Numerical investigation of turbulent channel flow controlled by spatially oscillating spanwise Lorentz force

A formulation of the skin-friction drag related to the Reynolds shear stress in a turbulent channel flow is derived. A direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the turbulent control is performed by imposing the spatially oscillating spanwise Lorentz force. Under the action of the Lorentz force with several proper control parameters, only the periodically well-organized streamwise vortices are finally observed in the near-wall region. The Reynolds shear stress decreases dramatically, especially in the near-wall area, resulting in a drag reduction.     

Large-Eddy BreakUp Devices – a 40 Years Perspective from a Stockholm Horizon

In the beginning of the 1980’s Large Eddy BreakUp (LEBU) devices, thin plates or airfoils mounted in the outer part of turbulent boundary layers, were shown to be able to change the turbulent structure and intermittency as well as reduce turbulent skin friction. In some wind-tunnel studies it was also claimed that a net drag reduction was obtained, i.e. the reduction in skin-friction drag was larger than the drag on the devices. However, towing-tank experiments with a flat plate at high Reynolds numbers as well as with an axisymmetric body showed no net reduction, but instead an increase in total drag. Recent large-eddy simulations have explored the effect of LEBUs on the turbulent boundary layer and evaluations of the total drag show similar results as in the towing tank experiments. Despite these negative results in terms of net drag reduction, LEBUs manipulate the boundary layer in an interesting way which explains why they still attract some interest. The reason for the positive results in the wind-tunnel studies as compared to drag measurements are discussed here, although no definite answer for the differences can be given.     

Parametric Study on a Sinusoidal Riblet for Drag Reduction by Direct Numerical Simulation

The direct numerical simulation of fully developed turbulent channel flow with a sinusoidal riblet surface has been carried out at the friction Reynolds number of 110. Lateral spacing of adjacent walls in a sinusoidal riblet is varied sinusoidally in the streamwise direction. The average lateral spacing of a sinusoidal riblet is larger than the diameter of a quasi-streamwise vortex and its wetted area is smaller than that of ordinary straight-type riblets. We investigate the effect of sinusoidal riblet design parameters on the drag reduction rate and flow statistics in this paper. The parametric study shows that the maximum total drag reduction rate is approximately 9.8% at a friction Reynolds number of 110. The riblet induces downward and upward flows in the expanded and contracted regions, respectively, which contribute to periodic Reynolds shear stress. However, the random Reynolds shear stress decreases drastically as compared with the flat surface case, resulting in the reduction of total drag owing to the sinusoidal riblet. We also performed vortex tracking to discuss the motion of the vortical structure traveling over the sinusoidal riblet surface. Vortex tracking and probability analysis for the core of the vortical structure show that the vortical structure is attenuated owing to the sinusoidal riblet and follows the characteristic flow. These results show that the high skin-friction region on the channel wall is localized at the expanded region of the riblet walls. In consequence, the wetted area of the riblet decreases, resulting in the drag-reduction effect.     

ANALYSIS OF THE TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER AND SKIN-FRICTION DRAG REDUCTION OF A FLAT PLATE BY USING THE MICRO-BLOWING TECHNIQUE

Journal of Applied Mechanics and Technical Physics - Numerical analyses of turbulent boundary layer parameters and skin-friction drag reduction on a flat plate under the effect of air micro-blowing...     

FLOW STRUCTURE IN THE TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER OVER DIRECTIONAL RIBLETS SURFACES

本文采用时间解析的二维粒子图像测速技术,对零压力梯度光滑以及汇聚和发散沟槽表面平板湍流边界层统计特性和流动结构进行了研究.结果表明在垂直于汇聚和发散沟槽表面的对称平面内,相对于光滑壁面,发散沟槽壁面使当地边界层厚度、壁面摩擦阻力、湍流脉动、雷诺应力等明显减小;而汇聚沟槽壁面对湍流边界层特性和流动结构的影响正好相反,汇聚沟槽使壁面流体有远离壁面向上运动的趋势,因而导致边界层厚度增加了约43%;同时,在汇聚沟槽表面情况下流向大尺度相干结构更容易形成,这对减阻是不利的.此外,顺向涡数量在湍流边界层的对数区均存在一个极大值,发散沟槽表面所对应的极大值位置更靠近沟槽壁面,而在汇聚沟槽表面则有远离壁面的趋势,由顺向涡诱导产生的较强的喷射和扫掠运动会在湍流边界层中产生较强的剪切作用,顺向涡数量的减少是发散沟槽壁面当地摩擦阻力降低的主要原因.     

Low Reynolds number axisymmetric turbulent boundary layer on a cylinder

In the present study, an axisymmetric turbulent boundary layer growing on a cylinder is investigated experimentally using hot wire anemometry. The combined effects of transverse curvature as well as low Reynolds number on the mean and turbulent flow quantities are studied. The measurements include the mean velocity, turbulence intensity, skewness and flatness factors in addition to wall shear stress. The results are presented separately for the near wall region and the outer region using dimensionless parameters suitable for each case. They are also compared with the results available in the open literature.The present investigation revealed that the mean velocity in near wall region is similar to other simple turbulent flows (flat plate boundary layer, pipe and channel flows); but it differs in the logarithmic and outer regions. Further, for dimensionless moments of higher orders, such as skewness and flatness factors, the main effects of the low Reynolds number and the transverse curvature are present in the near wall region as well as the outer region.     

Direct numerical simulation of Taylor–Couette turbulent flow controlled by a traveling wave-like blowing and suction

In wall turbulence, a traveling wave-like control is known to decrease the skin-friction drag and induce the relaminarization phenomenon. Because it is noteworthy to investigate the control effect in other canonical flows, direct numerical simulations of fully developed turbulent Taylor–Couette flows are performed. The Reynolds number, based on the wall velocity of a rotating inner cylinder and the radius of a centerline between cylinders, is set to 84,000. The traveling wave-like blowing and suction is imposed on the inner or outer cylinder wall, and the control effect is parametrically investigated. In the inner cylinder control, the torque reduction is obtained when the wave travels in the co-rotating direction with the inner cylinder, and its wavespeed is faster than the rotation. In the outer cylinder control, in contrast, the torque reduction is obtained when the wave propagates in the opposite direction. While the control is imposed on one side wall (i.e., inner or outer cylinder), the control affects the entire flow region. The Taylor vortex remains, while the traveling wave affects its strength. The three-component decomposition analysis shows that the traveling wave creates the coherent contribution on the torque, while the random contribution on it is reduced. Accordingly, a major factor of the torque reduction in the Taylor–Couette flow is the reduction of the random contribution. In addition, for the faster wavespeed cases with the small wavenumber (i.e., the long wavelength), the drag reduction larger than 60% is obtained and the relaminarization occurs in these cases.     

Skin-friction drag reduction in turbulent channel flow based on streamwise shear control

It is known that stretching and intensification of a hairpin vortex by mean shear play an important role to create a hairpin vortex packet, which generates the large Reynolds shear stress associated with skin-friction drag in wall-bounded turbulent flows. In order to suppress the mean shear at the wall for high efficient drag reduction (DR), in the present study, we explore an active flow control concept using streamwise shear control (SSC) at the wall. The longitudinal control surface is periodically spanwise-arranged with no-control surface while varying the structural spacing, and an amplitude parameter for imposing the strength of the actuating streamwise velocity at the wall is introduced to further enhance the skin-friction DR. Significant DR is observed with an increase in the two parameters with an accompanying reduction of the Reynolds stresses and vorticity fluctuations, although a further increase in the parameters amplifies the turbulence activity in the near-wall region. In order to study the direct relationship between turbulent vortical structures and DR under the SSC, temporal evolution with initial eddies extracted by conditional averages for Reynolds-stress-maximizing Q2 events are examined. It is shown that the generation of new vortices is dramatically inhibited with an increase in the parameters throughout the flow, causing fewer vortices to be generated under the control. However, when the structural spacing is sufficiently large, the generation of new vortex is not suppressed over the no-control surface in the near-wall region, resulting in an increase of the second- and fourth-quadrant Reynolds shear stresses. Although strong actuating velocity intensifies the near-wall turbulence, the increase in the turbulence activity is attributed to the generation of counter-clockwise near-wall vortices by the increased vortex transport.     

GROUND EFFECT OF FLOW AROUND AN ELLIPTIC CYLINDER IN A TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER

The flow characteristics around an elliptic cylinder with an axis ratio of AR=2 located near a flat plate were investigated experimentally. The elliptic cylinder was embedded in a turbulent boundary layer whose thickness is larger than the cylinder height. For comparison, the same experiment was carried out for a circular cylinder having the same vertical height. The Reynolds number based on the height of the cylinder cross-section was 14000. The pressure distributions on the cylinder surface and on the flat plate were measured for various gap distances between the cylinder and the plate. The wake velocity profiles behind the cylinder were measured using hot-wire anemometry. In the near-wake region, the vortices are shed regularly only when the gap ratio is greater than the critical value of G/B=0·4. The critical gap ratio is larger than that of a circular cylinder. The variation of surface pressure distributions on the elliptic cylinder with respect to the gap ratio is much smaller than that on the circular cylinder. This trend is more evident on the upper surface than the lower one. The surface pressures on the flat plate recover faster than those for the case of the circular cylinder at downstream locations. As the gap ratio increases, the drag coefficient of the cylinder itself increases, but the lift coefficient decreases. For all gap ratios tested in this study, the drag coefficient of the elliptic cylinder is about half that of the circular cylinder. The ground effect of the cylinder at small gap ratio constrains the flow passing through the gap, and restricts the vortex shedding from the cylinder, especially in the lower side of the cylinder wake. This constraint effect is more severe for the elliptic cylinder, compared to the circular cylinder. The wake region behind the elliptic cylinder is relatively small and the velocity profiles tend to approach rapidly to those of a flat plate boundary layer     

Modeling of drag reduction in turbulent channel flow with hydrophobic walls by FVM method and weakly-compressible flow equations

In this paper the effects of hydrophobic wall on skin-friction drag in the channel flow are investigated through large eddy simulation on the basis of weaklycompressible flow equations with the MacCormack's scheme on collocated mesh in the FVM framework. The slip length model is adopted to describe the behavior of the slip velocities in the streamwise and spanwise directions at the interface between the hydrophobic wall and turbulent channel flow. Simulation results are presented by analyzing flow behaviors over hydrophobic wall with the Smagorinky subgrid-scale model and a dynamic model on computational meshes of different resolutions. Comparison and analysis are made on the distributions of timeaveraged velocity, velocity fluctuations, Reynolds stress as well as the skin-friction drag. Excellent agreement between the present study and previous results demonstrates the accuracy of the simple classical second-order scheme in representing turbulent vertox near hydrophobic wall. In addition, the relation of drag reduction efficiency versus time-averaged slip velocity is established. It is also foundthat the decrease of velocity gradient in the close wall region is responsible for the drag reduction. Considering its advantages of high calculation precision and efficiency, the present method has good prospect in its application to practical projects.     

Skin-friction drag reduction in a channel flow with streamwise-aligned plasma actuators

Direct Numerical Simulations in a turbulent channel flow at a moderate Reynolds number are performed in order to investigate the potential of Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuators for the reduction of the skin-friction drag. The idea is to use a sparse array of streamwise-aligned plasma actuators to produce near-wall spanwise-orientated jets in order to destroy the events which transport high-speed fluid towards the wall. It is shown that it is possible to reduce the drag by about 33.5% when the streamwise-aligned actuators are configured to generate appropriate spanwise-orientated jets very close to the wall so that the sweeps which are mainly responsible for the skin-friction are destroyed. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve significant drag reduction with a sparse array of streamwise-aligned plasma actuators, with one order of magnitude less actuators than previous experiments in a similar set-up.     

倾斜吹吸控制下湍流边界层减阻的直接数值模拟

雷诺切应力是壁湍流高摩擦阻力的重要来源, 有理论认为可以通过壁面生成负雷诺应力(数值上为正)的方式来削弱湍流流场中雷诺应力的分布, 以此获得流动减阻. 而通过对雷诺平均运动方程的法向二次积分, 可以发现壁面生成正雷诺应力(数值上为负)对壁面摩擦阻力系数才有负贡献. 文中在湍流边界层流动的控制区域下边界设置一系列倾斜狭缝, 利用该装置通过周期性吹吸的方法产生壁面生成正(负)雷诺应力, 并采用直接数值模拟方法考察和验证上文提到的减阻理论. 文中采用的湍流边界层流动模型, 其流动雷诺数(基于外流速度及动量损失厚度)从300 发展到860. 文中通过多组数值模拟算例, 考察了射流强度和频率对壁面摩擦阻力系数的影响, 并对比了壁面生成正或负雷诺应力对流动的影响. 研究表明, 壁面生成正雷诺应力控制的减阻率能达到3.26, 而壁面生成负雷诺应力控制的减阻效果较壁面生成正雷诺应力控制的要差; 壁面生成的正雷诺应力对壁面摩擦阻力有负贡献, 而壁面生成的负雷诺应力对壁面摩擦阻力有正贡献; 通过考察控制的收支比, 发现控制方案不能获得能量净收益.      

Numerical study of the turbulent channel flow under space-dependent electromagnetic force control at different Reynolds numbers

In this paper, the control of turbulent channel flow by space-dependent electromagnetic force and the mechanism of drag reduction are investigated with the direct numerical simulation(DNS) methods for different Reynolds numbers. A formulation is derived to express the relation between the drag and the Reynolds shear stress. With the application of optimal electromagnetic force, the in-depth relations among characteristic structures in the flow field, mean Reynolds shear stress, and the effect of drag reduction for different Reynolds numbers are discussed. The results indicate that the maximum drag reductions can be obtained with an optimal combination of parameters for each case of different Reynolds numbers. The regular quasi-streamwise vortex structures, which appear in the flow field, have the same period with that of the electromagnetic force.These structures suppress the random velocity fluctuations, which leads to the absolute value of mean Reynolds shear stress decreasing and the distribution of that moving away from the wall. Moreover, the wave number of optimal electromagnetic force increases,and the scale of the regular quasi-streamwise vortex structures decreases as the Reynolds number increases. Therefore, the rate of drag reduction decreases with the increase in the Reynolds number since the scale of the regular quasi-streamwise vortex structures decreases.     

Predicting Turbulent Spectra in Drag-reduced Flows

In the present work we describe how turbulent skin-friction drag reduction obtained through near-wall turbulence manipulation modifies the spectral content of turbulent fluctuations and Reynolds shear stress with focus on the largest scales. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent channels up to Re _τ = 1000 are performed in which drag reduction is achieved either via artificially removing wall-normal turbulent fluctuations in the vicinity of the wall or via streamwise-travelling waves of spanwise wall velocity. This near-wall turbulence manipulation is shown to modify turbulent spectra in a broad range of scales throughout the whole channel. Above the buffer layer, the observed changes can be predicted, exploiting the vertical shift of the logarithmic portion of the mean streamwise velocity profile, which is a classic performance measure for wall roughness or drag-reducing riblets. A simple model is developed for predicting the large-scale contribution to turbulent fluctuation and Reynolds shear stress spectra in drag-reduced turbulent channels in which a flow control acts at the wall. Any drag-reducing control that successfully interacts with large scales should deviate from the predictions of the present model, making it a useful benchmark for assessing the capability of a control to affect large scales directly.     

槽道湍流减阻次优控制方案研究

本文利用槽道湍流的直接数值模拟,对基于壁面摩擦力信息的次优控制方案进行了研究。采用连续壁面吹吸控制和模拟的壁面智能凹坑控制作为作动方式,对不同的次优控制方案的减阻效果进行了分析和评价,优选得到了更为简单实用的减阻控制方案。      

An experimental study on the effects of uniform injection through one perforated surface of a square cylinder on some aerodynamic parameters

It is well known that injection/suction (transpiration) through a perforated surface is an efficient way of influencing the characteristics of a turbulent boundary layer. Injection application creates a thicker boundary layer on a flat plate and it thus decreases drag. In aeronautical applications, suction is frequently used to delay boundary layer separation. This paper presents an experimental study on the effects of uniform injection through one perforated surface of a square cylinder on the pressure distribution and drag coefficient in a two-dimensional turbulent flow. For this purpose, surface pressure measurements around a square cylinder have been performed at three different Reynolds numbers in a wind tunnel. The parameters taken into account were injection rate, position of perforated surface (i.e., front, top, and rear), and pressure coefficient and drag coefficient. The results show that variation in pressure coefficient around the square cylinder and drag coefficient were influenced by the position of perforated surface and by injection rate.     

Studies on two-phase cross flow. Part II: Transition Reynolds number and drag coefficient

A reduction of the transition Reynolds number from laminar separation to turbulent one of cross flow around a body is anticipated in a gas—liquid bubbly flow, since there exists intensive turbulence in the main flow. A decrease in the drag coefficient of the body can also be expected. This report was aimed to classify flow patterns of the two-phase wake flow behind a cylinder and to investigate quantitatively the change of the drag coefficient corresponding to the transition of the flow patterns. From measurements of the static pressure distribution on the cylinder surface and the drag coefficient of the cylinder, it was found that the flow pattern was sure to change finally into a new one similar to the transcritical type in the single-phase flow with an increase of the mean void fraction in the main flow. It was concluded that a large reduction of the upper transition Reynolds number occurred in a two-phase flow, because the transition could be realized by a little increase of the void fraction even below the lower transition Reynolds number in the case of a large cylinder diameter.     

上海陆域古河道分布及对工程建设影响研究

采用直接数值模拟方法, 对槽道湍流中展向振动流向传播的波动壁面的流动 控制和减阻问题进行了研究, 讨论了流向参数k_{x}对Stokes层、湍流拟序结构、湍流猝 发事件以及壁面阻力的影响, 并对此类波动壁面的湍流控制和减阻机理进行了讨论. 结果表 明, 当此类波动壁面被用来调制近壁流动时, 仅低频波对湍流流场具有显著影响, 可导致湍 流猝发事件的频率和强度的显著变化; 波数k_{x}的增大对于湍流猝发事件的频率和强度增 减的影响并不同步, 存在一个最优的波数k_{x}, 在其调制下, 固有流场对诱导流场的影响 最弱, 而诱导流场对固有流场的影响显著, 减阻效果最好.     

The effect of a systematic change in surface roughness skewness on turbulence and drag

Previous work by the authors (Flack and Schultz, 2010) has identified the root-mean-square roughness height, k_rms, and the skewness, Sk, of the surface elevation distribution as important parameters in scaling the skin-friction drag on rough surfaces. In this study, three surfaces are tested in turbulent boundary layer flow at a friction Reynolds number, Re_τ = 1600–2200. All the surfaces have similar root-mean-square roughness height, while the skewness is varied. Measurements are presented using both two-component LDV and PIV. The results show the anticipated trend of increasing skin-friction drag with increasing skewness. The largest increase in drag occurs going from negative skewness to zero skewness with a more modest increase going from zero to positive skewness. Some differences in the mean velocity and Reynolds stress profiles are observed for the three surfaces. However, these differences are confined to a region close to the rough surface, and the mean velocity and Reynolds stress profiles collapse away from the wall when scaled in outer variables. The turbulence structure as documented through two-point spatial correlations of velocity is also observed to be very similar over the three surfaces. These results support Townsend’s (1976) concept of outer-layer similarity that the wall boundary condition exerts no direct influence on the turbulence structure away from the wall except in setting the velocity and length scales for the outer layer.     

Boundary Layer for the Navier-Stokes-alpha Model of Fluid Turbulence

We study boundary-layer turbulence using the Navier-Stokes-alpha model obtaining an extension of the Prandtl equations for the averaged flow in a turbulent boundary layer. In the case of a zero pressure gradient flow along a flat plate, we derive a nonlinear fifth-order ordinary differential equation, which is an extension of the Blasius equation. We study it analytically and prove the existence of a two-parameter family of solutions satisfying physical boundary conditions. Matching these parameters with the skin-friction coefficient and the Reynolds number based on momentum thickness, we get an agreement of the solutions with experimental data in the laminar and transitional boundary layers, as well as in the turbulent boundary layer for moderately large Reynolds numbers.