Separation zones in the flow near a small-angle convex corner

On the basis of an asymptotic analysis of the Navier-Stokes system of equations for large Reynolds numbers (Re → ∞), the plane incompressible fluid flow near a surface having a convex corner with a small angle 2θ* is investigated. It is shown that for θ* = O(Re^?1/4), in addition to the known solution that describes a separated flow completely localized in a thin “viscous” sublayer of the interaction region near the corner point, another solution corresponding to a flow with a developed separation zone is possible. For θ ₀ = Re^1/4 θ* = O(1), the longitudinal dimension of this zone varies from finite values up to values of the order of Re^?3/8. The nonuniqueness of the solution is established on a certain range of variation of the parameter θ ₀. The dependence of the drag coefficient on the angle θ* is found.     

LES-based Study of the Roughness Effects on the Wake of a Circular Cylinder from Subcritical to Transcritical Reynolds Numbers

This paper investigates the effects of surface roughness on the flow past a circular cylinder at subcritical to transcritical Reynolds numbers. Large eddy simulations of the flow for sand grain roughness of size k/D = 0.02 are performed (D is the cylinder diameter). Results show that surface roughness triggers the transition to turbulence in the boundary layer at all Reynolds numbers, thus leading to an early separation caused by the increased momentum deficit, especially at transcritical Reynolds numbers. Even at subcritical Reynolds numbers, boundary layer instabilities are triggered in the roughness sublayer and eventually lead to the transition to turbulence. The early separation at transcritical Reynolds numbers leads to a wake topology similar to that of the subcritical regime, resulting in an increased drag coefficient and lower Strouhal number. Turbulent statistics in the wake are also affected by roughness; the Reynolds stresses are larger due to the increased turbulent kinetic energy production in the boundary layer and separated shear layers close to the cylinder shoulders.     

Experimental Investigation of the Transverse Self-Oscillations of Circular Cylinders Mounted with a Narrow Clearance in a Plane Channel

The results of an investigation of the flow past and the behavior of free bluff bodies mounted in pipes and channels with a narrow clearance, conducted in the Institute of Mechanics of Moscow State University, are presented. The drag of circular cylinders of different size and mass in a circulation-free water flow in a plane channel of rectangular cross-section was studied in the transverse self-oscillation regime. The experiments were conducted for Reynolds numbers based on the cylinder diameter 1.7 ? 10⁴ ≤ Re ≤ 7.2 ? 10⁴, relative clearances \(\bar S\) based on a cross-sectional area ranging from 0.76 to 0.9, and cylinder-to-water density ratios ρ _c /ρ ranging from 1.29 to 8.2. Only the case of intense transverse self-oscillations accompanied by impact interaction with the channel wall was considered. The dependence of the period-average cylinder drag coefficient C _x on the basic dimensionless relevant parameters is obtained. The dependence of the dimensionless self-oscillation frequency determined in [1] is refined. The kinematic and dynamic features of the flows past spheres in cylindrical pipes and cylinders in plane channels are compared in the transverse self-oscillation regime.     

Slow gas motions and the negative drag of a strongly heated spherical particle

In the slow flows of a strongly and nonuniformly heated gas, in the continuum regime (Kn → 0) thermal stresses may be present. The theory of slow nonisothermal continuum gas flows with account for thermal stresses was developed in 1969–1974. The action of the thermal stresses on the gas results in certain paradoxical effects, including the reversal of the direction of the force exerted on a spherical particle in Stokes flow. The propulsion force effect is manifested at large but finite temperature differences between the particle and the gas. This study is devoted to the thermal-stress effect on the drag of a strongly heated spherical particle traveling slowly in a gas for small Knudsen numbers (M ～ Kn → 0), small but finite Reynolds numbers (Re ≤ 1), a linear temperature dependence of the transport coefficients µ ∝ T, and large but finite temperature differences ((T _w ? T _∞ )/T _M8 ～ 1). Two different systems of equations are solved numerically: the simplified Navier-Stokes equations and the modified Navier-Stokes equations with account for the thermal stresses.     

Application of the γ-Reθ Transition Model to Simulations of the Flow Past a Circular Cylinder

Based on the finite volume method, the flow past a two-dimensional circular cylinder at a critical Reynolds number (Re = 8.5 × 10⁵) was simulated using the Navier-Stokes equations and the γ-Re_θ transition model coupled with the SST k ? ω turbulence model (hereinafter abbreviated as γ-Re_θ model). Considering the effect of free-stream turbulence intensity decay, the SST k ? ω turbulence model was modified according to the ambient source term method proposed by Spalart and Rumsey, and then the modified SST k ? ω turbulence model is coupled with the γ-Re_θ transition model (hereinafter abbreviated as γ-Re_θ-SR model). The flow past a circular cylinder at different inlet turbulence intensities were simulated by the γ-Re_θ-SR model. At last, the flow past a circular cylinder at subcritical, critical and supercritical Reynolds numbers were each simulated by the γ-Re_θ-SR model, and the three flow states were analyzed. It was found that compared with the SST k ? ω turbulence model, the γ-Re_θ model could simulate the transition of laminar to turbulent, resulting in better consistency with experimental result. Compared with the γ-Re_θ model, for relatively high inlet turbulence intensities, the γ-Re_θ-SR model could better simulate the flow past a circular cylinder; however the improvement almost diminished for relatively low inlet turbulence intensities The γ-Re_θ-SR model could well simulate the flow past a circular cylinder at subcritical, critical and supercritical Reynolds numbers.     

Hydrodynamic properties of squirmer swimming in power-law fluid near a wall

Hydrodynamic properties of squirmer swimming in power-law fluid near a wall considering the interaction between squirmer and wall are numerically studied with an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. The power-law index, Reynolds number, initial orientation angle of squirmer, and initial distance of squirmer from the wall are all taken into account to investigate the swimming characteristics for pusher (β?<?0), neutral squirmer (β?=?0), and puller (β?>?0) (three kinds of swimmer types) near the no-slip boundary. Four new kinds of swimming modes are found. Results show that, for the pushers and pullers, the wall displays an increasing attraction with increasing power-law index n, which differs from the neutral squirmer who always departs from the wall after the first collision with the wall. Both the initial orientation angle and initial distance from the wall only affect the moving situations rather than the moving modes of the squirmers. However, the squirmers depart from the wall as the Reynolds number increases and chaotic orbits appear for some squirmers at Re?=?5. Several typical flow fields are analyzed and the power consumption and torque for different kinds of flows are also studied. It is found that, as the absolute value of β increases, the power consumption generally increases in shear-thinning (n?=?0.4), Newtonian (n?=?1), and shear-thickening (n?=?1.6) fluids. Moreover, the pushers (β?<?0) and the pullers (β?>?0) expend almost the same power if the absolute value of β remains the same. In addition, the power consumption of the squirmers is highly dependent on the power-law index n.     

Low Reynolds number effects in open-channel turbulent boundary layers

The present study reports measurements of a turbulent boundary layer in an open-channel flow using fiber-optic laser Doppler anemometry. The Reynolds numbers based on momentum thickness and depth of flow are in the range 750≤Re _θ ≤2,400 and 15,300≤Re _h ≤54,200, respectively. It is shown that an accurate estimate of the wall shear stress can be made by fitting a fifth-order polynomial to the near-wall data. The effect of Reynolds number on the mean turbulence intensity and triple correlation is examined using both conventional scaling laws and the recent scaling laws proposed by George and Castillo. The present results show that different scaling laws lead to different conclusions on low Reynolds number effects.     

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.     

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.     

Comparative study of forced convection of a power-law fluid in a channel with a built-in square cylinder

A detailed comparison between the lattice Boltzmann method and the finite element method is presented for an incompressible steady laminar flow and heat transfer of a power-law fluid past a square cylinder between two parallel plates. Computations are performed for three different blockage ratios (ratios of the square side length to the channel width) and different values of the power-law index n covering both pseudo-plastic fluids (n < 1) and dilatant fluids (n > 1). The methodology is validated against the exact solution. The local and averaged Nusselt numbers are also presented. The results show that the relatively simple lattice Boltzmann method is a good alternative to the finite element method for analyzing non-Newtonian fluids.     

Effects of the Reynolds number on a scale-similarity model of Lagrangian velocity correlations in isotropic turbulent flows

A scale-similarity model of a two-point two-time Lagrangian velocity correlation(LVC) was originally developed for the relative dispersion of tracer particles in isotropic turbulent flows(HE, G. W., JIN, G. D., and ZHAO, X. Scale-similarity model for Lagrangian velocity correlations in isotropic and stationary turbulence. Physical Review E, 80, 066313(2009)). The model can be expressed as a two-point Eulerian space correlation and the dispersion velocity V. The dispersion velocity denotes the rate at which one moving particle departs from another fixed particle. This paper numerically validates the robustness of the scale-similarity model at high Taylor micro-scale Reynolds numbers up to 373, which are much higher than the original values(R_λ = 66, 102). The effect of the Reynolds number on the dispersion velocity in the scale-similarity model is carefully investigated. The results show that the scale-similarity model is more accurate at higher Reynolds numbers because the two-point Lagrangian velocity correlations with different initial spatial separations collapse into a universal form compared with a combination of the initial separation and the temporal separation via the dispersion velocity.Moreover, the dispersion velocity V normalized by the Kolmogorov velocity V_η≡η/τ_η in which η and τ_η are the Kolmogorov space and time scales, respectively, scales with the Reynolds number R_λ as V/V_η∝ R_λ~(1.39) obtained from the numerical data.     

Numerical Simulation of Two Phase Turbulent Flow of Nanofluids in Confined Slot Impinging Jet

In this article, a numerical investigation is performed on flow and heat transfer of confined impinging slot jet, with a mixture of water and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles as the working fluid. Two-dimensional turbulent flow is considered and a constant temperature is applied on the impingement surface. The k ? ω turbulence model is used for the turbulence computations. Two-phase mixture model is implemented to study such a flow field. The governing equations are solved using the finite volume method. In order to consider the effect of obstacle angle on temperature fields in the channel, the numerical simulations were performed for different obstacle angles of 0° ? 60°. Also different geometrical parameters, volume fractions and Reynolds numbers have been considered to study the behavior of the system in terms of stagnation point, average and local Nusselt number and stream function contours. The results showed that the intensity and size of the vortex structures depend on jet- impingement surface distance ratio (H/W) and volume fraction. The maximum Nusselt number occurs at the stagnation point with the highest values at about H/W = 1. Increasing obstacle angle, from 15° to 60°, enhances the heat transfer rate. It was also revealed that the minimum value of average Nusselt number occurs in higher H/W ratios with decreasing the channel length.     

Direct Numerical Simulation and Theory of a Wall-Bounded Flow with Zero Skin Friction

We study turbulent plane Couette-Poiseuille (CP) flows in which the conditions (relative wall velocity ΔU _w ≡ 2U _w , pressure gradient dP/dx and viscosity ν) are adjusted to produce zero mean skin friction on one of the walls, denoted by APG for adverse pressure gradient. The other wall, FPG for favorable pressure gradient, provides the friction velocity u _τ , and h is the half-height of the channel. This leads to a one-parameter family of one-dimensional flows of varying Reynolds number Re ≡ U _w h/ν. We apply three codes, and cover three Reynolds numbers stepping by a factor of two each time. The agreement between codes is very good, and the Reynolds-number range is sizable. The theoretical questions revolve around Reynolds-number independence in both the core region (free of local viscous effects) and the two wall regions. The core region follows Townsend’s hypothesis of universal behavior for the velocity and shear stress, when they are normalized with u _τ and h; on the other hand universality is not observed for all the Reynolds stresses, any more than it is in Poiseuille flow or boundary layers. The FPG wall region obeys the classical law of the wall, again for velocity and shear stress. For the APG wall region, Stratford conjectured universal behavior when normalized with the pressure gradient, leading to a square-root law for the velocity. The literature, also covering other flows with zero skin friction, is ambiguous. Our results are very consistent with both of Stratford’s conjectures, suggesting that at least in this idealized flow turbulence theory is successful like it was for the classical logarithmic law of the wall. We appear to know the constants of the law within a 10% bracket. On the other hand, that again does not extend to Reynolds stresses other than the shear stress, but these stresses are passive in the momentum equation.     

Effects of Synthetic jets on a D-Shaped Cylinder wake at a Subcritical Reynolds Number

Effects of synthetic jets on the wake of a D-shaped cylinder is investigated experimentally at a Reynolds number Re_H= 47,000, based on incoming free-stream velocity and the cylinder height (H). The synthetic jets are introduced immediately from the upper and lower trailing edges of the cylinder. The upper and lower synthetic jets are operated in an in-phase or anti-phase mode, and at a momentum ratio C_μ= 1.0% and perturbation frequency St_A= 0.11 ?0.37. The cylinder wake with perturbation is examined in detail and compared with that without, based on smoke-wire flow visualization, pressure transducer and hotwire rake measurements, and data analyses of spectra, tempo-spatial cross-correlation and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Large-scale vortical structures in the cylinder wake are significantly modified by the synthetic jets perturbations, exhibiting symmetric or asymmetric patterns, depending on the perturbation frequency and phase relationship of the synthetic jets. These observations are internally correlated with the drag force variations.     

Numerical Simulation of the Negative Magnus Effect of a Two-Dimensional Spinning Circular Cylinder

Based on the finite volume method, the flow past a spinning circular cylinder at a low subcritical Reynolds number (Re =1 × 10 ⁵), high subcritical Reynolds number (Re =1.3 ×10 ⁵), and critical Reynolds number (Re =1.4 ×10 ⁵) were each simulated using the Navier-Stokes equations and the γ-Re _?? transition model coupled with the SST k?ω turbulence model. The system was solved using an implicit algorithm. The freestream turbulence intensity decay was effectively controlled by the source term method proposed by Spalart and Rumsey. The variations in the Magnus force as a function of the spin ratio, α were obtained for the three Reynolds numbers, and the flow mechanism was analyzed. The results indicate that the asymmetric transitions induced by spin affect the asymmetric separations at the top and bottom surfaces of the circular cylinder, which further affects the pressure distributions at the top and bottom surfaces of the circular cylinder and ultimately result in a negative Magnus force, whose direction is opposite to that of the classical Magnus force. This study is the first to use a numerical simulation method to predict a negative Magnus force acting on a spinning circular cylinder. At the low subcritical Reynolds number, the Magnus force remained positive for all spin ratios. At the high subcritical Reynolds number, the sign of the Magnus force changed twice over the range of the spin ratio. At the critical Reynolds number, the sign of the Magnus force changed only once over the range of the spin ratio. For relatively low spin ratios, the Magnus force significantly differed by Reynolds number; however, this variation diminished as the spin ratio increased.     

Turbulent Drag Reduction by a Near Wall Surface Tension Active Interface

In this work we study the turbulence modulation in a viscosity-stratified two-phase flow using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of turbulence and the Phase Field Method (PFM) to simulate the interfacial phenomena. Specifically we consider the case of two immiscible fluid layers driven in a closed rectangular channel by an imposed mean pressure gradient. The present problem, which may mimic the behaviour of an oil flowing under a thin layer of different oil, thickness ratio h₂/h₁ =?9, is described by three main flow parameters: the shear Reynolds number Re _τ (which quantifies the importance of inertia compared to viscous effects), the Weber number We (which quantifies surface tension effects) and the viscosity ratio λ = ν₁/ν₂ between the two fluids. For this first study, the density ratio of the two fluid layers is the same (ρ₂ = ρ₁), we keep Re _τ and We constant, but we consider three different values for the viscosity ratio: λ =?1, λ =?0.875 and λ =?0.75. Compared to a single phase flow at the same shear Reynolds number (Re _τ =?100), in the two phase flow case we observe a decrease of the wall-shear stress and a strong turbulence modulation in particular in the proximity of the interface. Interestingly, we observe that the modulation of turbulence by the liquid-liquid interface extends up to the top wall (i.e. the closest to the interface) and produces local shear stress inversions and flow recirculation regions. The observed results depend primarily on the interface deformability and on the viscosity ratio between the two fluids (λ).     

Predicting Turbulent Spectra in Drag-reduced Flows

In the present work we describe how turbulent skin-friction drag reduction obtained through near-wall turbulence manipulation modifies the spectral content of turbulent fluctuations and Reynolds shear stress with focus on the largest scales. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent channels up to Re _τ = 1000 are performed in which drag reduction is achieved either via artificially removing wall-normal turbulent fluctuations in the vicinity of the wall or via streamwise-travelling waves of spanwise wall velocity. This near-wall turbulence manipulation is shown to modify turbulent spectra in a broad range of scales throughout the whole channel. Above the buffer layer, the observed changes can be predicted, exploiting the vertical shift of the logarithmic portion of the mean streamwise velocity profile, which is a classic performance measure for wall roughness or drag-reducing riblets. A simple model is developed for predicting the large-scale contribution to turbulent fluctuation and Reynolds shear stress spectra in drag-reduced turbulent channels in which a flow control acts at the wall. Any drag-reducing control that successfully interacts with large scales should deviate from the predictions of the present model, making it a useful benchmark for assessing the capability of a control to affect large scales directly.     

Two-dimensional interaction between an incident shock and a turbulent boundary layer in the presence of an entropy layer

The results of an experimental and numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer in the region of the interaction between an incident oblique shock and turbulent boundary layers on sharp and blunt plates are presented for the Mach numbers M_∞ = 5 and 6 and the Reynolds numbers Re_∞L = 27×10⁶ and 14×10⁶. The plate bluntness and the incident shock position were varied. It is shown that the maximum Stanton number St _m in the shock incidence zone decreases with increase in the plate bluntness radius r to a certain value and then varies only slightly with further increase in r. In the case of a turbulent undisturbed boundary layer heat transfer is diminished with increase in r more slowly than in the case of a laminar undisturbed flow. In the presence of an incident shock the bluntness of the leading edge of the flat plate results in a greater decrease in the Stanton number than in the absence of the shock. With increase in the bluntness of the leading edge of the plate the separation zone first sharply lengthens and then decreases in size or remains constant.     

Time-dependent drag reduction and ageing in aqueous solutions of a cationic surfactant

The turbulent pipe flow of a highly dilute aqueous cationic surfactant solution is investigated by means of a pulsed ultrasound Doppler method with special emphasis on the wall boundary layer. The velocity profiles are recorded for several Reynolds numbers at varying ages of the solution. The wall shear stress velocities u _τ used for the normalization of the velocity profiles are determined by fitting the measured profiles to the universal linear velocity profile in the viscous sublayer. The theoretical pressure loss is then calculated from the numerical values of u _τ and compared to the experimental values. Two different scaling methods are discussed for the velocity fluctuations concerning the correlation of the root-mean square values with the effect and the amount of drag reduction. It is shown that outer scaling with the mean velocity is appropriate for the detection of drag reduction in surfactant solutions, rather than inner scaling with the wall shear stress velocity, which is common practice in investigations of 'usual' turbulent flows.     

Supersonic viscous perfect-gas flow past a slender sharp elliptic cone

The supersonic M_∞ = 5 flow past slender elliptic cones with the semi-vertex angle in the plane of the major semi-axis ? _c = 4° and an isothermal surface is investigated under the assumption of the flow symmetry. Calculations on the basis of the time-dependent three-dimensional Navier-Stokes and Reynolds equations are carried out on the Reynolds number and angle of attack ranges 10⁴ ≤ Re ≤ 108 and 0 ≤ α ≤ 15° for cones with ellipticity coefficients 1/32 ≤ δ= b/a ≤ 1. The effect of the relevant parameters of the problem on the flowfield structure and the aerodynamic characteristics of the cones is demonstrated.