On mean flow universality of turbulent wall flows. I. High Reynolds number flow analysis

ABSTRACT

The universality and mathematical physical structure of wall-bounded turbulent flows is a topic of discussions over many decades. There is no agreement about questions like what is the physical mean flow structure, how universal is it, and how universal are theoretical concepts for local and global flow variations. These questions are addressed by using latest direct numerical simulation (DNS) data at moderate Reynolds numbers Re and experimental data up to extreme Re. The mean flow structure is explained by analytical models for three canonical wall-bounded turbulent flows (channel flow, pipe flow, and the zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer). Thorough comparisons with DNS and experimental data provide support for the validity of models. Criteria for veritable physics derived from observations are suggested. It is shown that the models presented satisfy these criteria. A probabilistic interpretation of the mean flow structure shows that the physical constraints of equal entropies and equally likely mean velocity values in a region unaffected by boundary effects impose a universal log-law structure. The structure of wall-bounded turbulent flows is much more universal than previously expected. There is no discrepancy between local logarithmic velocity variations and global friction law and bulk velocity variations. Flow effects are limited to the minimum: the difference of having a bounded or unbounded domain, and the variation range of mean velocity values allowed by the geometry.     

Kolmogorov scaling of turbulent flow in the vicinity of the wall

How to scale even the simplest of turbulent flows continues to be a cause for considerable controversy. In the present research, a data base compiling results from channel flow direct numerical simulations and turbulent boundary layer experiments is employed to investigate the properties of shear and normal Reynolds stresses very close to the wall. Two types of scaling based on Kolmogorov length and velocity scales are analyzed. It is shown that it is highly likely that large length scales of the order of the channel half-width or the boundary layer thickness play an important role even in the innermost regions of wall-bounded turbulent flows, which hints at the persistence of Reynolds number effects in even high Reynolds number flows.     

On mean flow universality of turbulent wall flows. II. Asymptotic flow analysis

Understanding of the structure of turbulent flows at extreme Reynolds numbers (Re) is relevant because of several reasons: almost all turbulence theories are only valid in the high Re limit, and most turbulent flows of practical relevance are characterized by very high Re. Specific questions about wall-bounded turbulent flows at extreme Re concern the asymptotic laws of the mean velocity and turbulence statistics, their universality, the convergence of statistics towards their asymptotic profiles, and the overall physical flow organization. In extension of recent studies focusing on the mean flow at moderate and relatively high Re, the latter questions are addressed with respect to three canonical wall-bounded flows (channel flow, pipe flow, and the zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer). Main results reported here are the asymptotic logarithmic law for the mean velocity and corresponding scale-separation laws for bulk flow properties, the Reynolds shear stress, the turbulence production and turbulent viscosity. A scaling analysis indicates that the establishment of a self-similar turbulence state is the condition for the development of a strict logarithmic velocity profile. The resulting overall physical flow structure at extreme Re is discussed.     

Large-eddy simulation of shock-turbulence interaction in supersonic diffuser flows

LES based on explicit filtering is used to study the shock train phenomenon in turbulent supersonic diffuser flows with circular cross-section and isothermal wall with an incoming pipe flow at friction Reynolds number 245 and centerline Mach number 1.7. Alternate regions of compression and expansion are found in the shock train which is followed by a shock-free ‘mixing’ region as observed in experiments and simulations in the literature. Turbulence amplification and local peaks in pressure-dilatation correlation are observed in the vicinity of the shocks. Low-frequency oscillations of the shock train are also observed.     

Direct numerical simulations of second-order Stokes wave driven smooth-walled oscillatory channel: investigation of net current formation

In wall-bounded time-periodic flows, nonlinearity, associated with higher harmonic term(s) in velocity and/or acceleration outside the boundary layer, can significantly change the wall turbulence compared with that in the linear Stokes Boundary Layer. A significant feature of a nonlinear wall-bounded turbulent time-periodic flow is the formation of a net current which has not yet been mechanistically explained. This study investigates the effects of asymmetric velocity outside the boundary layer on wall turbulence and net current formation through Direct Numerical Simulations of a smooth-walled planar channel driven by the Second-order Stokes Wave. Simulation results suggest that net current characteristics depend on whether developed turbulence is present. When turbulence is developed, asymmetric viscous length scale is found to be the primary reason of the net current whereby a vertical offset between negative and positive Reynolds shear stress profiles, associated with forward and reverse flows, respectively, is created in a cycle. After averaging over a cycle, residual Reynolds shear stress, which drives the net current, is observed to be within the offset layer.     

Large-eddy simulation of plane channel flow with Vreman's model

In this paper, large-eddy simulations of Vreman's model (VM) have been carried out to investigate its performances in a temporal transitional channel flow and in high Reynolds number turbulent channel flows. As a preliminary work, it is found that cubic root of the cell volume is the best choice of filter width for both VM and dynamic VM based on Germano identity (DVM), according to comparative studies and a-posteriori analyses at Re_τ = 590. VM and DVM are then used to simulate the temporal laminar–turbulent transitional channel flow, and the results turn out that VM and DVM are capable to simulate this temporal transient flow. In simulating high Reynolds number turbulent channel flows with a relatively coarse grid resolution, DVM itself shares the same weakness as the dynamic Smagorinsky model, while it can successfully predict the mean velocity profile and skin friction coefficient when it is coupled with the constrained large eddy simulation methodology. The coupling highly promotes the capability of Vreman's model, offering a new promising approach to simulate high Reynolds number wall-bounded turbulent flows.     

Rotation effect on near-wall turbulence statistics and flow structures

Turbulent flow in an axially rotating pipe, involving complicated physical mecha- nism of turbulence, is a typical problem for the study of rotating turbulent flow. The pipe rotation induces two effects on the flow. One is the stabilizing effect due to the centrifu- gal and Coriolis forces, which accounts for the relaminarization of the turbulence[1—3] and the reduction of the friction coefficient at the pipe wall. The behavior is also related to the wall streaks inclining to the azimuthal di…     

Predictions of canonical wall-bounded turbulent flows via a modified k–ω equation

A major challenge in computation of engineering flows is to derive and improve turbulence models built on turbulence physics. Here, we present a physics-based modified k–ω equation for canonical wall-bounded turbulent flows (boundary layer, channel and pipe), predicting both mean velocity profile (MVP) and streamwise mean kinetic energy profile (SMKP) with high accuracy over a wide range of Reynolds number (Re). The result builds on a multi-layer quantification of wall flows, which allows a significant modification of the k–ω equation. Three innovations are introduced: first, an adjustment of the Karman constant to 0.45 is set for the overlap region with a logarithmic MVP; second, a wake parameter models the turbulent transport near the centreline; third, an anomalous dissipation factor represents the effect of a meso-layer in the overlap region. Then, a highly accurate (above 99%) prediction of MVPs is obtained in Princeton pipes, improving the original model prediction by up to 10%. Moreover, the entire SMKP, including the newly observed outer peak, is predicted. With a slight change of the wake parameter, the model also yields accurate predictions for channels and boundary layers.     

A multi-scale simulation method for high Reynolds number wall-bounded turbulent flows

We present an assessment and enhancement of the hybrid two-level large-eddy simulation method (A.G. Gungor and S. Menon, A new two-scale model for large eddy simulation of wall-bounded flows, Prog. Aerosp. Sci. 46 (2010), pp. 28–45), a multi-scale formulation for simulation of high Reynolds number wall-bounded turbulent flows. The assessment of the method is performed by examining role of static and dynamic blending functions used to perform hybridisation of two-level simulation (K. Kemenov and S. Menon, Explicit small-scale velocity simulation for high-Re turbulent flows, J. Comput. Phys. 220 (2006), pp. 290–311; K. Kemenov and S. Menon, Explicit small-scale velocity simulation for high-Re turbulent flows. Part 2: Non-homogeneous flows, J. Comput. Phys. 222 (2007), pp. 673–701) and large-eddy simulation methods. The sensitivity of first- and second-order turbulence statistics to the type of blending functions is investigated by simulating a fully developed turbulent flow in a channel at a friction Reynolds number Re_τ = 395 and comparing the results with those obtained using a direct numerical simulation. The first-order statistics do not show any significant differences for different blending functions, but the second-order statistics show some minor differences. The dynamic evaluation of the hybrid region and the blending function is necessary for non-equilibrium and complex flows where use of a static blending function can lead to inaccurate results. We propose two criteria for the dynamic evaluation; first evaluates extent of the hybrid region based on the subgrid turbulent kinetic energy and the second estimates the blending function based on a characteristic length scale. The computational efficiency of the method is enhanced by incorporating a hybrid programming paradigm where a standard domain decomposition by the message-passing-interface library is combined with the open multi-processing based parallelisation. A further enhancement of the method is achieved by incorporating a closure model for the unclosed hybrid terms in the governing equations, which appear due to hybridisation of two-level- and large-eddy-simulation methods. The model is based on an order of magnitude approximation and a preliminary assessment of the model shows improvement of turbulence statistics when used to simulate turbulent flow in a periodic channel. The assessment and improvements to the multi-scale method make it more suitable for simulation of practical wall-bounded turbulent flows at higher Reynolds number than a conventional large-eddy simulation. This is demonstrated by simulating two representative cases; turbulent flow at high Reynolds number in a periodic channel and flow over a bump placed on the lower surface of a channel, where a relatively coarser computational grid is found to be sufficient for reasonably accurate results.     

Inner–outer interactions in rough-wall turbulence

Here we revisit the inner–outer interaction model (IOIM) of Marusic et al. (Science, vol. 329, 2010, pp. 193–196) that enables the prediction of statistics of the fluctuating streamwise velocity in the inner region of wall-bounded turbulent flows from a large-scale velocity signature measured in the outer region of the flow. The model is characterised by two empirically observed inner–outer interactions: superposition of energy from outer region large-scale motions; and amplitude modulation by these large-scale motions of a small-scale ‘universal’ signal (u^*), which in smooth-wall flows is Reynolds number invariant. In the present study, the inner–outer interactions in rough-wall turbulent boundary layers are examined within the framework of the IOIM. Simultaneous two-point hot-wire anemometry measurements enable quantification, via the model parameters, of the strengths of superposition and amplitude modulation effects in a rough-wall flow, and these are compared to a smooth-wall flow. It is shown that the present rough-wall significantly reduces the effects of superposition, while increasing the amplitude modulation effect. The former is true even in flows that exhibit outer region similarity. Using the model parameters obtained from the two-point measurements, predictions of inner region streamwise velocity statistics and spectra are compared to measurements over a range of friction and roughness Reynolds numbers. These results indicate that the u^* signal does depend on roughness Reynolds number (k⁺_s), but is robust to changes in friction Reynolds number (δ⁺). Additionally, the superposition strength is shown to be relatively independent of both roughness and friction Reynolds number. The implications of the present results on the suitability of the IOIM as a predictive tool in rough-wall turbulence are discussed.     

A Reynolds stress model for turbulent flows of viscoelastic fluids

A second-order closure is developed for predicting turbulent flows of viscoelastic fluids described by a modified generalised Newtonian fluid model incorporating a nonlinear viscosity that depends on a strain-hardening Trouton ratio as a means to handle some of the effects of viscoelasticity upon turbulent flows. Its performance is assessed by comparing its predictions for fully developed turbulent pipe flow with experimental data for four different dilute polymeric solutions and also with two sets of direct numerical simulation data for fluids theoretically described by the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic – Peterlin model. The model is based on a Newtonian Reynolds stress closure to predict Newtonian fluid flows, which incorporates low Reynolds number damping functions to properly deal with wall effects and to provide the capability to handle fluid viscoelasticity more effectively. This new turbulence model was able to capture well the drag reduction of various viscoelastic fluids over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and performed better than previously developed models for the same type of constitutive equation, even if the streamwise and wall-normal turbulence intensities were underpredicted.     

Large-eddy simulations of temporally accelerating turbulent channel flow

The unsteady turbulent channel flow subject to the temporal acceleration is considered in this study. Large-eddy simulations were performed to study the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. The simulations were started with the fully developed turbulent channel flow at an initial Reynolds number of Re₀ = 3500 (based on the channel half-height and the bulk-mean velocity), and then a constant temporal acceleration was applied. During the acceleration, the Reynolds number of the channel flow increased linearly from the initial Reynolds number to the final Reynolds number of Re₁ = 22,600. The effect of grid resolution, domain size, time step size on the simulation results was assessed in a preliminary study using simulations of the accelerating turbulent flow as well as simulations of the steady turbulent channel flow at various Reynolds numbers. Simulation parameters were carefully chosen from the preliminary study to ascertain the accuracy of the simulation. From the accelerating turbulent flow simulations, the delays in the response of various flow properties to the temporal acceleration were measured. The distinctive features of the delays responsible for turbulence production, energy redistribution, and radial propagation were identified. Detailed turbulence statistics including the wall shear stress response during the acceleration were examined. The results reveal the changes in the near-wall structures during the acceleration. A self-sustaining mechanism of turbulence is proposed to explain the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. Although the overall flow characteristics are similar between the channel and pipe flows, some differences were observed between the two flows.     

Turbulent thermal boundary layer on a permeable flat plate

Scaling laws are established for the profiles of temperature, turbulent heat flux, rms temperature fluctuation, and wall heat transfer in the turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate with transpiration. In the case of blowing, the temperature distribution represented in scaling variables outside the viscous sublayer has a universal form known from experimental data for flows over impermeable flat plates. In the case of suction, the temperature distribution is described by a one-parameter family of curves. A universal law of heat transfer having the form of a generalized Reynolds analogy provides a basis for representation of the heat flux distributions corresponding to different Reynolds numbers and transpiration velocities in terms of a function of one variable. The results are obtained without invoking any special closure hypotheses.     

Verified predictions of shape sensitivities in wall-bounded turbulent flows by an adaptive finite-element method

A Continuous Sensitivity Equation (CSE) method is presented for shape parameters in turbulent wall-bounded flows modeled with the standard k–? turbulence model with wall functions. Differentiation of boundary conditions and their complex dependencies on shape parameters, including the two-velocity scale wall functions, is presented in details along with the appropriate methodology required for the CSE method. To ensure accuracy, grid convergence and to reduce computational time, an adaptive finite-element method driven by asymptotically exact error estimations is used. The adaptive process is controlled by error estimates on both flow and sensitivity solutions. Firstly, the proposed approach is applied on a problem with a closed-form solution, derived using the Method of the Manufactured Solution to perform Code Verification. Results from adaptive grid refinement studies show Verification of flow and sensitivity solvers, error estimators and the adaptive strategy. Secondly, we consider turbulent flows around a square cross-section cylinder in proximity of a solid wall. We examine the quality of the numerical solutions by performing Solution Verification and Validation. Then, Sensitivity Analysis of these turbulent flows is performed to investigate the ability of the method to deal with non-trivial geometrical changes. Sensitivity information is used to estimate uncertainties in the flow solution caused by uncertainties in the shape parameter and to perform fast evaluation of flows on nearby configurations.     

On the application of the two-level large-eddy simulation method to turbulent free-shear and wake flows

We present application of the hybrid two-level large-eddy simulation (TLS-LES) method, a multi-scale simulation model, to turbulent free-shear and wake flows at moderately high Reynolds number. The TLS-LES method combines the scale-separation-based two-level simulation (TLS) model with the spatial-filtering-based conventional large-eddy simulation (LES) model in an additive manner using a normalised blending function. The additive blending can be performed in a static or a dynamic manner. We demonstrate that the method, which has been originally developed for wall-bounded flows, can be used to simulate flows in complex configurations without requiring any further adjustments to the model. In this study, three canonical flows are simulated, which are representative of free-shear and wake flows. These cases include a temporally evolving mixing layer, flow past a circular cylinder in a uniform flow and flow past a finite-span airfoil placed in a uniform flow at three different angle of attacks. We analyse the role of static and dynamic blending functions, large-scale grid resolution and the effect of small scales on the instantaneous flow features and turbulence statistics. The results obtained from these cases demonstrate robustness, accuracy and consistency of the multi-scale TLS-LES method and show that the method is suitable for investigation of turbulent flows that encompass features such as massive separation, reattachment, transition to turbulence and unsteady wake, which are challenging to model numerically.     

Assessment of localized artificial diffusivity scheme for large-eddy simulation of compressible turbulent flows

The localized artificial diffusivity method is investigated in the context of large-eddy simulation of compressible turbulent flows. The performance of different artificial bulk viscosity models are evaluated through detailed results from the evolution of decaying compressible isotropic turbulence with eddy shocklets and supersonic turbulent boundary layer. Effects of subgrid-scale (SGS) models and implicit time-integration scheme/time-step size are also investigated within the framework of the numerical scheme used. The use of a shock sensor along with artificial bulk viscosity significantly improves the scheme for simulating turbulent flows involving shocks while retaining the shock-capturing capability. The proposed combination of Ducros-type sensor with a negative dilatation sensor removes unnecessary bulk viscosity within expansion and weakly compressible turbulence regions without shocks and allows it to localize near the shocks. It also eliminates the need for a wall-damping function for the bulk viscosity while simulating wall-bounded turbulent flows. For the numerical schemes used, better results are obtained without adding an explicit SGS model than with SGS model at moderate Reynolds number. Inclusion of a SGS model in addition to the low-pass filtering and artificial bulk viscosity results in additional damping of the resolved turbulence. However, investigations at higher Reynolds numbers suggest the need for an explicit SGS model. The flow statistics obtained using the second-order implicit time-integration scheme with three sub-iterations closely agrees with the explicit scheme if the maximum Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy is kept near unity.     

A mixed-time-scale low-Reynolds-number one-equation turbulence model

In this paper, a new low-Reynolds-number (LRN) one-equation turbulence model for eddy viscosity is proposed. A mixed time scale, representing a combination of three time scales: two time scales made of strain-rate parameter S and vorticity parameter Ω and the turbulent time scale k/?, is introduced into this model. The proposed model is derived from an LRN k?? two-equation model where the mixed time scale has been proved to be very effective for predicting local flows over complex terrains. In the transport equation of the model, the mixed time scale is included in the production and the dissipation terms. The new model is evaluated in channel flows at various Reynolds numbers, boundary layer flows with or without pressure gradient and backward-facing step flows with different expansion ratios and Reynolds numbers. Then the grid convergence of the model is investigated. Finally, the model performance for different values of the weighting constant C_s in the mixed time scale is assessed. The results show that the proposed model reproduces the correct wall-limiting behaviour of turbulent quantities and performs well in the near-wall region of turbulent flows. The model could be expected to be adopted in hybrid Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes/large eddy simulation methodology for complex wall-bounded flows at high Reynolds numbers.     

Particle Mass Loading Effect on a Two-Phase Turbulent Downward Jet Flow

The particle mass loading effect on the flow structure of a two-phase turbulent jet flow was studied. A particle mass loading ratio ranging from 0 to 3.6 was used as the control parameter. The polystyrene solid particles used had nominal diameters of 210 and 780 μm. The flow Reynolds number, which was based on the pipe nozzle diameter and the fluid-phase centerline mean velocity, was 2 × 10⁴ in the current test. A two-color laser Doppler anemometer (LDA), combined with the amplitude discrimination method and the velocity filter method, was employed to measure the mean velocity distributions for the particle and fluid phases, and the turbulent intensities and Reynolds stresses of the flow. The two-phase jet flow field was measured from the initial pipe exit to 90 D downstream. Another one-component He? Ne laser LDA system was also applied to obtain the energy spectra and temporal correlations of the two-phase jet flow.     

Exact solutions for the flow of non-Newtonian fluid with fractional derivative in an annular pipe

Generally speaking, rheological properties of materials are specified by their so-called constitutive equations. The simplest constitutive equation for a fluid is a Newtonian one, on which the classical Navier-Stokes theory is based. The mechanical behavior of many fluids is well described by this theory. However, there are many rheologically compli- cated fluids such as polymer solutions, blood and heavy oils which are inadequately de- scribed by a Newtonian constitutive equation that does …