Experimental Investigation on Turbulent Structure of Drag Reducing Channel Flow with Blowing Polymer Solution from the Wall

Turbulent drag reducing flow with blowing polymer solution from the channel wall was investigated experimentally using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Experiments were carried out with varying conditions of blowing polymer solution (e.g. weight concentration of polymer solution). Reynolds number based on the channel height and mean velocity was set to 20000 and 40000. When the polymer solution was blown from the channel wall, streamwise velocity fluctuation little increased, but wall-normal velocity fluctuation, Reynolds shear stress and correlation coefficient decreased significantly only near the blower wall. This behavior corresponds to the decrease of the ejection and sweep in the near-wall region observed by the investigation of instantaneous velocity map. On the contrary, this characteristic behavior was not observed at a position away from the blower wall (y/(H/2) > 0.4) and the scatter plot was almost the same as that of the water flow in this region. These results suggest that there are two regions in the drag reducing flow with blowing polymer solution from the wall; one is a non-Newtonian region which exists near the blower wall, and the other is a Newtonian region at a distance from the wall. The non-Newtonian region plays a key role in the drag reduction by the blowing polymer solution.     

PIV measurements of turbulent flows in a 61-pin wire-wrapped hexagonal fuel bundle

The current work experimentally investigates the flow characteristics in the near-wall region of the 61-pin wire-wrapped hexagon fuel bundle via the matched-index-of-refraction technique. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were taken in the region near the surfaces of the pins, wires and enclosure wall at the Reynolds number of 19,000. From the obtained PIV velocity vector fields, flow statistics such as mean velocity and root-mean-square fluctuating velocity profiles were computed. In addition, spatial-temporal cross-correlations of velocity-velocity and pressure-velocity were analyzed. A strong correlation between the wall fluctuating pressure signal and flow structures was observed. Finally, we applied the POD analysis to the vorticity snapshots obtained in the near-wall region to reveal the dominant flow structures. It was found that the large-scale structures were elongated and aligned with the mean flow direction.     

PIV measurements of flow in drying polymer solutions during solvent casting

An experimental method based on confocal microscopy and particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to characterize the flow in a polymer solution during solvent casting. The flow inside a 200-μm-thick film of a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution is visualized near a vertical wall of a mold using confocal microscopy of seed particles during solvent evaporation at 25, 35, and 45°C, and the corresponding velocity vector fields are determined from projections of the confocal images. Flow toward the vertical wall is observed inside the film as well as a slower Marangoni-type counter flow at the film surface during the initial phase of solvent evaporation, resulting from a polymer concentration gradient along the film due to a local variation in evaporation rate. Total volume of the polymer solution in the observation volume as well as solvent evaporation rate are determined as a function of time, both revealing close correlation to average horizontal velocity data from PIV. The PIV measurements show significant differences in the flow velocity fields at different temperatures. The PIV measurements correlate with the solvent evaporation rates as well as the final polymer thicknesses on the vertical wall of the mold. Surface tension and viscosity measurements are taken for different concentrations of PVA solution.     

Mirror particle-tracking-velocimetry in a strip-coded light-sheet: a new method to determine the wall-shear-stress field

In this paper we present a new technique to measure the wall-shear-stress named mirror PTV (MPTV). The basic principle is the use of a reflective coated surface to record the flow in the very near wall region in such way, that the original particle and its mirror image are detected. The distance between the original particle image and its corresponding mirror image is used to calculate the wall-normal distance of the particle. With the information of particle motion between successive illuminations it is possible to determine the wall-shear-stress with high temporal and spatial resolution from the velocity gradient at the wall to a first order approximation, i.e. assuming a linear velocity profile. To validate the technique, the wall-shear-stress-distribution in a wall-bounded jet is measured and compared with the theoretical solution of Glauert (1956). The results agree well with the theoretical solution.     

The turbulence structure of drag-reduced boundary layer flow

The structure of turbulence in a drag-reduced flat-plate boundary layer flow has been studied with particle image velocimetry (PIV). Drag reduction was achieved by injection of a concentrated polymer solution through a spanwise slot along the test wall at a location upstream of the PIV measurement station. Planes of velocity were measured parallel to the wall (x–z plane), for a total of 30 planes across the thickness of the boundary layer. For increasing drag reduction, we found a significant modification of the near-wall structure of turbulence with a coarsening of the low-speed velocity streaks and a reduction in the number and strength of near-wall vortical structures.     

A study on coherent structures and drag-reduction in the wall turbulence with polymer additives by TRPIV

An experimental measurement was performed using time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TRPIV) to investigate the spatial topological character of coherent structures in wall-bounded turbulence of polymer additive solution. The fully developed near-wall turbulent flow fields with and without polymer additives at the same Reynolds number were measured by TRPIV in a water channel. The comparisons of turbulent statistics confirm that due to viscoelastic structure of long-chain polymers, the wall-normal velocity fluctuation and Reynolds shear stress in the near-wall region are suppressed significantly. Furthermore, it is noted that such a behavior of polymers is closely related to the decease of the motion of the second and forth quadrants, i.e., the ejection and sweep events, in the near-wall region. The spatial topological mode of coherent structures during bursts has been extracted by the new mu-level criteria based on locally averaged velocity structure function. Although the general shapes of coherent structures are unchanged by polymer additives, the fluctuating velocity, velocity gradient, velocity strain rate and vorticity of coherent structures during burst events are suppressed in the polymer additive solution compared with that in water. The results show that due to the polymer additives the occurrence and intensity of coherent structures are suppressed, leading to drag reduction.     

Improvement of measurement accuracy in micro PIV by image overlapping

Micro PIV uses volume illumination; therefore, the velocity measured at the focal plane is a weighted average of the velocities within the measurement volume. The contribution of out-of-focus particles to the PIV correlation can generate significant measurement errors particularly in near wall regions. We present a new application of image overlapping, which is shown to be very effective in improving the accuracy of time-averaged velocity measurements by effectively reducing the measurement depth. The performance of image overlapping and correlation averaging were studied using synthetic and experimental images of micro channel flow, both with and without image pre-processing. The results show that for flows without particle clumping, image overlapping provides the best measurement accuracy without any need for image pre-processing. For flows with particle clumping, image overlapping combined with band-pass filtering provides the best measurement accuracy. When overlapped images are saturated with particles due to a large number of image pairs, image overlapping measurement still does not show any visible pixel-locking effect. Image overlapping was found to have comparable or slightly reduced pixel-locking effects compared to correlation averaging. In addition, image overlapping utilizes significantly fewer computational resources than the other techniques.     

The influence of peak-locking errors on turbulence statistics computed from PIV ensembles

The influence of peak-locking errors on turbulence statistics computed from ensembles of PIV data is considered. PIV measurements are made in the streamwise–wall-normal plane of turbulent channel flow. The PIV images are interrogated in three distinct ways, generating ensembles of velocity fields with absolute, moderate, and minimal peak locking. Turbulence statistics computed for all three ensembles of data indicate a general sensitivity to peak locking in the single-point statistics, except for the mean velocity profile. Peak-locking errors propagate into the fluctuations of velocity, rendering single-point statistics inaccurate when severe peak locking is present. Multi-point correlations of both streamwise and wall-normal velocity are also found to be influenced by severe levels of peak locking. The displacement range of the measurement, defined by the PIV time delay, appears to affect the influence of peak-locking errors on turbulence statistics. Smaller displacement ranges, particularly those that produce displacement fluctuations that are less than one pixel in magnitude, yield inaccurate turbulence statistics in the presence of peak locking.     

3D Flow reconstruction using ultrasound PIV

Ultrasound particle image velocimetry (PIV) can be used to obtain velocity fields in non-transparent geometries and/or fluids. In the current study, we use this technique to document the flow in a curved tube, using ultrasound contrast bubbles as flow tracer particles. The performance of the technique is first tested in a straight tube, with both steady laminar and pulsatile flows. Both experiments confirm that the technique is capable of reliable measurements. A number of adaptations are introduced that improve the accuracy and applicability of ultrasound PIV. Firstly, due to the method of ultrasound image acquisition, a correction is required for the estimation of velocities from tracer displacements. This correction accounts for the fact that columns in the image are recorded at slightly different instances. The second improvement uses a slice-by-slice scanning approach to obtain three-dimensional velocity data. This approach is here demonstrated in a strongly curved tube. The resulting flow profiles and wall shear stress distribution shows a distinct asymmetry. To meaningfully interpret these three-dimensional results, knowledge of the measurement thickness is required. Our third contribution is a method to determine this quantity, using the correlation peak heights. The latter method can also provide the third (out-of-plane) component if the measurement thickness is known, so that all three velocity components are available using a single probe.     

Volumetric-correlation PIV to measure particle concentration and velocity of microflows

Volumetric-correlation particle image velocimetry (VPIV) is a new technique that provides a 3-dimensional 2-component velocity field from a single image plane. This single camera technique is simpler and cheaper to implement than multi-camera systems and has the capacity to measure time-varying flows. Additionally, this technique has significant advantages over other 3D PIV velocity measurement techniques, most notably in the capacity to measure highly seeded flows. Highly seeded flows, often unavoidable in industrial and biological flows, offer considerable advantages due to higher information density and better overall signal-to-noise ratio allowing for optimal spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we further develop VPIV adding the capability to measure concentration and increasing the robustness and accuracy of the technique. Particle concentrations are calculated using volumetric auto-correlations, and subsequently the velocities are calculated using volumetric cross-correlation corrected for variations in particle concentration. Along with the ability to calculate the particle concentration profile, our enhanced VPIV produces significant improvement in the accuracy of velocity measurements. Furthermore, this technique has been demonstrated to be insensitive to out-of-plane flows. The velocity measurement accuracy of the enhanced VPIV exceeds that of standard micro-PIV measurements, especially in near-wall regions. The 3D velocity and particle-concentration measurement capability of VPIV are demonstrated using both synthetic and experimental results.     

Turbulence structure in non-equilibrium boundary layers with favorable and adverse pressure gradients

An experimental study was conducted to document the turbulence in boundary layers on smooth walls subject to a favorable pressure gradient followed by a zero pressure gradient recovery and an adverse pressure gradient. Two component velocity profiles were acquired along the spanwise centerline of the test section, and velocity fields were obtained at the same locations in streamwise wall-normal and streamwise–spanwise planes using PIV. The FPG was shown to reduce the turbulence in the outer part of the boundary layer, reducing the transport of this turbulence and the effect of sweeps toward the wall. This reduced the inclination angle of the large structures and increased their length scale, particularly in the streamwise and spanwise directions. Recovery from the FPG to a ZPG was rapid. The APG reduced the near wall shear, resulting in a reduced effect of ejections relative to sweeps. The APG had an opposite but smaller effect on the shape and size of structures compared to the FPG.     

Imposing virtual origins on the velocity components in direct numerical simulations

The relative wall-normal displacement of the origin perceived by different components of near-wall turbulence is known to produce a change in drag. This effect is produced for instance by drag-reducing surfaces of small texture-size like riblets and superhydrophobic surfaces. To facilitate the research on how these displacements alter near-wall turbulence, this paper studies different strategies to model such displacement effect through manipulated boundary conditions. Previous research has considered the effect of offsetting the virtual origins perceived by the tangential components of the velocity from the reference, boundary plane, where the wall-normal velocity was set to zero. These virtual origins are typically characterised by slip-length coefficients in Robin, slip-like boundary conditions. In this paper, we extend this idea and explore several techniques to define and implement virtual origins for all three velocity components on direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of channel flows, with special emphasis on the wall-normal velocity. The aim of this work is to provide a suitable foundation to extend the existing understanding on how these virtual origins affect the near-wall turbulence, and ultimately aid in the formulation of simplified models that capture the effect of complex surfaces on the overlying flow and on drag, without the need to resolve fully the turbulence and the surface texture. From the techniques tested, Robin boundary conditions for all three velocities are found to be the most satisfactory method to impose virtual origins, relating the velocity components to their respective wall-normal gradients linearly. Our results suggest that the effect of virtual origins on the flow, and hence the change in drag that they produce, can be reduced to an offset between the virtual origin perceived by the mean flow and that perceived by the overlying turbulence, and that turbulence remains otherwise smooth-wall-like, as proposed by Luchini (1996). The origin for turbulence, however, would not be set by the spanwise virtual origin alone, but by a combination of the spanwise and wall-normal origins. These observations suggest the need for an extension of Luchini’s virtual-origin theory to predict the change in drag, accounting for the wall-normal transpiration when its effect is not negligible.     

An experimental contribution to near-wall measurements by means of a special laser Doppler anemometry technique

 A new experimental technique for the investigation of near-wall turbulence using laser Doppler anemometry is presented, which allows an accurate measurement of the flow field very close to the wall, with good resolution and a high data rate. Such a technique is tested in a fully developed turbulent flow (with Reynolds numbers between 4,300 and 67,000) by carrying out a careful statistical analysis of the streamwise and wall-normal velocity components within the near-wall region, at distances from the wall ranging from approximately y ⁺ = 1 to y ⁺ = 100. The velocity profiles, Reynolds stresses and higher-order moments of the two-dimensional boundary layer are presented. The results, which are in agreement with the most recent data in the literature, testify the validity of the proposed experimental solution. Moreover, the accuracy of the results allows the friction velocity to be calculated as the intercept at the wall of the best linear fit of the total stress profile; in this way, an unambiguous examination of the normalized statistics is possible. Received: 17 April 2001 / Accepted: 15 August 2001     

Volumetric correlation PIV: a new technique for 3D velocity vector field measurement

A method is proposed that allows three-dimensional (3D) two-component measurements to be made by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV) in any volume illuminated over a finite thickness. The method is based on decomposing the cross-correlation function into various contributions at different depths. Because the technique is based on 3D decomposition of the correlation function and not reconstruction of particle images, there is no limit to particle seeding density as experienced by 3D particle tracking algorithms such as defocusing PIV and tomographic PIV. Correlations from different depths are differentiated by the variation in point spread function of the lens used to image the measurement volume over that range of depths. A number of examples are demonstrated by use of synthetic images which simulate micro-PIV (μPIV) experiments. These examples vary from the trivial case of Couette flow (linear variation of one velocity component over depth) to a general case where both velocity components vary by different complex functions over the depth. A final validation—the measurement of a parabolic velocity profile over the depth of a microchannel flow—is presented. The same method could also be applied using a thick light sheet in macro-scale PIV and in a stereo configuration for 3D three-component PIV.     

Investigation of turbulence structures in a drag-reduced turbulent channel flow with surfactant additive by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry

In the present study, we employed stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) to investigate the characteristics of turbulence structures in a drag-reduced turbulent channel flow with addition of surfactant. The tested drag-reducing fluid was a CTAC/NaSal/Water (CTAC: cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride; NaSal: sodium salicylate) system at 25°C. The weight concentration of CTAC was 30 ppm. Stereoscopic PIV measurement was performed for a water flow (Re=1.1×10⁴) and a CTAC solution flow (Re=1.5×10⁴ with 54% drag reduction) in both the streamwise–spanwise and wall-normal-spanwise planes, respectively. The three-dimensionality of hairpin vortex structures in the near-wall region for wall-bounded turbulent flow was reproduced by conditionally averaging the stereoscopic two-dimensional-three-component velocity fields. A series of wall-normal vortex cores were found to align with the near-wall low-speed streaks with opposite vorticity signals at both sides of the streaks and with the vorticity decreased on average by about one order of magnitude in CTAC solution flow compared with water flow; the spanwise spacing between the near-wall low-speed streaks in the solution flow is increased by about 46%. The streamwise vorticity of the vortex cores appearing in the wall-normal-spanwise plane was also decreased by the use of drag-reducing surfactant additives.     

Particle image velocimetry investigation of the flow-field of a 3D turbulent annular swirling decaying flow induced by means of a tangential inlet

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has been used in order to measure the three mean components and turbulence intensities of the velocity vector in a swirling decaying flow induced by a tangential inlet in an annulus. This kind of flow motion is found to be very complex, exhibiting three-dimensional and non-axisymmetric characteristics coupled with a free decay of the swirling intensity along the flow path, thereby making it difficult to study. A method allowing the measurement of the three components of the velocity flow-field with a standard PIV system with two-dimensional acquisitions, is presented. The evolution of each velocity component between the inlet and the outlet of the annulus is obtained. Furthermore, the PIV technique is extended to the measurement of turbulent characteristics such as turbulent intensities and dimensionless turbulent energy. The main characteristics of the swirling flow are discussed and the swirl number is estimated as a function of the axial distance from the tangential inlet. Received: 6 July 1998/Accepted: 20 March 1999     

Near-Wall Stress Balance in Front of a Wall-Mounted Cylinder

The stress balance in the near-wall flow in front of a cylinder mounted on a flat plate at moderate Reynolds number is investigated by applying highly resolved Large-Eddy Simulation (LES). The flow around wall-mounted bluff bodies is subject of research due to its wide relevance for engineering applications. However, the structure of the vortex system in front of such a bluff body is complex, bears strong velocity and pressure gradients in each spatial direction and has rich dynamics. Furthermore, the vortex system is located close to the investigated flat bottom wall (Dargahi, Exp. Fluids 8(1-2):1–12, 1989; Devenport and Simpson, J. Fluid Mech. 210:23–55, 1990). Thus, classical models for the treatment of the near-wall flow based on the logarithmic law of the wall or a power law cannot be expected to suffice in such kind of flow (Pope 2011). This paper assesses which contributors to the stress balance have significant influence on the balances residual and thus have to be considered by an approach to model the investigated near-wall flow. To do so, the momentum equation in streamwise direction is integrated in wall-normal direction and applied to the results gained from the LES. The evaluation of the stress balance along four selected wall-normal profiles indicates that the significance of each single term depends on where the profile is located. Outside the viscous layer, no term except the viscous stresses can be neglected in general. The amplitude of the pressure gradient as well as horizontal gradients of mean and fluctuating velocity are multiples of the estimated wall shear stress. Wall models not including a spatial approach are therefore most likely to fail in such kind of flow.     

The structure of a three-dimensional boundary layer subjected to streamwise-varying spanwise-homogeneous pressure gradient

A spatially-evolving three-dimensional boundary layer, subjected to a streamwise-varying spanwise-homogeneous pressure gradient, equivalent to a body force, is investigated by way of direct numerical simulation. The pressure gradient, prescribed to change its sign half-way along the boundary layer, provokes strong skewing of the velocity vector, with a layer of nearly collateral flow forming close to the wall up to the position of maximum spanwise velocity. A wide range of flow-physical properties have been studied, with particular emphasis on the near-wall layer, including second-moments, major budget contributions and wall-normal two-point correlations of velocity fluctuations and their angles, relative to wall-shear fluctuations. The results illustrate the complexity caused by skewing, including a damping in turbulent mixing and a significant lag between strains and stresses. The study has been undertaken in the context of efforts to develop and test novel hybrid LES–RANS schemes for non-equilibrium near-wall flows, with an emphasis on three-dimensional near-wall straining. Fundamental flow-physical issues aside, the data derived should be of particular relevance to a priori studies of second-moment RANS closure and the development and validation of RANS-type near-wall approximations implemented in LES schemes for high-Reynolds-number complex flows.     

Simultaneous measurement of turbulent velocity field and surface wave amplitude in the initial stage of an open-channel flow by PIV

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to measure the two components of the turbulent velocity field in the initial stage of an open-channel flow in a streamwise-wall-normal plane, and the free-surface level was discriminated from the PIV image. The details of this technique was described and demonstrated by showing the instantaneous velocity field together with the free-surface shape, statistics of velocity field, and the wave-turbulence interaction terms. Preliminary experimental results showed that the turbulence intensity of the streamwise velocity fluctuations (u′) decreased, whereas that of the wall-normal velocity (v′) increased near the bottom wall with downstream distance in the initial stage of an open-channel flow; (g is the fluctuation of free-surface level) had a negative value, had a positive value near the free surface, and the surface-wave-affected depth deepened with downstream distance.     

Wall shear stress measurement in a turbulent pipe flow using ultrasound Doppler velocimetry

A turbulent boundary layer of a water flow is investigated by means of pulsed ultrasound Doppler velocimetry. The advantage of this method is the acquisition of complete velocity profiles along the sound propagation line within very short time intervals. The shear stress velocity, used for normalizing the velocity profiles, was determined by fitting the profiles to the universal profiles in a turbulent boundary layer obtained from Prandtl's mixing length theory. A coordinate transformation in the near-wall region is proposed to allocate the velocity data to "true" wall distances. From the experimental values of the wall shear stress velocity, the friction factors for a turbulent pipe flow are calculated and compared to the Blasius law. The overall error in measurement was estimated to NJ.4%.