Experimental analysis of turbulent flow structure in a fully developed rib-roughened rectangular channel with PIV

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the turbulent water-flow structure over one-side micro-repeated ribs in a narrow two-dimensional rectangular channel by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two rib pitch-to-height ratios p/k of 10 and 20 were investigated while the rib height was held constant at 4 mm. The rib height-to-channel equivalent diameter ratio k/D_e was 0.1. The streamwise mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy fields in the fully developed flow region of the channel were calculated at three different positions of x=0, 3.8, and -6.2 mm, which corresponded to center, downstream, and upstream of the rib, respectively, and for two Reynolds numbers Re of 7,000 and 20,000. A large-scale turbulent eddy was generated by the rib promoter and then propagated into the mainstream flow, which led to the deformation of the velocity profile. Downstream of the rib, rotating and counter-rotating eddies were also generated by the rib promoter. The enhancement of the turbulent kinetic energy was not changed when the Reynolds number increased from 7,000 to 20,000 between p/k=20 and 10. The reattachment length L_R was measured from velocity vector fields in the developing, fully developed, and exit regions of the flow over the range Re=1,400-50,000. The results showed that the ratio p/k and the Reynolds number had no significant effect on the reattachment length beyond a critical value of Re=15,000, where L_R was found to be approximately 4 times the rib height.     

Particle image velocimetry measurements of a backward-facing step flow

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were carried out on a backward-facing step flow at a Reynolds number of Re_h=U_Xh/9=4,660 (based on step height and freestream velocity). In-plane velocity, out-of-plane vorticity, Reynolds stress and turbulent kinetic energy production measurements in the x-y and x-z planes of the flow are presented. Proper orthogonal decomposition was performed on both the fluctuating velocity and vorticity fields of the x-y plane PIV data using the method of snapshots. Low-order representations of the instantaneous velocity fields were reconstructed using the velocity modes. These reconstructions provided insight into the contribution that the various length scales make to the spatial distribution of mean and turbulent flow quantities such as Reynolds stress and turbulent kinetic energy production. Large scales are found to contribute to the Reynolds stresses and turbulent kinetic energy production downstream of reattachment, while small scales contribute to the intense Reynolds stresses in the vicinity of reattachment.     

Effects of riblet bends on pipe flows

Four riblet bends were tested to investigate the effects of riblets on pipe flows including the secondary flow on the Reynolds numbers; Re _D =6×10³–4×10⁴. The pressure gradients on the smooth pipe downstream from the riblet bends were measured, and also the pressure losses of the bends only were measured. All riblet bends reduced the pressure gradient on the smooth pipe downstream from them, which means a drag reduction. Two of the riblet bends showed the maximum drag reduction of about 4 percent at Re _D = 6500; this reduction rate was significant considering the uncertainty of the present experiments. Since the pressure losses of these two riblet bends were almost identical to that of the smooth bend at Re _D = 6500, they could cause a net drag reduction of about 4 percent on the piping system including these bends at that Reynolds number. Furthermore, the velocity profiles measured by LDV indicated that the secondary flow becomes weaker downstream from the riblet bends when a drag reduction is recognized there.Nomenclature D pipe diameter - D ₀ the distance from the valley to the valley passing through the pipe center - H height of groove - P nondimensional static pressure (p/it/(U ₀ ² ):p is gauge pressure) - dP/dX nondimensional pressure gradient - Rc curvature of bend - Re _D Reynolds number based on bulk velocity and pipe diameter - s spacing of groove - U mean streamwise velocity along the horizontal diameter - U ₀ bulk velocity - V mean vertical velocity along the horizontal diameter - x streamwise direction along the pipe axis (see Fig. 1) - X nondimensionalx (=x/D) - y radial direction in the horizontal plane which is perpendicular to the plane including the bend (see Fig. 1) - yUV swirl intensity (nondimensional swirl intensity:yUV/(DU ₀ ² ))     

Turbulent heat transfer characteristics of water flow in a rotating pipe

Large-Eddy-Simulation of turbulent heat transfer for water flow in rotating pipe is performed, for various rotation ratios (0 ≤ N ≤ 14). The value of the Reynolds number, based on the bulk velocity and pipe diameter, is Re = 5,500. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the rotating pipe on the turbulent heat transfer for water flow, as well as the reliability of the LES approach for predicting turbulent heat transfer in water flow. Some predictions for the case of non-rotating pipe are compared to the available results of literature for validation. To depict the influence of the rotation ratio on turbulent heat transfer, many statistical quantities are analyzed (distributions of mean temperature, rms of fluctuating temperature, turbulent heat fluxes, higher-order statistics). Some contours of instantaneous temperature fluctuations are examined.     

Drag reduction using surfactants in a rotating cylinder geometry

Turbulent Couette flow between two circular cylinders has been used for drag reduction experiments using surfactants. In the experiments presented here, only the outer cylinder rotates, the inner cylinder remains at rest and accurate measurements of the torque at the inner cylinder are measured. Water is used as a reference fluid. A drag reducing surfactant called Arquad S-50 (Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC, Chicago, Ill., USA) (5 mM)+NaSal (12.5 mM) was used as the drag reduction agent. This surfactant can reduce the drag up to 70% (a Reynolds number of about 70,000–150,000) as measured by pressure drop in a pipe flow. Experiments in Couette flow also show drag reduction in the turbulent range. Two arrangements were used, (1) one small trip-wire on the inner cylinder, and (2) four larger trip-wires on the outer cylinder. These trips reduce the critical Reynolds number for transition from laminar to turbulent flow. In case (1), we obtained 18% drag reduction at 5,000<Re<15,000 and in case (2), we obtained an average reduction of about 20% at 2,000<Re<10,000, increasing up to 30% at Re=15,000. The paper also discusses two important problems. First, the shear rate is not constant in the radial gap in circular Couette flow. For non-Newtonian fluids, where the molecular viscosity is a function of the shear rate, this effect must be considered. Second, which viscosity should be used in the Reynolds number? For pipe flow measurements, most authors use the viscosity of the solvent (generally water and Newtonian). For measurements in the Couette flow, we use a different approach, which is described in this paper. We conclude that Couette flow is a useful method for drag reduction investigations. Its advantage is the much smaller geometry in comparison to those of conventional test facilities such as wind tunnels, water, or oil channels or in tubes.     

Microscopic particle image velocimetry measurements of transition to turbulence in microscale capillaries

The character of transitional capillary flow is investigated using pressure-drop measurements and instantaneous velocity fields acquired by microscopic PIV in the streamwise–wall-normal plane of a 536 μm capillary over the Reynolds-number range 1,800 ≤ Re ≤ 3,400 in increments of 100. The pressure-drop measurements reveal a deviation from laminar behavior at Re = 1,900 with the differences between the measured and the predicted laminar-flow pressure drop increasing with increasing Re. These observations are consistent with the characteristics of the mean velocity profiles which begin to deviate from the parabolic laminar profile at Re = 1,900, interpreted as the onset of transition, by becoming increasingly flatter and fuller with increasing Re. A fully-turbulent state is attained at Re ≅ 3,400 where the mean velocity profile collapses onto the mean profile of fully-developed turbulent pipe flow from an existing direct numerical simulation at Re = 5,300. Examination of the instantaneous velocity fields acquired by micro-PIV in the range 1,900 ≤ Re < 3,400 reveal that transitional flows at the microscale are composed of a subset of velocity fields illustrating a purely laminar behavior and a subset of fields that capture significant departure from laminar behavior. The fraction of velocity fields displaying non-laminar behavior increases with increasing Re, consistent with past observations of a growing number of intermittent turbulent spots bounded by nominally laminar flow in macroscale pipe flow with increasing Re. Instantaneous velocity fields that are non-laminar in character consistently contain multiple spanwise vortices that appear to streamwise-align to form larger-scale interfaces that incline slightly away from the wall. The characteristics of these “trains” of vortices are reminiscent of the spatial features of hairpin-like vortices and hairpin vortex packets often observed in fully-turbulent wall-bounded flow at both the macro- and micro-scales. Finally, single-point statistics computed from the non-laminar subsets at each transitional Re, including root-mean-square velocities and the Reynolds shear stress, reveal a gradual and smooth maturation of the patches of disordered motion toward a fully-turbulent state with increasing Re.     

Binormal cooling errors in crossed hot-wire measurements

In crossed hot-wire measurements, cooling of the filament in the direction normal to the hot-wire measurement plane will cause additional heat transfer, called binormal cooling. It is shown that binormal cooling can lead to significant errors in measuring the mean velocity and the turbulence levels in regions where the turbulence level is high, such as the near-wall region of pipes and boundary layers. In a near-wall measurement of a pipe flow, binormal cooling effects lead to errors up to 1.5% in mean velocity and 4% in turbulent shear stress.     

Effect of different initial conditions on a turbulent round free jet

Velocity measurements were made in two jet flows, the first exiting from a smooth contraction nozzle and the second from a long pipe with a fully developed pipe flow profile. The Reynolds number, based on nozzle diameter and exit bulk velocity, was the same (䏪,000) in each flow. The smooth contraction jet flow developed much more rapidly and approached self-preservation more rapidly than the pipe jet. These differences were associated with differences in the turbulence structure in both the near and far fields between the two jets. Throughout the shear layer for x<3d, the peak in the v spectrum occurred at a lower frequency in the pipe jet than in the contraction jet. For x́d, the peaks in the two jets appeared to be nearly at the same frequency. In the pipe jet, the near-field distributions of f(r) and g(r), the longitudinal and transverse velocity correlation functions, differed significantly from the contraction jet. The integral length scale L_u was greater in the pipe jet, whereas L_v was smaller. In the far field, the distributions of f(r) and g(r) were nearly similar in the two flows. The larger initial shear layer thickness of the pipe jet produced a dimensionally lower frequency instability, resulting in longer wavelength structures, which developed and paired at larger downstream distances. The regular vortex formation and pairing were disrupted in the shear layer of the pipe jet. The streamwise vortices, which enhance entrainment and turbulent mixing, were absent in the shear layer of the pipe jet. The formation of large-scale structures should occur much farther downstream in the pipe jet than in the contraction jet.     

The turbulent/non-turbulent interface at the outer boundary of a self-similar turbulent jet

The flow at the outer boundary of a submerged self-similar turbulent jet at Re=2᎒³ is investigated experimentally by means of combined particle image velocimetry (PIV) laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements. The jet fluid contains a fluorescent dye so that the LIF data can be used to discriminate between the jet fluid and the ambient fluid. The axial velocity, Reynolds stress, and vorticity are determined relative to the jet boundary. The results are compared against the conventional profiles, and the results of a direct numerical simulation of the turbulent far-wake behind a flat plate. The results show a sharp transition between rotational and irrotational fluid at the fluid interface, and the existence of a layer of irrotational velocity fluctuations outside the turbulent region.     

Reduction of beam refraction in optical pipe flow experiments by use of sheet-fabricated pipe walls

A measurement section is presented that allows for the study of liquid flows in straight pipes with noninvasive optical techniques. The amount of refraction of light rays is minimized by the use of short pipe sections manufactured of transparent film. For the situation of water, it is shown that walls as thin as 85?μm can be used in turbulent flows at high velocities. In our specific case, a flow of water at Reynolds numbers upto Re _D =300?000 in a pipe of Ø 70?mm diameter (average velocity 4?m/s) was realized without unacceptable vibrations of the pipe wall. In this situation laser Doppler measurements can be carried out without the need to correct for the position of the measurement volume or changes in the velocity response of the system.     

High resolution measurement of turbulent structure in a channel with particle image velocimetry

High resolution particle image velocimetry is used to measure the turbulent velocity field for fully developed flow (Re = 2,872) in an enclosed channel. Photographs of particle displacement are obtained in a plane that is parallel to the flow and perpendicular to the walls. These are analyzed to give simultaneous measurements of two components of the velocity at more than 10,000 points. Maps of velocity vectors, spanwise vorticity and Reynolds stress reveal structural aspects of the turbulence. In particular, internal shear layers are observed, in agreement with predictions of direct numerical simulation. Ensemble-averaging of a number of photographs yields statistical properties of the velocity in good agreement with laser-Doppler velocimeter measurements, and with direct numerical simulations.     

Particle motion and turbulence in dense two-phase flows

Measurements of particle mean and r.m.s. velocity were obtained by laser-Doppler anemometry in a descending solid-liquid turbulent flow in a vertical pipe with volumetric concentrations of suspended spherical particles of 270 μm mean diameter in the range 0.1–14%. Similar measurements were obtained in the flow downstream of an axisymmetric baffle of 50% area blockage placed in the pipe with volumetric concentrations of 310 μm particles up to 8% and of 665 μm particles up to 2%. In order to enable measurements in high particle concentrations without blockage of the laser beams the refractive index of the particles was matched to that of the carrier fluid.

The results show that the particle mean velocity profiles become more uniform and the particle r.m.s. velocity decreases with increasing concentration in both flow cases. The particle mean velocity in the pipe flow also decreases with concentration and the relative velocity, the difference between the particle velocity and the fluid velocity in single-phase flow, decreases with increasing Reynolds number. The length of the recirculation region downstream of the baffle was shorter than in single-phase flow by 11 and 24% for particle concentrations of 4 and 8%, respectively. The particle mean velocities were hardly affected by size for concentrations up fo 2%, but the r.m.s. velocities were lower with the larger particles.     

Accurate quantification of steady and pulsatile flow with segmented k-space magnetic resonance velocimetry

Conventional non-segmented magnetic resonance phase velocity mapping (MRPVM) is an accurate but relatively slow velocimetric technique. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the much faster segmented k-space MRPVM in quantifying flow. The axial velocity was measured in four straight tubes (inner diameter: 5.6-26.2 mm), using a segmented MRPVM sequence with seven lines of k-space per segment. The flow rate and flow volume were accurately quantified (errors<5%) under steady (r²=0.99) and pulsatile flow (r²=0.98), respectively. The measured velocity profiles and flow rates from the segmented sequence agreed with those from the non-segmented (p>0.05). Changing the slice thickness or the field of view did not affect the accuracy of the measurements. The results of this study suggest that fast, segmented MRPVM can be used for accurate flow quantification.     

Study of the flow around surface-mounted pyramids

The turbulent flow around square-based wall-mounted pyramids in thin and thick boundary layers was experimentally investigated as a function of the pyramid apex angle, ‘, and angle of attack, f, based on mean flow surface patterns, pressure and velocity measurements. For thin boundary layers, wake periodicity is observed. For slender pyramids (15°<‘<75°), the periodic formation and shedding of vortices is observed. The shedding frequency scales with the length scale L=w'(w'/h)^-1/4, where h is the pyramid height and w' is the frontal (projected) base width. For broad pyramids, wake periodicity exists but cannot be related to vortex shedding. Vortex shedding appears related to the existence of a double vortex structure along the side faces of the slender pyramids. The location of the separation point upstream and the attachment point downstream of the obstacle also scales with L. For thick boundary layers, no wake periodicity is observed and the mean flow structure in the wake differs from that seen for thin boundary layers. The location of the separation and attachment points scales only approximately with L.     

Three-component,time-resolved velocity statistics in the wall region of a turbulent pipe flow

Three-component, coincident, time-resolved velocity measurements were obtained in the near wall region, y ⁺ < 100, of a fully developed turbulent pipe flow. The measurements were conducted in the ARL/PSU glycerin tunnel at a Reynolds number (Re _h), based on pipe radius and centerline velocity, of 6436 and an Re of approximately 730. The reported data include velocity statistics up to fourth order, Reynolds stresses and three component, coincident turbulent velocity spectral estimates. The current data are generally in quite good agreement with the fully developed channel flow direct numerical simulation (DNS) results of Antonia et al. (1992) at Re 700 - 700. The accuracy of the current experimental data and the very good agreement with the DNS results provides evidence for the accuracy of the DNS solutions and thus Antonia's conclusions of very near wall, y ⁺ < 20, Re dependence on turbulent velocity statistics. The very good agreement between the low Re rectangular channel flow DNS results and the low Re flat plate turbulent boundary layer statistics of Karlsson and Johansson (1988) suggests that for y ⁺ < 30 statistics of similar flows of differing geometry may be compared on the basis of equal Re . The current data are available on disk or by anonymous ftp by the first author.     

Experimental study and large eddy simulation for the turbulent flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration

The turbulent flows around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration with different spacing ratios of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 5.0 have been investigated experimentally at subcritical Reynolds numbers from 11,000 to 20,000. The mean and fluctuating velocity distributions were obtained using the laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurement. The digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) was employed to characterize the full field vorticity and velocity distributions as well as other turbulent quantities. The experimental study indicated that several distinct flow patterns exist depending on the spacing ratio and subcritical Reynolds number for turbulent flow. The three-dimensional numerical simulations were also carried out using the large eddy simulation (LES) at Reynolds number of 15,000 with the spacing ratio of 1.5 and 3.5. The results show that the LES numerical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. Therefore, the three-dimensional vortex structures and the full field instantaneous and mean quantities of the flow field such as velocity field, vorticity field, etc., which are very difficult to obtain experimentally, can be extracted from the simulation results for the deepening of our understanding on the complex flow phenomena around four cylinders in in-line configuration.     

Experimental investigation of turbulence modulation in particle-laden coaxial jets by Phase Doppler Anemometry

The effect of solid particles on the flow characteristics of axisymmetric turbulent coaxial jets for two flow conditions was studied. Simultaneous measurements of size and velocity distributions of continuous and dispersed phases in a two-phase flow are presented using a Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) technique. Spherical glass particles with a particle diameter range from 102 to 212 μm were used in this two-phase flow, the experimental results indicate a significant influence of the solid particles and the Re on the flow characteristics. The data show that the gas phase has lower mean velocity in the near-injector region and a higher mean velocity at the developed region. Near the injector at low Reynolds number (Re = 2839) the presence of the particles dampens the gas-phase turbulence, while at higher Reynolds number (Re = 11 893) the gas-phase turbulence and the velocity fluctuation of particle-laden jets are increased. The particle velocity at higher Reynolds number (Re = 11 893) and is lower at lower Reynolds number (Re = 2839). The slip velocity between particles and gas phase existed over the flow domain was examined. More importantly, the present experiment results suggest that, consideration of the gas characteristic length scales is insufficient to predict gas-phase turbulence modulation in gas-particle flows.     

On the effect of Reynolds number on von Kármán’s constant

Fully developed turbulence measurements in pipe flow were made in the Reynolds number ranging from 10×10³ to 350×10³ with a hot-wire anemometer and a Pitot tube. Comparisons were made with the experimental results of previous work. The mean velocity profile and the turbulent intensity in the experiments indicate that for the mean velocity profile, in the fully developed turbulent pipe flow, von Kármán's constant κ is a function of Reynolds number, i.e. κ increases slowly with the Reynolds number. The empirical relationships could not be considered to be accurate enough to describe the fully developed turbulence over the whole Reynolds number range in pipe flow. The project supported by the Deutscher Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD)     

PIV–LES analysis of channel flow rotating about the streamwise axis

The flow field of a channel rotating about the streamwise axis is analyzed experimentally and numerically. The current investigations were carried out at a bulk velocity based Reynolds number of Re_m = 2850 and a friction velocity based Reynolds number of Re_τ = 180, respectively. Particle-image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are compared with large-eddy simulation data to show earlier direct numerical simulation findings to generate too large a reverse flow region in the center region of the spanwise flow. The development of the mean spanwise velocity distribution and the influence of the rotation on the turbulent properties, i.e., the Reynolds stresses and the two-point correlations of the flow, are confirmed in both investigations. The rotation primarily influences those components of the Reynolds shear stresses, which contain the spanwise velocity component. The size of the correlation areas and thus the length scales of the flow generally grow in all three coordinate directions leading to longer structures. Furthermore, experimental results of the same channel flow at a significantly lower bulk Reynolds number of Re_{m, l} = 665, i.e., a laminar flow in a non-rotating channel, are introduced. The experiments show the low Reynolds number flow to become turbulent under rotation and to develop the same characteristics as the high Reynolds number flow.     

Turbulent particle dispersion in arbitrary wall-bounded geometries: A coupled CFD-Langevin-equation based approach

A Lagrangian continuous random walk (CRW) model is developed to predict turbulent particle dispersion in arbitrary wall-bounded flows with prevailing anisotropic, inhomogeneous turbulence. The particle tracking model uses 3D mean flow data obtained from the Fluent CFD code, as well as Eulerian statistics of instantaneous quantities computed from DNS databases. The turbulent fluid velocities at the current time step are related to those of the previous time step through a Markov chain based on the normalized Langevin equation which takes into account turbulence inhomogeneities. The model includes a drift velocity correction that considerably reduces unphysical features common in random walk models. It is shown that the model satisfies the well-mixed criterion such that tracer particles retain approximately uniform concentrations when introduced uniformly in the domain, while their deposition velocity is vanishingly small, as it should be. To handle arbitrary geometries, it is assumed that the velocity rms values in the boundary layer can locally be approximated by the DNS data of fully developed channel flows. Benchmarks of the model are performed against particle deposition data in turbulent pipe flows, 90° bends, as well as more complex 3D flows inside a mouth-throat geometry. Good agreement with the data is obtained across the range of particle inertia.