Tomographic PIV investigation of coherent structures in a turbulent boundary layer flow

Tomographic particle image velocimetry was used to quantitatively visualize the three-dimensional coherent structures in the logarithmic region of the turbulent boundary layer in a water tunnel.The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness is Reθ = 2 460.The instantaneous velocity fields give evidence of hairpin vortices aligned in the streamwise direction forming very long zones of low speed fluid,which is flanked on either side by highspeed ones.Statistical support for the existence of hairpins is given by conditional averaged eddy within an increasing spanwise width as the distance from the wall increases,and the main vortex characteristic in different wall-normal regions can be reflected by comparing the proportion of ejection and its contribution to Reynolds stress with that of sweep event.The pre-multiplied power spectra and two-point correlations indicate the presence of large-scale motions in the boundary layer,which are consistent with what have been termed very large scale motions(VLSMs).The three dimen-sional spatial correlations of three components of velocity further indicate that the elongated low-speed and highspeed regions will be accompanied by a counter-rotating roll modes,as the statistical imprint of hairpin packet structures,all of which together make up the characteristic of coherent structures in the logarithmic region of the turbulent boundary layer(TBL).     

Theoretical investigation of coherent structures in stratified turbulent channel flow

A theoretical model is constructed of turbulent stratified flow in a flat horizontal channel with allowance for coherent structures that arise in it. The ordered part is separated from the turbulence of the flow and to describe the Reynolds-type equations are derived. The remaining part of the turbulence is taken into account parametrically in the form of an effective exchange coefficient. The flow is divided into a core, in which the ordered structures are manifested quite clearly, and wall regions, in which ordered large-scale structures are weakly manifested. To study the coherent structures in the core of the flow, an approach analogous to one already used to model ordered structures in open flows [4] is used. Monin-Obukhov scaling theory is used to describe the turbulence in the wall region.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 32–38, May–June, 1991.     

Experimental investigation of a developing two-phase bubbly flow in horizontal pipe

Experimental results for various water and air superficial velocities in developing adiabatic horizontal two-phase pipe flow are presented. Flow pattern maps derived from videos exhibit a new boundary line in intermittent regime. This transition from water dominant to water–gas coordinated regimes corresponds to a new transition criterion C_T = 2, derived from a generalized representation with the dimensionless coordinates of Taitel and Dukler.Velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate, void fraction and bubble size radial profiles measured at 40 pipe diameters for J_L = 4.42 m/s by hot film velocimetry and optical probes confirm this transition: the gas influence is not continuous but strongly increases beyond J_G = 0.06 m/s. The maximum dissipation rate, derived from spectra, is increased in two-phase flow by a factor 5 with respect to the single phase case.The axial evolution of the bubble intercept length histograms also reveal the flow organization in horizontal layers, driven by buoyancy effects. Bubble coalescence is attested by a maximum bubble intercept evolving from 2.5 to 4.5 mm along the pipe. Turbulence generated by the bubbles is also manifest by the 4-fold increase of the maximum turbulent dissipation rate along the pipe.     

Experimental investigation of dynamic stability of a cantilever pipe aspirating fluid

The dynamic stability of a submerged cantilever pipe conveying fluid from the free end to the fixed one is considered as one of the unresolved issues in the area of fluid–structure interaction. There is a contradiction between theoretical predictions and experiments. Reported experiments did not show any instability, while theory predicts instability beyond a critical fluid velocity. Recently, several papers appeared, improving the theoretical modelling of pipe dynamics. All theories predict instability, either oscillatory or static, referred to here as flutter and divergence, respectively. A new test set-up was designed to investigate the hypothesis that previous experimental set-ups could not allow observations of pipe instability or the pipe aspirating water is unconditionally stable. In this new test set-up, the fluid velocity could exceed the theoretically predicted critical velocities. A cantilever pipe of about 5 m length was partly submerged in water. The free open end of the pipe was in the water, whereas the fixed end was above the waterline. The experiments clearly showed that the cantilever pipe aspirating water is unstable beyond a critical velocity of water convection through the pipe. Below this velocity the pipe is stable, whereas above it the pipe shows a complex motion that consists of two alternating phases. The first phase is a nearly periodic orbital motion with maximum amplitude of a few pipe diameters, whereas the second one is a noise-like vibration with very small amplitudes. Increasing the internal fluid velocity results in a larger amplitude of the orbital motion, but does not change the pipe motion qualitatively.     

Experimental investigation of cavitating structures in the near wake of a cylinder

An experimental investigation of cavitating structures in the near-wake region of a cylinder is presented. From high-speed imaging of this subcritical flow (Reynolds number of 64,000), it is found that inception of cavities occurs in the shear layer. At the developed cavitation condition, the cavities in the separated zone and the free shear layer merge. A distinct spanwise variation in cavitation activity is observed. The non-dimensionalized correlation length at inception varies from close to a non-cavitating value of about 3.5 to about 1 at developed cavitation. The non-dimensionalized length of formation, characterized by crossover of the free shear layer and the wake axis, increases from 1 to 1.8 as the cavitation number is reduced from 85% to 50% of the inception value. A frequency analysis of the cavity dynamics indicates that although the vortex shedding frequency is dominant in the shear layer, there are peaks corresponding to other frequencies in other flow regions. The presence of a sharp peak at 125 Hz, corresponding to a Strouhal number of 0.2, along with a range of frequencies, is also verified independently through measurement of fluctuating pressure at the cylinder surface.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of flow through spirally fluted tubes

Spirally fluted tubes are used extensively in the design of tubular heat exchangers. In previous investigations, results for tubes with flute depths e/D_vi < 0.2 were reported, with most correlations applicable for Re ≥ 5000. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of spirally fluted tubes with the following tube and flow parameter ranges: flute depth e/D_vi = 0.1−0.4, flute pitch p/D_vi = 0.4−7.3, helix angle θ/90° = 0.3−0.65, Re = 500−80,000, and Pr = 2−7. The heat transfer coefficients inside the fluted tube were obtained from measured values of the overall heat transfer coefficient using a nonlinear regression scheme. The friction factor data obtained consisted of 507 data points. The proposed correlation for the friction factor predicts 96% of the database within ±20%. The heat transfer correlation for the range 500 ≤ Re ≤ 5000 predicts 76% of the database (178 data points) within ±20%, and the correlation for the higher Re range predicts 97% of the 342 data points within ±20%. Comparison of heat transfer and friction data show that these tubes are most effective in the laminar and transition flow regimes. The present results show that the increase of flute depth in the range considered does not improve heat transfer.     

Pressure drop, heat transfer and performance of single-phase turbulent flow in spirally corrugated tubes

The paper presents the results of an experimental study that was carried out to determine turbulent friction and heat transfer characteristics of four spirally corrugated tubes, which have various geometrical parameters, with water and oil as the working fluids. Experiments were performed under conditions of Reynolds number varying from 6000 to 93,000 for water, and from 3200 to 19,000 for oil, respectively. The results show that the thermal performance of these tubes was superior compared to a smooth tube, but the heat transfer enhancements were not as large as the friction factor increases. Friction factors and heat transfer coefficient in these rough tubes were analyzed on the basis of momentum and heat transfer analogy, and the correlations obtained were compared with the present data and also the results of previous investigators. A mathematical model to evaluate the performance of spirally corrugated tube, which takes account of the large variation of fluid Prandtl number with temperature, was developed by the extension of previous work of Bergles and Webb. The results reported enable practical designs with standard products and optimization of tube geometry for specific conditions.     

Experimental investigation of helical structures in swirling flows

In this investigation the flow in a generic swirl tube with a tangential double-inlet swirl generator and variable exit orifices was experimentally investigated. Using magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) three-dimensional, three-component velocity fields were measured for two different Reynolds numbers: 10,000 and 15,000, and for three different exit orifices. The swirl generator had a fixed geometry producing an initial swirl number of 1.6 for all cases. One major observation is the occurrence of a three-layered flow structure. An annular main flow was surrounded by a recirculation zone, as reported in previous literature. However, this recirculation zone – also of an annular shape – exhibited a third layer inside: a thin, high speed jet in the center of the tube with the same flow direction as the main flow. Therefore, the conventional classification of swirling flows into ring and recirculation zone, has to be extended by a core zone. This three-layered flow structure develops independently of the exit configuration. Helical structures were observed in the near-wall region for all cases investigated. Applying an eccentric exit orifice results in the occurrence of strong stationary helical structures not only in the near-wall region but also in the center of the tube. The results, deviating significantly from previous results in the literature, underline the need for more detailed research on the topic of cyclone type flows.     

Tomographic PIV investigation on coherent vortex structures over shark-skin-inspired drag-reducing riblets

Nature has shown us that the microstructure of the skin of fast-swimming sharks in the ocean can reduce the skin friction drag due to the well-known shark-skin effect.In the present study,the effect of shark-skin-inspired riblets on coherent vortex structures in a turbulent boundary layer(TBL) is investigated.This is done by means of tomographic particle image velocimetry(TPIV) measurements in channel fl ws over an acrylic plate of drag-reducing riblets at a friction Reynolds number of 190.The turbulent fl ws over drag-reducing riblets are verifie by a planar time-resolved particle image velocimetry(TRPIV) system initially,and then the TPIV measurements are performed.Two-dimensional(2D) experimental results with a dragreduction rate of around 4.81% are clearly visible over triangle riblets with a peak-to-peak spacing s+of 14,indicating from the drag-reducing performance that the buffer layer within the TBL has thickened;the logarithmic law region has shifted upward and the Reynolds shear stress decreased.A comparison of the spatial topological distributions of the spanwise vorticity of coherent vortex structures extracted at different wall-normal heights through the improved quadrant splitting method shows that riblets weaken the amplitudesof the spanwise vorticity when ejection(Q2) and sweep(Q4) events occur at the near wall,having the greatest effect on Q4 events in particular.The so-called quadrupole statistical model for coherent structures in the whole TBL is verified Meanwhile,their spatial conditional-averaged topological shapes and the spatial scales of quadrupole coherent vortex structures as a whole in the overlying turbulent fl w over riblets are changed,suggesting that the riblets dampen the momentum and energy exchange between the regions of near-wall and outer portion of the TBL by depressing the bursting events(Q2 and Q4),thereby reducing the skin friction drag.     

In-plane dynamics of a fluid-conveying corrugated pipe supported at both ends

The dynamics and stability of fluid-conveying corrugated pipes are investigated. The flow velocity is assumed to harmonically vary along the pipe rather than with time. The dimensionless equation is discretized with the differential quadrature method(DQM). Subsequently, the effects of the mean flow velocity and two key parameters of the corrugated pipe, i.e., the amplitude of the corrugations and the total number of the corrugations, are studied. The results show that the corrugated pipe will lose stability by flutter even if it has been supported at both ends. When the total number of the corrugations is sufficient, this flutter instability occurs at a micro flow velocity. These phenomena are verified via the Runge-Kutta method. The critical flow velocity of divergence is analyzed in detail. Compared with uniform pipes, the critical velocity will be reduced due to the corrugations, thus accelerating the divergence instability. Specifically,the critical flow velocity decreases if the amplitude of the corrugations increases. However, the critical flow velocity cannot be monotonously reduced with the increase in the total number of the corrugations. An extreme point appears, which can be used to realize the parameter optimization of corrugated pipes in practical applications.     

Experimental investigation of the turbulent boundary layer in the pipe flow of viscoelastic fluids

Summary In turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluid the boundary layer plays an essential rôle. Measurements by help of a Laser Doppler apparatus designed for this purpose were performed to give reliable results under the difficult situations in viscous sublayer and buffer layer. It could be shown that the viscous sublayer in comparison to the Newtonian case is unchanged. The buffer layer splits up with polymer concentration and Reynolds number, in contradiction to some literature results. With increasing polymer concentration and increasing Reynolds number the buffer layer expands more and more at the expense of the core region.Finally the buffer layer extends asymptotically almost to the middle of the pipe giving the ultimate profile. For this case a correlation in a mixing length model with a reduced mixing length has been found, which describes the experiments well.Integration of the ultimate profile and the logarithmic core profile at low drag reduction gives the corresponding points of the flow characteristic with good accuracy.The results derived are also valid for fluids with non-linear flow curve by using a representative viscosity.

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Zusammenfassung Das Widerstandsverhalten viskoelastischer Flüssigkeiten in der turbulenten Rohrströmung wird wesentlich durch die Wand-Grenzschicht bestimmt.Zur Messung der Mittelwertgeschwindigkeit in der viskosen Unterschicht und in der Pufferschicht wurde deshalb zur Erzielung der erforderlichen Genauigkeit eine Laser-Doppler-Apparatur konzipiert.Es zeigt sich, daß bei Benutzung der üblichen dimensionslosen Darstellung die viskose Unterschicht gegenüber der Strömung newtonscher Flüssigkeiten unverändert ist. Die Pufferschicht fächert auf in Abhängigkeit von der Polymerkonzentration und der Reynoldszahl. Mit wachsender Polymerkonzentration und/oder wachsender Reynoldszahl nimmt die Ausdehnung der Pufferschicht auf Kosten der Kernzone zu. Die Kernzone besitzt einen halblogarithmischen Geschwindigkeitsverlauf mit derselben Steigung wie bei newtonschen Fluiden. Im Grenzfall wird die Kernzone fast gänzlich durch die Pufferzone verdrängt. Das Flüssigkeitsprofil verläuft jetzt als ultimate profile. Profile und Widerstandscharakteristik lassen sich in Übereinstimmung mit den Experimenten darstellen, wenn man für Pufferschicht und Kernschicht jeweils unterschiedliche Mischlängen benutzt.Die Resultate sind auch gültig für Flüssigkeiten mit nichtlinearer Fließkuve, wenn man für die Darstellung eine repräsentative Viskosität benutzt.

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Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Deutsche Rheologische Gesellschaft e. V., Dortmund, March 9th–11th, 1977.

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With 6 figures     

Hierarchical structures in a turbulent pipe flow

A hierarchical structure (HS) analysis (β-test and γ-test) is applied to a fully developed turbulent pipe flow. Velocity signals are measured at two cross sections in the pipe and at a series of radial locations from the pipe wall. Particular attention is paid to the variation of turbulent statistics at wall units 10<y⁺<3000. It is shown that at all locations the velocity fluctuations satisfy the She–Leveque hierarchical symmetry (Phys. Rev. Lett. 72 (1994) 336). The measured HS parameters, β and γ, are interpreted in terms of the variation of fluid structures. Intense anisotropic fluid structures generated near the wall appear to be more singular than the most intermittent structures in isotropic turbulence and appear to be more outstanding compared to the background fluctuations; this yields a more intermittent velocity signal with smaller γ and β. As turbulence migrates into the logarithmic region, small-scale motions are generated by an energy cascade and large-scale organized structures emerge which are also less singular than the most intermittent structures of isotropic turbulence. At the center, turbulence is nearly isotropic, and β and γ are close to the 1994 She–Leveque predictions. A transition is observed from the logarithmic region to the center in which γ drops and the large-scale organized structures break down. We speculate that it is due to the growing eddy viscosity effects of widely spread turbulent fluctuations in a similar way as in the breakdown of the Taylor vortices in a turbulent Couette–Taylor flow at high Reynolds numbers.     

Experimental investigation of phase inversion in an oil–water flow through a horizontal pipe loop

An experimental study was made of phase inversion in an oil–water flow through a horizontal pipe loop. The experiments started with the flow of a single liquid through the pipe loop; thereafter the second liquid was gradually added (using different injectors and different injection flow rates) until inversion took place. It was found that in this way the point of inversion could be postponed to high values of the dispersed phase volume fraction (>0.8). Samples were taken from the flowing mixture and inspected with the aid of a microscope. Multiple drops consisting of oil droplets in water drops were observed, but multiple drops consisting of water droplets in oil drops were never found. The significance of these observations for the phase inversion mechanism is discussed.     

Experimental research on complex eddy viscosity modeling of multi-scale coherent structures in wall turbulence

在湍流相干结构动力学方程中,非相干结构成分对相干结构贡献的雷诺应力的模型为涡黏性 模型,即涡黏性系数乘以相干结构平均速度变形率的形式. 基于非相干结构成分对相干结构贡 献的雷诺应力与相干结构速度变形率之间存在相位差的事实,在理论上提出了非相干结构成 分对相干结构贡献的雷诺应力复涡黏性模型的假设. 应用热线测速技术,在低速风洞中对湍 流边界层非相干结构成分对相干结构贡献的雷诺应力与相干结构法向速度变形率之间的相位 关系进行了实验测量. 通过分析湍流相干结构猝发过程中非相干结构成分对相干结构贡献的 雷诺应力与相干结构速度变形率之间的相位关系,研究了相干结构雷诺应力分量与流向速度 法向梯度之间的相位差沿湍流边界层法向的变化规律,肯定了湍流相干结构复涡黏性系数模 型的合理性.     

Wavelet analysis of coherent structures in a three-dimensional mixing layer

Wavelet analysis is applied to the results obtained by the direct numerical simulation of a three-dimensional (3D) mixing layer in order to investigate coherent structures in dimension of scale. First, 3D orthonormal wavelet bases are constructed, and the corresponding decomposition algorithm is developed. Then the Navier-Stokes equations are transformed into the wavelet space and the architecture for multi-scale analysis is established. From this architecture, the coarse field images in different scales are obtained and some local statistical quantities are calculated. The results show that, with the development of a mixing layer, the energy spectrum densities for different wavenumbers increase and the energy is transferred from the average flow to vortex structures in different scales. Due to the non-linear interactions between different scales, cascade processes of energy are very complex. Because vortices always roll and pair at special areas, for a definite scale, the energy is obtained from other scales at some areas while it is transferred to other scales at other areas. In addition, energy dissipation and transfer always occur where an intense interaction between vortices exists. The project supported by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education and the National Natural Science Foundation for Outstanding Youth of China (19925210)     

Education of coherent structures in a numerically simulated plane wake

Coherent structures (CS) are educed using a conditional sampling technique involving alignment of vorticity patches of largest size and strength; hence we educe dominant CS. A numerically simulated spatially evolving wake of a thick flat plate is used as the database, and the inflow condition for the simulated wake includes random velocity perturbations which emulate turbulent conditions at a plate exit in the laboratory. In addition to previously educed properties such as coherent vorticity and production, and incoherent Reynolds stress and turbulence intensity, other measures such as coherent pressure and passive scalar distributions are also studied. In spite of the geometry difference, the near-wake dynamics of the plate seem quite similar to that of a cylinder. For example, turbulence is mostly produced by vortex stretching of the ribs at the saddle and then advected to the structure center, where it accumulates, and is balanced by incoherent dissipation. The distribution of coherent passive scalar indicates that mixing occurs in the saddle regions and that the mixed fluid is advected into the structure center.     

The dynamics of coherent structures in a flat-plate boundary layer

From the data of a direct numerical simulation the three-dimensional coherent structures of an incompressible, spatially evolving flat-plate boundary layer have been calculated using the POD method. By Galerkin projection of the Navier-Stokes equations onto the corresponding system of eigenfunctions then a low-dimensional model of the flow in the form of a system of ODE's has been derived. In a region of the boundary layer just beyond the spike stages of transition this system displays deterministic chaos that has been quantified by determining its Lyapunov exponents.     

Experimental investigation of three-phase flow in a vertical pipe: Local characteristics of the gas phase for gas-lift conditions

Laboratory experiments have been performed on the flow of oil, water and air through a vertical pipe in order to study the gas-lift technique for oil–water flows. Special attention was paid to the phase inversion phenomenon, by which the continuous phase switches to the dispersed phase and vice versa. By using different types of gas injectors the influence of the bubble size of the injected air on the efficiency of the gas-lift technique (in particular at the point of phase inversion) was studied. Also the gas and liquid mixture velocities were varied. The air bubbles were detected by means of optical fibre probes. Local measurements of the time-averaged gas volume fraction, bubble size and bubble velocity were carried out, as well as pressure measurements.     

槽道湍流近壁结构的DPIV观测实验

采用DPIV系统(由两台CCD相机组成)对槽道湍流进行速度场时间历程的观测实验,通 过对大量测量结果的综合分析,取得了槽道湍流近壁结构的空间结构及其时间演化过程特征 的结果,可以揭示上扫下掠、湍流瞬时速度型等现象与大尺度涡演化的物理关系,解释若干 湍流大尺度结构的特征机理,还表明DPIV系统提供了一种定量观测湍流的时空结构特征的手 段.     

An experimental investigation of the flow structure over a corrugated waveform in a transpired air collector

An experimental investigation of the flow dynamics in a channel with a corrugated surface is presented. Particle image velocimetry was used to obtain two-dimensional velocity fields at three different locations along the channel length, over a range of Reynolds numbers. The results show a significant impact of the corrugation waveform on the mean and turbulent flow structure inside the channel. Strong bursting flow originating from the trough, sweeping flow from the bulk region and the vortex shedding off the crest were observed. Their interactions created a complex three-dimensional flow structure extended over almost the entire channel. The mean velocity profiles indicate a strong diffusion of shear. The profiles of various turbulent properties show the enhancement of turbulence in the vicinity of the waveform. It was found that the turbulence in the channel was almost entirely produced in this region above the corrugation trough. Significant momentum transfer from the corrugation wall by the turbulent velocity field was also observed. The mean and turbulent flow behaviour was found to be periodic with respect to the waveform over most of the channel length. The results show the presence of strong turbulence even at the Reynolds number that falls within the conventional laminar range.