RMS spanwise vorticity measurements in a turbulent boundary layer

Turbulent boundary layer measurements of the rms spanwise vorticity t_z with a four hot-wire probe are in reasonable agreement with direct numerical simulations and other published measurements at comparable Reynolds numbers. It is shown that a reasonable accurate approximation for _z can be obtained with only two parallel hot wires.     

PIV study of the influence of large-scale streamwise vortices on a turbulent boundary layer

Vortex generator jets were used to generate large-scale longitudinal vortices embedded in a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. The investigation was performed in a water tunnel, measuring instantaneous flow fields in planes parallel and normal to the flat plate, using particle image velocimetry. The objective of the research was to observe the response of near-wall turbulence to the imposed perturbing flow. It was shown that a small-amplitude forcing vortical flow had significant influence on the mean and fluctuating velocity profiles. Moreover, particle image velocimetry permitted speculation upon the behaviour of the wall velocity streaks under the action of the perturbing forcing vortical flow.     

Low-Reynolds-number effects in a turbulent boundary layer

Low-Reynolds-number effects in a zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer have been investigated using a two-component LDV system. The momentum thickness Reynolds number R is in the range 400 to 1320. The wall shear stress is determined from the mean velocity gradient close to the wall, allowing scaling on wall variables of the inner region of the layer to be examined unambiguously. The results indicate that, for the present R range, this scaling is not appropriate. The effect of R on the Reynolds normal and shear stresses is felt within the sublayer. Outside the buffer layer, the mean velocity is more satisfactorily described by a power-law than by a logarithmic distribution.The support of the Australian Research Council is gratefully acknowledged     

Stability of a spanwise nonuniform boundary layer flow

The linear stability of a boundary layer flow with a spanwise-periodic nonuniformity in the velocity profile is investigated. This flow can be considered as a model of a streaky structure occurring in the boundary layer at a high freestream turbulence level. It is shown that for a small nonuniformity amplitude symmetric modes similar to Tollmien-Schlichting waves are the most unstable. At higher nonuniformity amplitudes, antisymmetric modes, qualitatively different from Tollmien-Schlichting waves and having a larger phase velocity, are the most amplified. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 54–63, November–December, 1998. The study was carried out with the support of the International Scientific and Technical Center (project No. 199-95) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 95-01-01201a).     

Effect of an adverse pressure gradient on the streamwise Reynolds stress profile maxima in a turbulent boundary layer

It is widely accepted that in a turbulent boundary layer （TBL） with adverse pressure gradient （APG） an outer peak usually appears in the profile of streamwise Reynolds stress. However, the effect of APG on this outer peak is not clearly understood. In this paper, the effect of APG is analysed using the numerical and experimental results in the literature. Because the effect of upstream flow is inherent in the TBL, we first analyse this effect in TBLs with zero pressure gradient on flat plates. Under the individual effect of upstream flow, an outer peak already appears in the profile of streamwise Reynolds stress when the TBL continues developing in the streamwise direction. The APG accelerates the appearance of the outer peak, instead of being a trigger.     

Film cooling by injection into a turbulent boundary layer

Most papers on film cooling concern injection of a homogeneous gas. Stollery et al. [1] examined the case of tangential injection of gas into a boundary layer, the specific heat_63-01 differing little from that of the main flow,_63-02.Here we examine the effectiveness of film cooling of a thermally isolated planar wall by local supply to a turbulent boundary layer.     

Wave forerunners of streamwise structures in a swept wing boundary layer

In a model experiment wave packets (forerunners) have been detected for the first time in the flow regions preceding the fronts of streamwise structures in a swept wing boundary layer. The characteristics of the wave packets and the generating streamwise structures and the dynamics of their downstream development are investigated. It is shown that the forerunners can transform into turbulent spots thus leading to laminar-turbulent transition. Certain components of the forerunners are compared with a periodic instability wave.     

An experimental study of a turbulent shear layer at a clean and contaminated free-surface

An experimental study was performed to measure the flow properties of a vertically-orientated shear layer in the vicinity of a free-surface. The effect of surface contamination on the near surface flow field was also determined. Digital Particle Image Velocimetry was used to measure instantaneous and averaged velocity, vorticity, and Reynolds stresses. Results show that the presence of surfactants can cause directional shifts of the shear layer, as well as an overall damping of the turbulence in the vicinity of the free-surface, except in the vicinity of a Reynolds ridge where an increase in Reynolds stress was observed.     

Kinematics of a turbulent boundary layer

In the article an attempt is made, within the framework of the Navier-Stokes equations, to describe the field of the instantaneous velocities of a liquid in the region of a turbulent flow near the wall. It is assumed that the velocities of the liquid are determined by the field of the eddies arising in regions of ejections under the action of pressure pulses in the region near the wall.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 34–40, September–October, 1973.     

An experimental investigation of the combined effects of surface curvature and streamwise pressure gradients both in laminar and turbulent flows

Flow and heat transfer characteristics over flat, concave and convex surfaces have been investigated in a low speed wind tunnel in the presence of adverse and favourable pressure gradients (k), for a range of –3.6 × 10^–6 ≤ k ≤ +3.6 × 10^–6. The laminar near zero pressure gradient flow, with an initial momentum thickness Reynolds number of 200, showed that concave wall boundary layer was thinner and heat transfer coefficients were almost 2 fold of flat plate values. Whereas for the same flow condition, thicker boundary layer and 35% less heat transfer coefficients of the convex wall were recorded with an earlier transition. Accelerating laminar flows caused also thinner boundary layers and an augmentation in heat transfer values by 28%, 35% and 16% for the flat, concave and convex walls at k = 3.6 × 10^–6. On the other hand decelerating laminar flows increased the boundary layer thickness and reduced Stanton numbers by 31%, 26% and 22% on the flat surface, concave and convex walls respectively. Turbulent flow measurements at k = 0, with an initial momentum thickness Reynolds number of 1100, resulted in 30% higher and 25% lower Stanton numbers on concave and convex walls, comparing to flat plate values. Moreover the accelerating turbulent flow of k = 0.6 × 10^–6 brought about 29%, 30% and 24% higher Stanton numbers for the flat, concave and convex walls and the decelerating turbulent flow of k = –0.6 × 10^–6 caused St to decrease up to 27%, 25% and 29% for the same surfaces respectively comparing to zero pressure gradient values. An empirical equation was also developed and successfully applied, for the estimation of Stanton number under the influence of pressure gradients, with an accuracy of better than 4%.     

A study of a turbulent boundary layer in stalled-airfoil-type flow conditions

The experimental study of the turbulent boundary layer under external flow conditions similar to those found on the suction side of airfoils in trailing-edge post-stall conditions has been performed. Detailed boundary layer measurements were carried out with a PIV system and a two-sensor wall probe. They cover the region downstream of the suction peak where the boundary layer is subjected to a very strong adverse pressure gradient and has suffered from an abrupt transition from strong favorable to strong adverse pressure gradients. The experiments show that in spite of these severe conditions, the boundary layer is surprisingly able to recover a state of near-equilibrium before separating. In this near-equilibrium zone, the mean velocity defect and all the measured Reynolds stresses are self-similar (in the outer region) with respect to the outer scales δ and U _e δ*/δ. The mean momentum balance indicates that for the upper half of the outer region, the advection terms dominate all the stress-gradient terms in the zone prior to separation. A large portion of the outer region has therefore become essentially an inertial flow zone where an approach toward equilibrium is expected.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Bubble migration in a turbulent boundary layer

The wall void peaking distribution observed in an upward turbulent bubbly boundary layer along a flat plate is generated by bubbles that move towards the plate, come into contact with the wall and then slide along it. This transverse ‘migration’ has been studied using flow visualization, high speed video and particle tracking techniques to measure the trajectories of mono-disperse air bubbles at very low void fractions. Investigations have been performed at four Reynolds numbers in the range 280 < Re_θ < 3000, covering both the laminar and turbulent regimes, with mono-disperse bubbles of mean equivalent diameter between 2 mm and 6 mm. Lagrangian statistics calculated from hundreds of trajectories show that the migration only occurs in the turbulent regime and for bubble diameters below some critical value: 3.5 mm < d_eqcrit < 4 mm. Above this size (We > 3), the interface deformation is such that bubbles do not remain at the wall, even when they are released at the surface. Also, bubble migration is shown to be non-systematic, to have a non-deterministic character in the sense that trajectories differ significantly, to increase with Reynolds number and to take place on a short time scale. A series of experiments with isolated bubbles demonstrates that these results are not influenced by bubble–bubble interactions and confirm that two-way coupling in the flow is limited. Flow visualizations show that the migration originates with the capture of bubbles inside the large turbulent structures of the boundary layer (‘bulges’). The bubbles begin to move towards the wall as they cross these structures, and the point at which they reach the wall is strongly correlated with the position of the deep ‘valleys’ which separate the turbulent ‘bulges’. The analysis of the mean Lagrangian trajectories of migrating bubbles confirms these observations. Firstly, the average time of migration calculated from these trajectories coincides with the mean transit time of the bubbles across the structures. Secondly, once the trajectories have been scaled by this transit time and the boundary layer thickness δ, they all have the same form in the region y/δ < 0.4, independent of the Reynolds number.     

The acceleration of electrons in a boundary layer

The effect of the redistribution of energy between ion and electron components for the motion of a plasma in a nonuniform magnetic field is considered on the example of a flat model of an equilibrium boundary layer between a rarefied plasma and a magnetic field in the relativistic invariant form. The relativistic and polarization corrections to the classical theory are found. Results are given for a numerical solution of the problem.     

A study of the effects of curvature and compression on the behavior of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer

The influences of concave streamline curvature and bulk compression on a turbulent boundary layer in a supersonic flow were studied. The effects of curvature and compression were identified by comparing two flows with identical pressure distributions but different amounts of curvature. The effect of the pressure rise was to increase the wall stress and amplify the Reynolds stresses. The influence of curvature complemented the destabilizing effect of the compression, and the larger the curvature the greater the increase in the wall friction and Reynolds stresses in the boundary layer.This work was supported by AFOSR grant 90-0261, monitored by Dr. L. Sakell     

An experimental study on the two-dimensional opposed wall jet in a turbulent boundary layer: Change in the flow pattern with velocity ratio

Results of the measurement of flow properties in a two-dimensional turbulent wall jet which is injected into the turbulent boundary layer in the direction opposite to that of the boundary layer flow are presented by varying the ratio of the jet issuing velocity to the mainstream velocity . This flow includes the flow separation and the recirculating flow, and so it requires the magnitude and direction of instantaneous velocity be measured. In the present work, a tandem hot-wire probe is manufactured and its characteristics are examined experimentally. With the use of this probe the change in the penetration length of the jet with the velocity ratio is investigated. It is clarified that two regimes of flow patterns exist: in the low velocity ratio the penetration length of the jet changes little with , and in the high velocity ratio it goes far from the nozzle with increasing . Streamlines, turbulence intensity contours and static pressure contours are presented in the two typical velocity ratios corresponding to each of two flow patterns, and they are compared.List of symbols b ₀ nozzle width (Fig. 1) - , e mean and fluctuating output voltages of hot-wire anemometer - p, p mean static pressure, p = p – p _o - p ₀ static pressure in undisturbed mainstream - p _w , p _w mean wall pressure, p _w = p _w – p _o - U ₀ mainstream velocity - U _j jet velocity at the nozzle exit - , u mean and fluctuating velocity components in x-direction - u _e effective cooling velocity - x distance along the wall from nozzle exit - x _pmax, x _pmin positions where the wall pressure has maximum and minimum values respectively - x _s penetration length of jet - y distance from the wall - forward flow fraction - ₁, ₂ yaw and pitch angles of flow direction (Fig. 4) - velocity ratio, = U _j /U _o - density of the fluid - nondimensional stream function The authors wish to express their appreciation to Prof. Toshio Tanaka of Gifu University for his advice in the course of the experiment. They also would like to thank the Research Foundation for the Electrotechnology of Chubu which partly supported this work.     

Properties of the streamwise velocity fluctuations in the inertial layer of turbulent boundary layers and their connection to self-similar mean dynamics

Well-resolved streamwise velocity measurements are used to investigate three measures of self-similarity in the spatial inertial sublayer of turbulent boundary layers. The emergence of self-similarity in the inertial sublayer requires a high Reynolds number, and thus a relatively wide range of ${\delta }^{+}=\delta u_{\tau }/\nu$ $(1400\lesssim {\delta }^{+}\lesssim 20\text{,}000)$ is explored. The measures investigated include the Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD) used in turbulent flow analysis by Tsuji et al. (2005), the logarithmic decrease of the even statistical moments studied by Meneveau and Marusic (2013), and the diagnostic plot of Alfredsson and Örlü (2010). These measures are compared with the analyses of Fife et al. (2005) that determine and exploit an invariant form of the mean momentum equation. A primary focus is on domain(s) where the self-similar behaviors are analytically predicted and empirically observed. The present findings indicate that the approximately constant KLD and approximately logarithmic moment profiles reside in a region that is interior to the bounds of the self-similar inertial domain associated with the mean momentum equation. Conversely, the bounds of the self-similar region on the diagnostic plot correspond closely to the theoretically estimated bounds. Results are briefly discussed relative to Townsend’s notion of outer layer similarity, and, on the inertial domain, the physical existence of uniform momentum zones segregated by narrow vortical fissures.