Expanding the limits of “equilibrium” second-moment turbulence closures

The paper discusses possibilities for refinements of conventional “equilibrium” second-moment turbulence closure models, aimed at improving model performances in predicting turbulent flows of greater complexity. In focus are the invariant modelling of the low-Re-number and wall proximity effects, as well as extra strain-rates and control of the turbulence length-scale. In addition to satisfying most of the basic physical constraints, the main criterion for model validation was the quality of reproduction of flow and turbulence details, particularly, in the vicinity of a solid wall, in a broad variety of non-equilibrium flows featured by different phenomena. It is demonstrated that the new model, which includes several new modifications, but also some proposed in the past, can satisfactorily reproduce a range of attached and separating flows with strong time- or space-variations or abrupt changes of boundary conditions. Cases considered cover a wide range of Re-numbers involving in some cases also the laminar-to-turbulent or reverse transition.     

Stability analysis of annular flow structure, using a discrete form of the “two-fluid model”

The differential form of the “two-fluid model” for annular flow, neglecting surface tension, is ill-posed, and it is not suited for examining the stability of the steady-state solutions with respect to the average film thickness. It is shown here that a discrete (difference) representation of the two-fluid model may lead to an appropriate criterion for the stability of the steady-state solutions. Exactly the same criterion is obtained from the requirement that the kinematic waves will propagate in the downstream direction. The suggested discrete form of the “two-fluid model” is used to perform transient simulation and for examining the system response to finite disturbances.     

Macroscopic properties of a two-phase potential dispersion composed of identical unit cells

The potential flow solution for flow of fluid past dispersed objects in a “unit cell” is used to derive several macroscopic properties, including the mean pressures in the phases and on the walls, the momentum and kinetic energy density, the force function and mechanical energy flux. These properties are derived from the “resistivity” of the unit cell, which has a tensorial character in general. Various macroscopic forms of Bernoulli's equation relate the properties. Equations of motion for uniform arrays of cells are derived. Various other features, such as minimization of kinetic energy density and forces at concentration jumps, are analyzed.     

Penetration into a granular bed in the presence of upward gas flows

We present a numerical study on the penetration of spherical projectiles into a granular bed in the presence of upward gas flows. Due to the presence of interstitial fluid, the force chains between particles in the granular bed are weakened significantly, and this distinguishes the penetration behavior from that in the absence of fluid. An interesting phenomenon, namely granular jet, is observed during the penetration, and the mechanism for its formation and growth is attributed to the merging of granular vortices generated by the interaction between the intruder and primary particles. Moreover, both the final penetration depth and the maximum diameter of the crater are found to follow a power-law dependence with the impact velocity, and the maximum height reached by the granular jet tends to increase linearly as the impact velocity increases, agreeing well with the experimental results reported in the literature.     

Interaction and “apparent” reconnection of 3D vortex tubes via direct numerical simulations

We present evidence of: “binding” of anti-parallel vortex tube segments; strong noncircular core development; evolution of new secondary finger-like vortex structures: and finally “apparent” vortex reconnections due to entanglement. The latter three processes are not present in Biot-Savart filament simulations.     

Simulations of dispersed turbulent multiphase flow

Direct numerical simulations of homogeneous isotropic turbulence are used to investigate the effects of turbulence on the transport of particles in gas flows or bubbles in liquid flows. The inertia associated with the bubbles or the particles leads to locally strong concentrations of these in regions of instantaneously strong vorticity for bubbles or strain-rate for particles. This alters the average settling rates and other processes. If the mass-loading of the dispersed phase is significant a random “turbulent” flow is generated by the particle settling. A simple demonstration of this is given, showing the statistically axisymmetric character of this flow and how it can modify an ambient turbulent flow.     

Report on a symposium on “Computational approaches to disperse multiphase flow”

Some themes and developments emerged in the course of an IUTAM Symposium on “Computational Approaches to Disperse Multiphase Flow” held at Argonne National Laboratory on October 4–7 2004 are briefly summarized.     

Mechanics of granular materials: The discrete and the continuum descriptions juxtaposed

In recent years a discussion could be followed where the pros and cons of the applicability of the Cosserat continuum model to granular materials were debated [Bardet, J.P., Vardoulakis, I., 2001. The asymmetry of stress in granular media. Int. J. Solids Struct. 38, 353–367; Kruyt, N.P., 2003. Static and kinematics of discrete Cosserat-type granular materials. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 511–534; Bagi, K., 2003. Discussion on “The asymmetry of stress in granular media”. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 1329–1331; Bardet, J.P., Vardoulakis, I. 2003a. Reply to discussion by Dr. Katalin Bagi. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 1035; Kuhn, M., 2003. Discussion on “The asymmetry of stress in granular media”. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 1805–1807; Bardet, J.P., Vardoulakis, I., 2003b. Reply to Dr. Kuhn’s discussion. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 1809; Ehlers, W., Ramm, E., Diebels, S., D’Addetta, G.A., 2003. From particle ensembles to Cosserat continua: homogenization of contact forces towards stresses and couple stresses. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 6681–6702; Chang, C.S., Kuhn, M.R., 2005. On virtual work and stress in granular media. Int. J. Solids Struct. 42, 3773–3793]. The authors follow closely this debate and try, with this paper, to provide a platform where the various viewpoints could find their position. We consider an ensemble of rigid, arbitrarily shaped grains as a set with structure. We establish a basic mathematical framework which allows to express the balance laws and the action–reaction laws for the discrete system in a “global” form, through the concepts of “part”, “granular surface”, “separately additive function” and “flux”. The independent variable in the balance laws is then the arbitrary part of the assembly rather than the single grain. A parallel framework is constructed for Cosserat continua, by applying the axiomatics established by [Noll, W., 1959. The foundation of classical mechanics in the light of recent advances in continuum mechanics. In: The axiomatic method, with special reference to Geometry and Physics, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam pp. 266–281, Gurtin, M.E., Williams, W.O., 1967. An axiomatic foundation of continuum thermodynamics. Arch. Rat. Mech. Anal. 26, 83–117, Gurtin, M.E., Martins, L.C., 1976. Cauchy’s theorem in classical physics. Arch. Rat. Mech. Anal. 60, 305–324]. The comparison between the two realisations suggests the microscopic interpretation for some features of Cosserat Mechanics, among which the asymmetry of the Cauchy-stress tensor and the couple-stress.     

Phase separation in impacting wyes and tees

An experimental and analytical study of phase separation for impacting two-phase flows in branching conduits has been performed. The resulting analytical model is applicable to impacting flows in wyes and tees for various inlet flow regimes. This model is based on a dividing-streamline concept, and it assumes that there is a “zone of influence” for each of the two phases which is bounded by the conduit wall and the dividing streamlines. Good agreement was obtained between model predictions and the experimental results from this study and others.     

Tests of a new numerical scheme on a “non-reflection and free-transmission” open-sea boundary for longwaves

A new numerical scheme of a “non-reflection and free-transmission” boundary for longwave equations proposed by Hino (1987) has been tested for a variety of cases. The test results verify the effectiveness of the method for (a) a single progressive wave train on a horizontal bottom, (b) two wave trains each propagating in opposite directions on a horizontal bottom, (c) a single wave train propagating on a sloping bottom with friction, (d) oscillatory flood waves in an open channel flow, (e) two-dimensional waves travelling obliquely to open boundaries and (f) water surface oscillation in a harbor by waves incident through an opening.     

The influence of the drag force due to the interstitial gas on granular flows down a chute

Fully-developed steady flow of granular material down an inclined chute has been a subject of much research interest, but the effect of the interstitial gas has usually been ignored. In this paper, new expressions for the drag force and energy dissipation caused by the interstitial gas (ignoring the turbulent fluctuations of the gas phase) are derived and used to modify the governing equations derived from the kinetic theory approach for granular–gas mixture flows, where particles are relatively massive so that velocity fluctuations are caused by collisions rather than the gas flow. This new model is applied to fully-developed, steady mixture flows down an inclined chute and the results are compared with other simulations. Our results show that the effect of the interstitial gas plays a significant role in modifying the characteristics of fully developed flow. Although the effect of the interstitial gas is less pronounced for large particles than small ones, the flowfields with large particles are still very different from granular flows which do not incorporate any interactions with the interstitial gas.     

A “quasi-elastic” affine formulation for the homogenised behaviour of nonlinear viscoelastic polycrystals and composites

The derivation of the overall behaviour of nonlinear viscoelastic (or rate-dependent elastoplastic) heterogeneous materials requires a linearisation of the constitutive equations around uniform per phase stress (or strain) histories. The resulting Linear Comparison Material (LCM) has to be linear thermoviscoelastic to fully retain the viscoelastic nature of phase interactions. Instead of the exact treatment of this LCM (i.e., correspondence principle and inverse Laplace transforms) as proposed by the “classical” affine formulation, an approximate treatment is proposed here. First considering Maxwellian behaviour, comparisons for a single phase as well as for two-phase materials (with “parallel” and disordered morphologies) show that the “direct inversion method” of Laplace transforms, initially proposed by Schapery (1962), has to be adapted to fit correctly exact responses to creep loading while a more general method is proposed for other loading paths. When applied to nonlinear viscoelastic heterogeneous materials, this approximate inversion method gives rise to a new formulation which is consistent with the classical affine one for the steady-state regimes. In the transient regime, it leads to a significantly more efficient numerical resolution, the LCM associated to the step by step procedure being no more thermoviscoelastic but thermoelastic. Various comparisons for nonlinear viscoelastic polycrystals responses to creep as well as relaxation loadings show that this “quasi-elastic” formulation yields results very close to classical affine ones, even for high contrasts.     

The behavior of gas-liquid interfaces in vertical tubes

Experimental studies of interface behavior when a gas flow, confined in a vertical tube, flows past a stationary body of liquid are presented. Critical conditions necessary for the interface to become unstable or break up are investigated. Specific phenomena studied include: penetration of liquid from a reservoir into the top open end of a vertical tube from which gas is emerging, flow of gas past a liquid ring maintained on the inside wall of the tube, conditions for the support of a “hanging film” on the tube wall, formation of droplets and establishment of a continuous upwards-flowing liquid film. A general mathematical formulation of this problem is presented and used to derive the set of relevant dimensionless parameters. Solutions are obtained to certain simple cases and are shown to be consistent with experiment in the limits in which one or more of the variables exerts negligible influence.     

Multiple solutions generated by statistical linearization and their physical significance

Three cases are examined where the statistical linearization (SL) procedure can yield multiple solutions for the first and second moments of the response. The first is an oscillator with a hardening non-linear stiffness excited by a narrow-band random excitation, the second is an oscillator with two potential wells excited by wide-band random excitation, and the third is an oscillator where the non-linear features present in the first two problems are combined. The results of an SL analysis are quantitatively compared with the behaviour of digitally simulated sample functions of the displacement response. In all cases a definite correspondence is found between the occurrence of multiple solutions generated by the SL method and the appearance of noticeable jumps in sample functions of the response. In some cases a quantitative agreement exists between the first and second moment values of the multiple solutions and the magnitude of “local” moments of the response.     

Assessing continuum postulates in simulations of granular flow

Continuum mechanics relies on the fundamental notion of a mesoscopic volume “element” in which properties averaged over discrete particles obey deterministic relationships. Recent work on granular materials suggests that a continuum law may be inapplicable, revealing inhomogeneities at the particle level, such as force chains and slow cage breaking. Here, we analyze large-scale three-dimensional discrete-element method (DEM) simulations of different granular flows and show that an approximate “granular element” defined at the scale of observed dynamical correlations (roughly three to five particle diameters) has a reasonable continuum interpretation. By viewing all the simulations as an ensemble of granular elements which deform and move with the flow, we can track material evolution at a local level. Our results confirm some of the hypotheses of classical plasticity theory while contradicting others and suggest a subtle physical picture of granular failure, combining liquid-like dependence on deformation rate and solid-like dependence on strain. Our computational methods and results can be used to guide the development of more realistic continuum models, based on observed local relationships between average variables.     

Flow structure and distribution effects in gas-liquid mixture flows

Air-water mixtures which are assumed to flow homogeneously in a pipe are usually described by a one-dimensional momentum balance. This allows definition of a friction factor in a manner similar to single phase flows. By defining a momentum flux distribution parameter, the momentum balance has been modified to correctly include the etfects of phase and velocity distributions and the effect of these on calculated friction factors has been investigated. Resistivity probes were used to measure void fraction and gas phase velocity distributions for selected vertical and horizontal flow conditions, and these were combined with static pressure measurements to calculate friction factors. For bubbly flows, the inclusion of these distribution effects did not substantially alter friction factor estimates which are approximately 10% above single phase values (for Reynolds numbers based on liquid viscosity).

Friction factor values are shown to be related to flow development with higher values associated with deveioping flows. In particular, high friction factors are associated with the need to break-up bubbles to an “equilibrium” size. In order to experimentally simulate fully developed vertical flows, the highly turbulent nozzle mixer is most suitable while the less turbulent wall-injection type seems appropriate for horizontal flows.     

On the boundary layer/riblets interaction mechanisms and the prediction of turbulent drag reduction

Turbulent drag reduction experienced by ribletted surfaces is the result of both (1) the interaction between riblet peaks and the coherent structures that characterize turbulent near-wall flows, and (2) the laminar sublayer flow modifications caused by the riblet shape, which can balance, under appropriate conditions, the drag penalty due to the increased wetted surface. The latter “viscous” mechanism is investigated by means of an analytical model of the laminar sublayer, which removes geometrical restrictions and allows us to take into account “real” shapes of riblet contours, affected by manufacturing inaccuracies, and to compute even for such cases a parameter, called protrusion height, related to the longitudinal mean flow. By considering real geometries, riblet effectiveness is clearly shown to be related to the difference between the longitudinal and the transversal protrusion heights. A simple method for the prediction of the performances of ribletted surfaces is then devised. The predicted and measured drag reduction data, for different riblet geometries and flow characteristics, are in close agreement with each other. The soundness of the physical interpretation underlying this prediction method is consequently confirmed.     

Counter current gas-liquid vertical flow, model for flow pattern and pressure drop

Counter-current flow pattern transition and pressure drop are modeled. Emphasis is placed on the understanding of the transition mechanisms from a mechanistic point of view.

Unlike the case of co-current flow, in counter-current flow, the situations of “no solution” as well as “multiple solutions” for the flow pattern and pressure drop exist. These possibilities are discussed and criteria for the actual flow pattern that will take place are suggested.

Some of the results are supported by data (from the literature), others are somewhat tentative suggesting future experimental verification is needed.     

Experimental measurements of flow and flame spread in the development of a fire testing facility

A fire testing facility named the “MSU Fire Tunnel” has been developed. The intent was to devise a testing apparatus that controlled the flow of oxidizing gas in the tunnel to an extent not heretofore accomplished. A novel approach was developed for mounting the flame-spread samples flush with the surface of an “airfoil”. This method avoids previous complications of determining the exact position of the leading edge of the velocity boundary layer. Data were gathered for the flow field using hot-wire anemometry. These data indicated that a zero-pressure gradient Blasius boundary layer flow was established along the airfoil and fuel sample surfaces. Opposed-flow flame-spread tests were conducted and correlations were produced that support the predictive capacity of this apparatus. It was shown that the opposed flow flame-spread data allowed distinctions to be made between correlations of previous researchers. No such comparisons were formerly possible. A finite-chemistry correlation was shown to be consistent with, and similar to, correlations derived in the previous work.