Numerical Analysis of Laminar-Turbulent Transition in a Circular Pipe with Periodic Inflow Perturbations

The problem of the spatio-temporal evolution of perturbations introduced into the inlet cross-section of a circular pipe is solved numerically. The case of time-periodic inflow perturbations is considered for Re = 4000. It is shown that for relatively small inflow perturbations periodic flow regimes and for greater perturbations chaotic regimes are established.Periodic regimes the flow is a superposition of steady flow and a damped wave propagating downstream. The velocity profile of the steady component differs essentially from both the parabolic Poiseuille and developed turbulent flows and is strongly inhomogeneous in the angular direction. The angular distortion of the velocity profile is caused by longitudinal vortices developing as a result of the nonlinear interaction of inflow perturbations.Chaotic flow regimes develop when the amplitude of the inflow perturbations exceeds a certain threshold level. Stochastic high-frequency pulsations appear after the formation of longitudinal vortices in the regions of maximum angular gradient of the axial velocity. In the downstream part of the flow, remote from the transition region, the developed turbulent regime is formed. The distributions of all the statistical moments along the pipe level off and approach the values measured experimentally and calculated numerically for developed turbulent flows.     

Transition control in a three-dimensional boundary layer by direct attenuation of nonlinear crossflow vortices using plasma actuators

Direct numerical simulations are used to probe the potential of plasma actuators to attenuate nonlinear steady crossflow vortices (CFVs). The investigated base flow mimics the three-dimensional boundary-layer flow of a swept wing. The plasma actuators are positioned at selected spanwise positions to weaken oncoming CFVs and thus the associated (secondary) instability. It is shown that both volume forcing against or in the direction of the crossflow (CF) can be effective, and a significant transition delay can be achieved. The spanwise position of the actuators should be such that the actuation-induced downdraft inhibits the CFV. The forcing in the direction of the CF does not reduce the mean CF, and an unfavourable spanwise position of the actuator may directly increase the strength of the CFV and eventually promote turbulence onset. The forcing against the CF never turned out to promote turbulence onset for all investigated positions, because of the favourable reduction of the mean CF. Adding then a second or third actuator downstream at appropriate spanwise positions can yield enhanced transition delay.     

Linear stability of three-dimensional boundary layers

Stability of compressible three-dimensional boundary layers on a swept wing model is studied within the framework of the linear theory. The analysis based on the approximation of local self-similarity of the mean flow was performed within the Falkner-Skan-Cooke solution extended to compressible flows. The calculated characteristics of stability for a subsonic boundary layer are found to agree well with the measured results. In the case of a supersonic boundary layer, the results calculated for a Mach number M = 2 are also in good agreement with the measured spanwise scales of nonstationary vortices of the secondary flow. The calculated growth rates of disturbances, however, are substantially different from the measured values. This difference can be attributed to a high initial amplitude of disturbances generated in the experiment, which does not allow the linear stability theory to be applied. The evolution of natural disturbances with moderate amplitudes is fairly well predicted by the theory. The effect of compressibility on crossflow instability modes is demonstrated to be insignificant. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 3–14, March–April, 2008.     

Subcritical spatial transition of swept Hiemenz flow

It is known from experimental investigations that the leading-edge boundary layer of a swept wing exhibits transition to turbulence at subcritical Reynolds numbers, i.e. at Reynolds numbers which lie below the critical Reynolds number predicted by linear stability theory. In the present work, we investigate this subcritical transition process by direct numerical simulations of a swept Hiemenz flow in a spatial setting. The laminar base flow is perturbed upstream by a pair of stationary counter-rotating vortex-like disturbances. This perturbation generates high- and low-speed streaks by a non-modal growth mechanism. Further downstream, these streaky structures exhibit a strong instability to secondary perturbations which leads to a breakdown to turbulence.The observed transition mechanism has strong similarities to by-pass transition mechanisms found for two-dimensional boundary layers. It can be shown that transition strongly depends on the amplitude of the primary perturbation as well as on the frequency of the secondary perturbation.     

On the Secondary Instability of Three-Dimensional Boundary Layers

One of the possible transition scenarios in three-dimensional boundary layers, the saturation of stationary crossflow vortices and their secondary instability to high-frequency disturbances, is studied using the Parabolized Stability Equations (PSE) and Floquet theory. Starting from nonlinear PSE solutions, we investigate the region where a purely stationary crossflow disturbance saturates for its secondary instability characteristics utilizing global and local eigenvalue solvers that are based on the Implicitly Restarted Arnoldi Method and a Newton–Raphson technique, respectively. Results are presented for swept Hiemenz flow and the DLR swept flat plate experiment. The main focuses of this study are on the existence of multiple roots in the eigenvalue spectrum that could explain experimental observations of time-dependent occurrences of an explosive growth of traveling disturbances, on the origin of high-frequency disturbances, as well as on gaining more information about threshold amplitudes of primary disturbances necessary for the growth of secondary disturbances. Received 13 July 1998 and accepted 7 July 2000     

Active Control of Wave Instabilities in Three-Dimensional Compressible Flows

In many fluid flows of practical importance transition is caused by the linear growth of wave instabilities, such as Tollmien–Schlichting waves, which eventually grow to a finite size at which stage secondary instabilities come into play. If transition is to be delayed or even avoided in such flows, then the linear growth of the disturbances must be prevented since control in the nonlinear regime would be a considerably more difficult task. Here a strategy for active control of two-dimensional incompressible and compressible Tollmien–Schlichting waves and its use in controlling the more practically relevant problem of crossflow instability which arises in swept-wing flows is discussed. The control is through an active suction/blowing distribution at the wall though the same result could be achieved by variable wall heating. In order to control the instability it is assumed that the wall shear stress and pressure are known from measurements. It is shown that, certainly at finite Reynolds numbers, it is sufficient to know the flow properties at a finite number of points along the wall. The cases of high and finite Reynolds numbers are discussed using asymptotic and numerical methods respectively. It is shown that a control strategy can be developed to stop the growth of all two-dimensional Tollmien–Schlichting waves at finite and large Reynolds numbers. Some discussion of nonlinear effects in the presence of active control is given and the possible control of other instability mechanisms investigated. Received 1 May 1998 and accepted 24 September 1998     

Direct numerical simulation of the near field dynamics of a rectangular reactive plume

Spatial direct numerical simulation (DNS) is used to study the near field dynamics of a buoyant diffusion flame established on a rectangular nozzle with an aspect ratio of 2:1. Combustion is represented by a one-step finite-rate Arrhenius chemistry. Without applying external perturbations at the inflow boundary, large vortical structures develop naturally in the flow field, which interact with the flame and temporally create localized holes within the reaction zone in which no chemical reactions take place. The interaction between density gradients and gravity plays a major role in the vorticity generation of the buoyant plume. At the downstream of the reactive plume, a more disorganized flow regime characterized by small scales has been observed, following the breakdown of the large vortical structures due to three-dimensional (3D) vortex interactions. Analysis of energy spectra shows that the spatially developing reactive plume has a tendency of transition to turbulence under the effects of combustion-induced buoyancy. The buoyancy effects are found to be very important to the formation, development, interaction, and breakdown of vortices in reactive plumes. In contrast with the relaminarization effects of chemical exothermicity via viscous damping and volumetric expansion on non-buoyant jet diffusion flames, the tendency towards transition to turbulence in reactive plumes is greatly enhanced by the buoyancy effects.     

On the flow of a viscous fluid driven along a channel by suction at porous walls

This paper is a theoretical treatment of the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid driven along a channel by steady uniform suction through porous parallel rigid walls. Many authors have found such flows when they are symmetric, steady and two-dimensional, by assuming a similarity form of solution due to Berman in order to reduce the Navier-Stokes equations to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. We generalise their work by considering asymmetric flows, unsteady flows and three-dimensional perturbations. By use of numerical calculations, matched asymptotic expansions for large values of the Reynolds number, and the theory of dynamical systems, we find many more exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, examine their stability, and interpret them. In particular, we show that most previously found steady solutions are unstable to antisymmetric two-dimensional disturbances. This leads to a pitchfork bifurcation, stable asymmetric steady solutions, a Hopf bifurcation, stable time-periodic solutions, stable quasi-periodic solutions, phase locking and chaos in succession as the Reynolds number increases.     

Nonlinear effects in absolute and convective instabilities of a near-wake

Linear and nonlinear initial-value problems are discussed for planar inviscid disturbances in streamlined near-wakes. This is mostly for those areas of near-wake flow where the basic motion comprises nearly uniform shear with or without normal influx into the accompanying viscous interfacial layer, although agreement is found with linear properties for full velocity profiles of double-Blasius, double-Jobe–Burggraf, Hakkinen–Rott and Goldstein form. With nonlinear disturbances, wavelike initial conditions yield a known critical-layer development, whereas more general, non-wave, initial conditions lead to a new integro-partial-differential amplitude equation which is studied analytically and numerically. The solutions show decay, finite-time blowup or nonlinear upstream-travelling disturbances. The normal influx proves crucial. Absolute and upstream- or downstream-convective instability is encountered (depending on the profiles, and flow reversal, for example); and in generic cases (for any thin airfoil) nonlinearity is shown analytically to provoke upstream convection. Increased nonlinearity drives the typical transition point extremely close to the trailing edge. Comparisons are made with three-dimensional behaviour in the linear case and with a direct simulation in the nonlinear regime.     

Direct numerical simulation of the laminar-turbulent transition in a thick spherical layer

The results of a numerical study of the laminar-turbulent transition in unsteady isothermal three-dimensional flows of viscous incompressible fluid in a thick spherical layer between counter-rotating spherical boundaries are presented. The calculations are performed for the governing parameters corresponding to the experimental data [1, 2]. The numerical investigations include both solving the complete system of Navier-Stokes equations and analyzing the linear stability of steady-state axisymmetric flows with respect to three-dimensional disturbances. A stochastic flow regime is calculated for the first time. The limits of existence of different flow regimes and the hysteresis regions are found. The spatial flow patterns and frequency characteristics are obtained, which makes it possible to extend and refine the existing experimental data.     

Convergence properties of high-Reynolds-number separated flow calculations

The convergence properties of an iterative solution technique for the Reduced Navier–Stokes equations are examined for two-dimensional steady subsonic flow over bump and trough geometries. Techniques for decreasing the sensitivity to the initial pressure approximation, for fine meshes in particular, are investigated. They are shown to improve the robustness of the relaxation process and to decrease the computational work required to obtain a converged solution. A semi-coarsening multigrid technique that has previously been found to be particularly advantageous for high-Reynolds-number (Re) flows with flow separation and with highly stretched surface-normal grids is applied herein to further accelerate convergence. Solutions are obtained for the laminar flow over a trough that is more severe than has been considered to date. Sufficient axial grid refinement in this case leads to a shock-like reattachment and, for sufficiently large Re, to a local ‘divergence’ of the numerical computations. This ‘laminar flow breakdown’ appears to be related to an instability associated with high-frequency fine-grid modes that are not resolvable with the present modelling. This behaviour may be indicative of dynamic stall or of incipient transition. The breakdown or instability is shown to be controllable by suitable introduction of transition turbulence models or by laminar flow control, i.e. small amounts of wall suction. This lends further support to the hypothesis that the instability is of a physical rather than numerical character and suggests that full three-dimensional analysis is required to properly capture the flow behaviour. Another inference drawn from this investigation is that there is a need for careful grid refinement studies in high-Re flow computations, since coarser grids may yield oscillation-free solutions that cannot be obtained on finer grids.     

Traveling disturbance appearing in boundary layer transition in a Yawed cylinder

Boundary layers that develop over a body in fluid flow are in most cases three-dimensional owing to the spin, yaw, or surface curvature of the body. Therefore, the study of three-dimensional (3D) boundary-layer transition is essential to work in practical aerodynamics. The present investigation is concerned with the problem of 3D boundary layers over a yawed body. A yawed cylinder model that represents the leading edge portion of a swept wing and the mechanism of crossflow instability are investigated in detail using hot-wire velocimetry and a flow visualization technique. As a result, traveling disturbances having frequencies f₁ and f₂, which differ by about one order of magnitude, are detected in the transition region. The phase velocities and directions of travel of those disturbances are measured. Results for the low-frequency disturbance f₁ show qualitative coincidence with results numerically predicted for a crossflow unsteady disturbance. Nameley, F₁ travels nearly spanwise to the yawed cylinder and very close to the cylinder wall. The results for the high-frequency disturbance f₂ good agreement with the existing experimental results. The ₂ disturbance is found to be the high-frequency inflectional secondary instability that appears in 3D boundary layer transition in general. A two-stage transition process, where stationary crossflow vortices appear as the primary instability and a traveling inflectional disturbance is generated as a secondary instability, was observed. Secondary instability seems to play a major role in turbulent transition.     

空间发展圆管转捩的直接数值模拟

利用直接数值模拟研究圆管流动中由局部壁面引入的周期性吹吸(PSB)扰动沿流向的空间发展,流动的雷诺数Re选定为3000.在临界幅值的PSB扰动下,在较短的圆管内,圆管中的扰动沿流向快速增长,在足够长的圆管内,扰动沿流向持续增长发生转捩,流动发展到湍流阶段.     

可压缩横流失稳及其控制

边界层流动转捩的预测与控制一直是流体力学研究中的一个重要问题. 三维边界层流动工程中十分常见, 而横流失稳是导致三维边界层流动转捩的主要原因. 本文综述了近些年来三维边界层失稳和转捩方面的研究概况. 从机理上讨论了横流扰动的感受性、首次失稳、二次失稳和转捩控制等方面的研究进展. 在数值计算方面, 简要概述了线性稳定性理论、非线性稳定性理论和直接数值模拟方法在横流失稳和转捩方面的应用.本文对横流失稳研究当前存在的问题进行了讨论, 对今后研究的发展趋势作了相应展望.     

The inviscid compressible Görtler problem in three-dimensional boundary layers

In this paper we investigate numerical solutions for the growth rates of Görtler vortices in a compressible three-dimensional flow in the inviscid limit of a large Görtler number. We look at a range of Mach numbers and find that there are three different types of behaviour for the mode growth-rate, corresponding to whether the flow is incompressible, has a Mach number small enough so that temperature-adjustment-layer modes do not appear in the two-dimensional case, or has a Mach number large enough so that they do. We find that it takes a considerably greater crossflow to destroy the Görtler vortices for moderate Mach numbers than it did in the incompressible case looked at by Bassom and Hall (1991). From this we believe that Görtler vortices may well still be a cause of transition for many practical compressible inviscid three-dimensional flows.Support for the author from SERC is acknowledged.     

The uniqueness of the solution of boundary-value problems of a thermal model of discharge

The paper is devoted to a nonlinear analysis of superheating [1, 2] instability of an electric discharge stabilized by electrodes [3] in the framework of a thermal model [4] where the stability of the discharge relative to the long-wave and short-wave perturbations is proved in a linear approximation. Similar boundary-value problems arise in the theories of chemically and biologically reacting mixtures [5–7], thermal breakdown of dielectrics [8], thermal explosion [9], in the investigation of nonlinear waves in semiconductors and superconductors [10, 11], and in the investigation of Couette flow with variable viscosity [12]. The uniqueness of the one-dimensional steady solutions of the thermal model of discharge and the stability relative to the small spatial perturbations, respectively, for the exponential and step dependence of the electrical conductivity on the temperature are proved in [3, 13]. The uniqueness of the solutions in the one-dimensional case for the same electrode temperature and arbitrary dependences of the electrical and thermal conductivity on the temperature is established in paper [14]. In the present paper, the existence and uniqueness of steady solutions of the thermal model of discharge in a three-dimensional formulation for arbitrary fairly smooth electrical and thermal conductivity functions of the temperature in the case of isothermal isopotential electrodes are proved analytically.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 140–145, January–February, 1986.The author expresses his gratitude to A. G. Kulikovskii and A. A. Barmin for the formulation of the problem and their discussions.     

Linear stability of two-dimensional steady flow in wavy-walled channels

Linear stability of fully developed two-dimensional periodic steady flows in sinusoidal wavy-walled channels is investigated numerically. Two types of channels are considered: the geometry of wavy walls is identical and the location of the crest of the lower and upper walls coincides (symmetric channel) or the crest of the lower wall corresponds to the furrow of the upper wall (sinuous channel). It is found that the critical Reynolds number is substantially lower than that for plane channel flow and that when the non-dimensionalized wall variation amplitude is smaller than a critical value (about 0.26 for symmetric channel, 0.28 for sinuous channel), critical modes are three-dimensional stationary and for larger , two-dimensional oscillatory instabilities set in. Critical Reynolds numbers of sinuous channel flows are smaller for three-dimensional disturbances and larger for two-dimensional disturbances than those of symmetric channel flows. The disturbance velocity distribution obtained by the linear stability analysis suggests that the three-dimensional stationary instability is mainly caused by local concavity of basic flows near the reattachment point, while the critical two-dimensional mode resembles closely the Tollmien–Schlichting wave for plane Poiseuille flow.     

Spatially developing secondary instabilities in compressible swept airfoil boundary layers

Two-dimensional eigenvalue analysis is used on a massive scale to study the spatial instabilities of compressible shear flows with two inhomogeneous directions. The main focus of the study is crossflow dominated swept-wing boundary layers although the methodology can also be applied to study other types of flows, such as the attachment-line flow. Certain unique aspects of formulating a spatial, two-dimensional eigenvalue problem for the secondary instability of finite amplitude crossflow vortices are discussed, namely, fixing the spatial growth direction unambiguously through a non-orthogonal formulation of the linearized disturbance equations. A primary test case used for parameter study corresponds to Numerical results are presented for the low-speed, NLF-0415(b) airfoil configuration as tested in the ASU Unsteady Wind Tunnel, wherein a spanwise periodic array of roughness elements was placed near the leading edge in order to excite stationary crossflow modes with a specified fundamental wavelength. The two classes of flow conditions selected for this analysis include those for which the roughness array spacing corresponds to either the naturally dominant crossflow wavelength, or a subcritical wavelength that serves to reduce the growth of the naturally excited dominant crossflow modes. Numerical predictions are compared with the measured database, both as indirect validation for the spatial instability analysis and to provide a basis for comparison with a higher Reynolds number, supersonic swept-wing configuration. Application of the eigenvalue analysis to the supersonic configuration reveals that a broad spectrum of stationary crossflow modes can sustain sufficiently strong secondary instabilities as to potentially cause transition over this configuration. In particular, the control mode itself, if initiated with too large an amplitude, may lead to an earlier transition.     

THREE-DIMENSIONAL VISCOUS FLOW THROUGH A ROTATING CHANNEL: A PSEUDOSPECTRAL MATRIX METHOD APPROACH

A Fourier–Chebyshev pseudospectral method is used for the numerical simulation of incompressible flows in a three-dimensio nal channel of square cross-section with rotation. Realistic, non-periodic boundary conditions that impose no-slip conditions in two directions (spanwis e and vertical directions) are used. The Navier–Stokes equations are integrated in time using a fractional step method. The Poisson equations for pressure and the Helmholtz equation for velocity are solved using a matrix diagonalization (eigenfunction decomposition) method, through which we are able to reduce a three-dimensional matrix problem to a simple algebraic vector equation. This results in signficant savings in computer storage requirement, particularly for large-scale computations. Verification of the numerical algorithm and code is carried out by comparing with a limiting case of an exact steady state solution for a one-dimensional channel flow and also with a two-dimensional rotating channel case. Two-cell and four-cell two-dimensional flow patterns are observed in the numerical experiment. It is found that the four-cell flow pattern is stable to symmetri cal disturbances but unstable to asymmetrical disturbances.     

Self-sustained global oscillations in a jet in crossflow

A jet in crossflow with an inflow ratio of 3, based on the maximum velocity of the parabolic jet profile, is studied numerically. The jet is modeled as an inhomogeneous boundary condition at the crossflow wall. We find two fundamental frequencies, pertaining to self-sustained oscillations in the flow, using full nonlinear direct numerical simulation (DNS) as well as a modal decomposition into global linear eigenmodes and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes; a high frequency which is characteristic for the shear-layer vortices and the upright vortices in the jet wake, and a low frequency which is dominant in the region downstream of the jet orifice. Both frequencies can be related to a region of reversed flow downstream of the jet orifice. This region is observed to oscillate predominantly in the wall-normal direction with the high frequency, and in the spanwise direction with the low frequency. Moreover, the steady-state solution of the governing Navier?CStokes equations clearly shows the horseshoe vortices and the corresponding wall vortices further downstream, and the emergence of a distinct counter-rotating vortex pair high in the free stream. It is thus found that neither the inclusion of the jet pipe nor unsteadiness is necessary to generate the characteristic counter-rotating vortex pair.