy of the flow. Therefore, the velocity behind the shock is smaller in turbulent flow and hence the shock becomes stronger. The entropy increase through a shock is caused not only by the amplification of random molecular motion, but also by the enhancement of the chaotic turbulent flow motion. However, only the compressiblek- turbulence model can properly predict a decrease in turbulence length scale across a shock. Our numerical simulation reveals that the incompressiblek- turbulence model exaggerates the interaction between shock and turbulence with turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation rate remaining high and almost undissipated far beyond the shock region. It is shown that proper modeling of turbulence is essential for a realistic prediction of hypersonic inlet flowfield. The performed study shows that the viscous effect is not restricted in the boundary layer but extends into the main flow behind a shock wave. The loss of the available energy in the inlet performance therefore needs to be determined from the shock-turbulence interaction. The present study predicts that the inlet efficiency becomes relatively lower when turbulence is taken into account.     

On the görtler vortex instability mechanism at hypersonic speeds

The linear instability of the hypersonic boundary layer on a curved wall is considered. As a starting point the viscosity of the fluid is taken to be a linear function of temperature and real-gas effects are ignored. It is shown that the flow is susceptible to Görtler vortices and that they are trapped in the logarithmically thin adjustment layer in which the temperature of the basic flow changes rapidly to its free stream value. The vortices decay exponentially in both directions away from this layer and are most unstable when their wavelength is comparable with the depth of the adjustment layer. The nonuniqueness of the neutral stability curve associated with incompressible Görtler vortices is shown to disappear at high Mach numbers if the appropriate fast streamwise dependence of the instability is built into the disturbance flow structure. It is shown that in the hypersonic limit wall-cooling affects the leading-order term in the expansion of the Görtler number which is independent of the wavenumber and which is due to the curvature of the basic state but it has a negligible effect on the other terms which are dependent on the wavenumber.This research was supported in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Contract No. NAS1-18605 while the first author was in residence at the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering (ICASE), NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23665. This work was also partially supported by NASA under Grant NASA 18107 and by USAF under Grant AFOSR89-0042.     

Features of a Turbulent Jet at High Supersonic Velocities

The results of modeling a turbulent supersonic jet at M = 5 using large-eddy simulation (LES) are presented. The structural features of turbulence formed in this flow are analyzed. The possibilities of the large-eddy simulation method and the complexities of simulation of the compressibility effects in jet flows at high Mach numbers are considered. Such features of the supersonic jet as the local turbulent shocklets and Mach waves are reproduced numerically. It is shown that in the neighborhood of the jet the trajectories of ejection flow are located along the front of Mach waves. Anisotropic turbulent structures whose longitudinal scale is greater than the transverse scale by an order of magnitude are revealed in the jet. An estimate of the baroclinic effects shows their weak influence on the vorticity generation in the jet flow considered.     

Effect of Free-Stream Turbulence on the Reduction of Surface Friction in a Turbulent Boundary Layer Behind LEBU-Devices

The effect of increased free-stream turbulence on the reduction of the surface friction coefficient c _f in a turbulent boundary layer behind large-eddy break-up (LEBU) devices is investigated using a gravimetric method. The turbulence level was ε ≈ 1.9–4.9 % and the turbulence scale L _e ≈ 40–110 mm. The boundary layer Reynolds number Re** was varied from 2300 to 7500, with the boundary layer thickness being varied on the range δ = 33–44 mm. It is shown that an increase in the turbulence level ε has almost no impact on the relative reduction of friction behind LEBU-devices, whereas, under similar conditions of elevated free-stream turbulence, for another method, namely, the use of surface riblets, the friction reduction may be more strongly expressed.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of inclined air/SF6 interface instability under shock wave

The shock tube experiments of inclined air/SF6 interface instability under the shock wave with the Mach numbers 1.23 and 1.41 are conducted. The numerical simulation is done with the parallel algorithm and the multi-viscous-fluid and turbulence (MVFT) code of the large-eddy simulation (LES). The developing process of the interface accelerated by the shock wave is reproduced by the simulations. The complex wave structures, e.g., the propagation, refraction, and reflection of the shock wave, are clearly revealed in the flows. The simulated evolving images of the interface are consistent with the experimental ones. The simulated width of the turbulent mixing zone (TMZ) and the displacements of the bubble and the spike also agree well with the experimental data. Also, the reliability and effectiveness of the MVFT in simulating the problem of interface instability are validated. The more energies are injected into the TMZ when the shock wave has a larger Mach number. Therefore, the perturbed interface develops faster.     

Computations of Interaction of an Incident Oblique Shock Wave with a Turbulent Boundary Layer on a Flat Plate

Results of numerical simulation of interaction between an oblique shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer formed in a supersonic (Mach number M =5) flow past a flat plate are presented. The computations are performed for three cases of interaction of different intensity, which result in an attached or detached flow. Numerical results are compared with experimental data. The effect of flow turbulence and shockwave unsteadiness on flow parameters is studied.     

Effect of energy addition on MR $\rightarrow$ RR transition

A combined computational and experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of a single laser energy pulse on the transition from a Mach Reflection (MR) to a Regular Reflection (RR) in the Dual Solution Domain (DSD). The freestream Mach number is 3.45 and two oblique shock waves are formed by two symmetric wedges. These conditions correspond to a point midway within the DSD wherein either an MR or an RR is possible. A steady MR was first obtained experimentally and numerically, then a single laser pulse was deposited above the horizontal center plane. In the experiment, the laser beam was focused resulting in a deposition volume of approximately 3 mm³, while in the simulation, the laser pulse was modeled as an initial variation of the temperature and pressure using Gaussian profile. A grid refinement study was conducted to assess the accuracy of the numerical simulations. For the steady MR, the simulation showed the variation of Mach stem height along the span due to side effects. The predicted spanwise averaged Mach stem height was 1.96 mm within 2% of the experimental value of 2 mm. The experiment showed that the Mach stem height decreased to 30% of its original height due to the interaction with the thermal spot generated by the laser pulse and then returned to its original height by s. That the Mach stem returned to its original height was most likely due to freestream turbulence in the wind tunnel. The numerical simulation successfully predicted the reverse transition from a stable MR to a stable RR and the stable RR persisted across the span. This study showed the capability of a laser energy pulse to control the reverse transition of MR RR within the Dual Solution Domain.     

Asymptotic analysis of the structure of long‐wave Görtler vortices in a hypersonic boundary layer

An asymptotic (at high Reynolds and Görtler numbers) model of nonlinear longwave Görtler vortices localized inside the boundary layer near a concave surface located in a hypersonic viscous gas flow in the regime of weak viscidinviscid interaction is constructed. The maximum wavelength is evaluated. Numerical solutions are obtained for an inviscid local limit in the linear approximation. It is shown that an increase in the freestream Mach number exerts a stabilizing effect on the vortices, and a change in the Prandtl number has no significant effect on them. For the case where the vortices form a threelayered disturbed flow structure, it is shown analytically for the first time that surface heating exerts a stabilizing action on the vortices.     

The inaugural theodorsen lecture

The lecture begins by sketching some of the background to contemporary jet aeroacoustics. Then it reviews scaling laws for noise generation by low-Mach-number airflows and by turbulence convected at not-so-low Mach numbers. These laws take into account the influence of Doppler effects associated with the convection of aeroacoustic sources.Next, a uniformly valid Doppler-effect approximation exhibits the transition, with increasing Mach number of convection, from compact-source radiation at low Mach numbers to a statistical assemblage of conical shock waves radiated by eddies convected at supersonic speed. In jets, for example, supersonic eddy convection is typically found for jet exit speeds exceeding twice the atmospheric speed of sound.The lecture continues by describing a new dynamical theory of the nonlinear propagation of such statistically random assemblages of conical shock waves. It is shown, both by a general theoretical analysis and by an illustrative computational study, how their propagation is dominated by a characteristic bunching process. That process—associated with a tendency for shock waves that have already formed unions with other shock waves to acquire an increased proneness to form further unions—acts so as to enhance the high-frequency part of the spectrum of noise emission from jets at these high exit speeds.     

LES/RANS方法混合函数特性研究

将两方程k-ω SST湍流模型和Sagaut的混合尺度亚格子模型通过一个混合函数相结合, 构造出一种混合大涡/雷诺平均N-S方程模拟方法(hybird large eddy simulation/reynolds-averaged navier-stokes, Hybrid LES/RANS), 采用这种混合模拟方法结合5阶WENO格式对Ma=2.8平板湍流边界层进行了数值模拟, 并在计算区域上游入口处采用“回收/调节”方法生成湍流脉动边界条件, 通过考查RANS区域向LES区域的过渡参数及网格分辨率对这种混合模拟方法进行了评价. 计算结果表明: 该文采用的混合模拟方法可以捕捉到湍流边界层中的大尺度结构且入口边界层平均参数不会发生漂移, 混合函数应当将RANS区域和LES区域的过渡点设置在对数律层和尾迹律层的交界处, 而过渡应当迅速以获得正确的雷诺剪切应力分布, 在该文采用的模型及数值方法的条件下, 流向及展向的网格小至与Escudier混合长相当时, 能够获得可以接受的脉动速度的单点-二阶统计值.     

Kovasznay Mode Decomposition of Velocity-Temperature Correlation in Canonical Shock-Turbulence Interaction

The correlation coefficient R_uT between the streamwise velocity and temperature is investigated for the case of canonical shock-turbulence interaction, motivated by the fact that this correlation is an important component in compressible turbulence models. The variation of R_uT with the Mach number, the turbulent Mach number, and the Reynolds number is predicted using linear inviscid theory and compared to data from DNS. The contributions from the individual Kovasznay modes are quantified. At low Mach numbers, the peak post-shock R_uT is determined by the acoustic mode, which is correctly predicted by the linear theory. At high Mach numbers, it is determined primarily by the vorticity and entropy modes, which are strongly affected by nonlinear and viscous effects, and thus less well predicted by the linear theory.     

Large-eddy simulation of circular cylinder flow at subcritical Reynolds number: Turbulent wake and sound radiation

The flows past a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 3900 are simulated using large-eddy simulation(LES) and the far-field sound is calculated from the LES results. A low dissipation energy-conserving finite volume scheme is used to discretize the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The dynamic global coefficient version of the Vreman's subgrid scale(SGS) model is used to compute the sub-grid stresses. Curle's integral of Lighthill's acoustic analogy is used to extract the sound radiated from the cylinder. The profiles of mean velocity and turbulent fluctuations obtained are consistent with the previous experimental and computational results. The sound radiation at far field exhibits the characteristic of a dipole and directivity. The sound spectra display the-5/3 power law. It is shown that Vreman's SGS model in company with dynamic procedure is suitable for LES of turbulence generated noise.