DNS Scrutiny of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">ζ</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis> Elliptic-Relaxation Eddy-Viscosity Model in Channel Flows with a Moving Wall

In this paper we present a Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of channel flow with stationary and moving walls. Three cases, Poiseuille-type with U_W/U_b = 0.75, intermediate-type with U_W/U_b = 1.215, and Couette-type with U_W/U_b = 1.5 (U_W and U_b are the wall and the bulk velocity), were compared with the pure Poiseuille U_W/U_b = 0, at a bulk Reynolds number equal to 4,800 corresponding to Re _\uptau = 288_{\uptau} =288. The DNS results were used to scrutinize the capabilities of ζ-f eddy viscosity model (based on the elliptic relaxation concept) in reproducing the near-wall turbulence in non conventional flows where the shear stress structures are strongly different with respect to the cases used for models calibration. The ζ-f model (also in its basic formulation) demonstrated to have good prospects to reproduce the main phenomenology of such class of flows due to its built-in capabilities to account separately for the different (and opposite) near wall effects on turbulence: the damping due to viscosity and pressure reflection. The results of the computations demonstrated that standard ζ-f model can reasonably reproduce the phenomenology of these flows in terms of velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles and budgets.     

A New Low-Reynolds-Number One-Equation Model of Turbulence

In this study, we propose a new Low-Reynolds-Number (LRN)one-equation model, which is derived from an LRN two-equation(k-ε) model. The derivation of the transport equation, in principle, is based on the assumption that the turbulent structure parameter remains constant. However, the relation for the turbulent structure parameter a ₁(=|− |/k) is modified to account for near-wall turbulence. As a result, the present one-equation model contains a term which takes the near-wall limiting behavior explicitly into account. Thus, the present model provides the correct wall-limiting behavior of turbulence in the vicinity of the wall and can be applied to the analysis of heat transfer. The validity of the present model is tested in channel flows, boundary layer flows with and without pressure gradient, plane wall jet, and flow with separation and reattachment. The calculated results showed good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inviscid evolution of incompressible swirling flows in pipes: The dependence of the flow structure upon the inlet velocity field

This paper analyses the influence of the inlet swirl on the structure of incompressible inviscid flows in pipes. To that end, the inviscid evolution along a pipe of varying radius with a central body situated inside the pipe is studied for three different inlet swirling flows by solving the Bragg–Hawthorne equation both asymptotically and numerically. The downstream structure of the flow changes abruptly above certain threshold values of the swirl parameter (L). In particular, there exist a value L_r above which a near-wall region of flow reversal is formed downstream, and a critical value L_f above which the axial vortex flow breaks down. It is shown that the dependence upon the pipe geometry of these critical values of the swirl parameter varies strongly with the inlet azimuthal velocity profile considered. An excellent agreement between asymptotic and numerical results is found.     

Progress in subgrid-scale transport modelling for continuous hybrid non-zonal RANS/LES simulations

The partially integrated transport modelling (PITM) method can be viewed as a continuous approach for hybrid RANS/LES modelling allowing seamless coupling between the RANS and the LES regions. The subgrid turbulence quantities are thus calculated from spectral equations depending on the varying spectral cutoff location [Schiestel, R., Dejoan, A., 2005. Towards a new partially integrated transport model for coarse grid and unsteady turbulent flow simulations. Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics 18, 443–468; Chaouat, B., Schiestel, R., 2005. A new partially integrated transport model for subgrid-scale stresses and dissipation rate for turbulent developing flows. Physics of Fluids, 17 (6)] The PITM method can be applied to almost all statistical models to derive its hybrid LES counterpart. In the present work, the PITM version based on the transport equations for the turbulent Reynolds stresses together with the dissipation transport rate equation is now developed in a general formulation based on a new accurate energy spectrum function E(κ) valid in both large and small eddy ranges that allows to calibrate more precisely the c_sgs2 function involved in the subgrid dissipation rate _sgs transport equation. The model is also proposed here in an extended form which remains valid in low Reynolds number turbulent flows. This is achieved by considering a characteristic turbulence length-scale based on the total turbulent energy and the total dissipation rate taking into account the subgrid and resolved parts of the dissipation rate. These improvements allow to consider a large range of flows including various free flows as well as bounded flows. The present model is first tested on the decay of homogeneous isotropic turbulence by referring to the well known experiment of Comte-Bellot and Corrsin. Then, initial perturbed spectra E(κ) with a peak or a defect of energy are considered for analysing the model capabilities in strong non-equilibrium flow situations. The second test case is the classical fully turbulent channel flow that allows to assess the performance of the model in non-homogeneous flows characterised by important anisotropy effects. Different simulations are performed on coarse and refined meshes for checking the grid independence of solutions as well as the consistency of the subgrid-scale model when the filter width is changed. A special attention is devoted to the sharing out of the energy between the subgrid-scales and the resolved scales. Both the mean velocity and the turbulent stress computations are compared with data from direct numerical simulations.     

An Attempt to Combine Large Eddy Simulation with the k-ε Model in a Channel-Flow Calculation

Large eddy simulation (LES) is combined with the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation in a turbulent channel-flow calculation. A one-equation subgrid-scale model is solved in a three-dimensional grid in the near-wall region whereas the standard k–ε model is solved in a one-dimensional grid in the outer region away from the wall. The two grid systems are overlapped to connect the two models smoothly. A turbulent channel flow is calculated at Reynolds numbers higher than typical LES and several statistical quantities are examined. The mean velocity profile is in good agreement with the logarithmic law. The profile of the turbulent kinetic energy in the near-wall region is smoothly connected with that of the turbulent energy for the k–ε model in the outer region. Turbulence statistics show that the solution in the near-wall region is as accurate as a usual LES. The present approach is different from wall modeling in LES that uses a RANS model near the wall. The former is not as efficient as the latter for calculating high-Reynolds-number flows. Nevertheless, the present method of combining the two models is expected to pave the way for constructing a unified turbulence model that is useful for many purposes including wall modeling. Received 11 June 1999 and accepted 15 December 2000     

Lock-on characteristics of a cavity shear layer

This investigation focuses on defining the lock-on regions of a cavity shear layer subject to local periodic excitations. A circular cylinder of small diameter (d=4 mm), located very close to the upstream edge of cavity, is used to generate the local periodic excitations in the form of oscillatory rotation about its center with various angular amplitudes (Δθ) and frequencies (f_e). All the experiments were conducted in a recirculating water channel at three different Reynolds numbers that are based on the momentum thickness at the upstream edge of cavity (Re_θ0=152, 216 and 278). The LDV system and the laser-sheet technique are employed to perform the quantitative velocity measurements and the qualitative flow visualization, respectively. For cavity flows at three Reynolds numbers studied, the resonant lock-on is found to be the primary lock-on region within the range of frequency ratio (f_e/f₀=0.28–2.0). Here f₀ denotes the natural instability frequency of an unexcited cavity shear layer. The frequency bandwidth of resonant lock-on region does increase with increasing excitation amplitudes (Δθ). While the excitation amplitudes are smaller than 5° (Δθ5°), the resonant lock-on region, at Reynolds numbers 216 and 278, distributes asymmetrically about f_e/f₀=1.0 and biases to the high frequency (or large f_e/f₀) side. However, the sidewise expansion of resonant lock-on region is enlarged and the degree of asymmetric distribution is alleviated at large excitation amplitudes (Δθ>5°). The amount of sidewise expansion of the resonant lock-on region biased toward the high-frequency side is more significant at the lowest Reynolds number (152) than those at two higher Reynolds numbers (216 and 278). Besides, there exists a sub-harmonic lock-on region only at the lowest Reynolds number 152. The existence of a sub-harmonic lock-on region clearly reveals that the differential equation governing the self-excited oscillation within a cavity contains the quadratic nonlinear term. Further, at the lowest Reynolds number (152), the sidewise expansion of the sub-harmonic lock-on region is much narrower than that of the resonant lock-on region.     

Plane-strain crack tip field and a dual-parameter fracture-criterion for non-linear fracture mechanics

Hancock and Cowling measured the critical crack tip opening displacements, δ_f, at fracture initiation in HY-80 steel specimens of six different configurations. δ_f varied from 90 μm in a deeply double-edge-cracked tensile panel to 900 μm in a single-edge-cracked tensile panel.McMeeking and Parks, and Shih and German have shown by their finite element calculations that the characteristics of the plane strain crack tip fields in both large scale yielding and general yielding are strongly dependent on specimen geometry and load level.In this study, the plane strain crack tip fields in the specimens tested by Hancock and Cowling were calculated using the finite element method. The crack tip triaxial tensile stress field is strongly affected by specimen geometric constraint, and the state of the triaxial tensile stress in a crack tip region is monitored by the ratio between the local tensile stress and the effective stress, i.e., ( ), at a distance x=2δ from the crack tip. The values of ( ) vary from 3.1 for the double-edge-cracked tensile panel to 1.7 for the single-edge-cracked tensile panel. The δ_f measured by Hancock and Cowling correlates very well with the ratio ( ). δ_f is a measure of the fracture ductility of the material ahead of the crack tip, and the ductility decreases with an increase in the triaxial tensile stress, i.e., the ratio ( ).     

Reynolds' analogy for the thermal convection driven by nonisothermal stretching surfaces

In the present paper the steady boundary-layer flows induced by permeable stretching surfaces with variable temperature distribution are investigated under the aspect of Reynolds' analogy r = St _x /C _f(x). It is shown that for certain stretching velocities and wall temperature distributions, “Reynolds' function”r, i.e. the ratio of the local Stanton number St _x and the skin friction coefficient C _f(x) equals −1/2 for any value of the Prandtl number Pr and of the dimensionless suction/injection velocity f _w. In all of these cases, the dimensionless temperature field ϑ is connected to the dimensionless downstream velocity f ^′ by the simple relationship ϑ=(f ^′)^Pr. It is also shown that in the general case, Reynolds' function r may possess several singularities in f _w. The largest of them represents a critical value, so that for f _w<f _w,crit the solutions of the energy equation (although they still satisfy all the boundary conditions) become nonphysical.     

Turbulence in rough-wall boundary layers: universality issues

Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layers over three-dimensional rough surfaces have been carried out to determine the critical roughness height beyond which the roughness affects the turbulence characteristics of the entire boundary layer. Experiments were performed on three types of surfaces, consisting of an urban type surface with square random height elements, a diamond-pattern wire mesh and a sand-paper type grit. The measurements were carried out over a momentum thickness Reynolds number (Re _θ) range of 1,300–28,000 using two-component Laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) and hot-wire anemometry (HWA). A wide range of the ratio of roughness element height h to boundary layer thickness δ was covered (0.04 ￡ h/d ￡ 0.400.04 \leq h/\delta \leq 0.40). The results confirm that the mean profiles for all the surfaces collapse well in velocity defect form up to surprisingly large values of h/δ, perhaps as large as 0.2, but with a somewhat larger outer layer wake strength than for smooth-wall flows, as previously found. At lower h/δ, at least up to 0.15, the Reynolds stresses for all surfaces show good agreement throughout the boundary layer, collapsing with smooth-wall results outside the near-wall region. With increasing h/δ, however, the turbulence above the near-wall region is gradually modified until the entire flow is affected. Quadrant analysis confirms that changes in the rough-wall boundary layers certainly exist but are confined to the near-wall region at low h/δ; for h/δ beyond about 0.2 the quadrant events show that the structural changes extend throughout much of the boundary layer. Taken together, the data suggest that above h/δ ≈ 0.15, the details of the roughness have a weak effect on how quickly (with rising h/δ) the turbulence structure in the outer flow ceases to conform to the classical boundary layer behaviour. The present results provide support for Townsend’s wall similarity hypothesis at low h/δ and also suggest that a single critical roughness height beyond which it fails does not exist. For fully rough flows, the data also confirm that mean flow and turbulence quantities are essentially independent of Re _θ; all the Reynolds stresses match those of smooth-wall flows at very high Re _θ. Nonetheless, there is a noticeable increase in stress contributions from strong sweep events in the near-wall region, even at quite low h/δ.     

Aeroacoustic Modelling of Low-Speed Flows

A new numerical algorithm for acoustic noise generation is developed. The approach involves two steps comprising an incompressible flow part and an inviscid acoustic part. The acoustic part can be started at any time of the incompressible computation. The formulation can be applied both for isentropic flows and non-isentropic flows. The model is validated for the cases of an isentropic pulsating sphere and non-isentropic flows past a circular cylinder. In the latter case the computations show that the generated acoustic field in addition to the dominant Strouhal frequency, f ₀, contains a slightly higher frequency, f ₂, and a modulating lower frequency, f ₁=f ₂−f ₀. Numerical experiments with different interpolation schemes, boundary conditions, etc., show that the appearance of these modes is not an artifact from the numerical discretization. Received 20 July 1998 and accepted 26 May 1999     

Simulation method in the kinetic theory of gases

We develop a method that is based on use of the simulation equation vf/v=vl ^–1(f ₀–f), where v is the modulus of the molecular velocity andl is the mean free-path length. A number of general properties of the model are clarified and the transition to the limit of a continuous medium is discussed in detail.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 110–115, November–December, 1973.     

Near-wall hot-wire measurements

This work continues the studies of Khoo et al. (Exp. Fluids 29: 448–460, 2001), where experiments were performed in turbulent-channel and flat-plate boundary-layer flows using near-wall hot-wire probes. The probability density function (pdf) of the wall-shear stress and streamwise velocity fluctuations in the viscous sublayer, buffer region and beyond were compared and analyzed. The convective velocity U _c of the streamwise velocity fluctuations in the very near-wall region was obtained using a two-point correlation technique. It was found that in the viscous sublayer, U _c is approximately constant at 13u _τ and 15u _τ , respectively, for the channel and boundary-layer flows. Spectra data for the viscous sublayer are presented for the first time, and the normalized spectral plots for different flow conditions collapse at high frequencies or wavenumbers, thus indicating the possible presence of small-scale universality at different Reynolds numbers. The integral time scale corresponding to the streamwise velocity fluctuations in the viscous sublayer is also presented. Received: 18 October 2000/Accepted: 2 April 2001     

A simplified v2–f model for near‐wall turbulence

A simplified version of the v²–f model is proposed that accounts for the distinct effects of low‐Reynolds number and near‐wall turbulence. It incorporates modified C_ε(1,2) coefficients to amplify the level of dissipation in non‐equilibrium flow regions, thus reducing the kinetic energy and length scale magnitudes to improve prediction of adverse pressure gradient flows, involving flow separation and reattachment. Unlike the conventional v²–f, it requires one additional equation (i.e. the elliptic equation for the elliptic relaxation parameter f_µ) to be solved in conjunction with the k–ε model. The scaling is evaluated from k in collaboration with an anisotropic coefficient C_v and f_µ. Consequently, the model needs no boundary condition on and avoids free stream sensitivity. The model is validated against a few flow cases, yielding predictions in good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Symmetry and secondary bifurcation of elastic structures

We consider non-linear bifurcation problems for elastic structures modeled by the operator equation F[w;α]=0 where F:X×R^k→Y,X,Y are Banach spaces and XY. We focus attention on problems whose bifurcation equations are of the form

f_i(α₁,α₂;λ,μ)=(a_iμ+b_iλ)α_i+p_iα_i³+q_iα_i∑_j=1,j≠i^kα_j+1²+α_ih_i(λ,μ;α₁,α₂,…α_k) i=1,2,…k

which emanates from bifurcation problems for which the linearization of F is Fredholm operators of index 0. Under the assumption of F being odd we prove an important theorem of existence of secondary bifurcation. Under this same assumption we prove a symmetry condition for the reduced equations and consequently we got an existence result for secondary bifurcation. We also include a stability analysis of the bifurcating solutions.     

A general one-equation turbulence model for free shear and wall-bounded flows

The purpose of thiswork is to introduce a complete and general one-equation model capable of correctly predicting a wide class of fundamental turbulent flows like boundary layer, wake, jet, and vortical flows. The starting point is the mature and validated two-equation k−ω turbulence model of Wilcox. The newly derived one-equation model has several advantages and yields better predictions than the Spalart-Allmaras model for jet and vortical flows while retaining the same efficiency and quality of the results for near-wall turbulent flows without using a wall distance. The derivation and validation of the new model using findings computed by the Spalart-Allmaras and the k−ω models are presented and discussed for several free shear and wall-bounded flows.     

Prediction of turbulent wall shear flows directly from wall

The fully elliptic Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations have been used together with Lam and Bremhorst's low-Reynolds-number model, Chen and Patel's two-layer model and a two-point wall function method incorporated into the standard k-? model to predict channel flows and a backward-facig step flow. These flows enable the evaluation of the performance of different near-wall treatments in flows involving streamwise and normal pressure gradients, flows with separation and flows with non-equilibrium turbulence characteristics. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a channel flow with Re =3200 further provides the detailed budgets of each modelling term of the k and ?-transport equations. Comparison of model results with DNS data to evaluate the performance of each modelling term is also made in the present study. It is concluded that the low-Reynolds-number model has wider applicability and performs better than the two-layer model and wall function approaches. Comparison with DNS data further shows that large discrepancies exist between the DNS budgets and the modelled production and destruction terms of the ? equation. However, for simple channel flow the discrepancies are similar in magnitude but opposite in sign, so they are cancelled by each other. This may explain why, even when employing such an inaccurately modelled ?-equation, one can still predict satisfactorily some simple turbulent flows.     

Some issues of turbulence statistics

The issue of dropping the random forcef _i and the arbitrariness of choosing the basic variable in the variational approach to turbulence closure problem, pointed out recently by the Russian scientists Bazdenkov and Kukharkin, are discussed. According to the mean-square estimation method, the random forcef _i should be dropped in the error expression of the LFP (Langevin-Fokker-Planck) model. However,f _i is not neglected, its effect has been taken into account by the variational approach. In order to optimize the perturbation solution of the Liouville equation, the LFP model requires that the basic variable is as near to Gaussian as possible. Hence, the velocity, instead of the vorticity, should be chosen as the basic variable in the three-dimensional turbulence. Although the LFP model and the zero-order Gaussian term of PDF (probability density function) imply whiteness assumption (zero correlation time off _i ), the higher-order non-Gaussian terms of PDF correspond to the nonwhiteness of turbulence dynamics, the variational approach does calculate the nonwhiteness effect properly. The work is supported by the National Basic Research Program “Non-linear Sciences” and the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Reynolds number effect on the skin friction in separated flows behind a backward-facing step

Conclusions Results from the present study show that the skin-friction coefficient decreases as the Reynolds number,Re _h , increases in the following manner, C _f ,min=−0.19Re _h ^−1/2. The -1/2 power relationship deduced from the correlationC _f,min vs.Re _h indicates laminar like behavior which is consistent with the findings of Adams et al. (1984). Clauser's method, which is frequently used for the determination of the wall shear stress, leads to erroneous results when applied to the velocity measurements obtained in the near field of reattaching flows (and many other wall-bounded nonequilibrium flows). Direct measurements of theC _f using the LOI technique give higher values than those obtained by the classical techniques. The normalized mean velocity on the wall coordinates violates the universal law-of-the-wall in the near field of reattaching flows. Research support for the first author was provided by NASA Grant NCC2-465, and is gratefully acknowledged.     

Modeling spurt and stress oscillations in flows of molten polymers

The paper presents an approach for modeling polymer flows with non-slip, slip and changing non-slip — slip boundary conditions at the wall. The model consists of a viscoelastic constitutive equation for polymer flows in the bulk, prediction of the transition from non-slip to sliding boundary conditions, a wall slip model, and a model for the compressibility effects in capillary polymer flows. The bulk viscoelastic constitutive equation contains a hardening parameter which is solely determined by the polymer molecular characteristics. It delimits the conditions for the onset of solid, rubber-like behavior. The non-monotone wall slip model introduced for polymer melts, modifies a slip model derived from a simple stochastic model of interface molecular dynamics for cross-linked elastomers. The predictions for the onset of spurt, as well as the numerical simulations of hysteresis, spurt, and stress oscillations are demonstrated. They are also compared with available data for a high molecular weight, narrow distributed polyisoprene. By using this model beyond the critical conditions, many of the qualitative features of the spurt and oscillations observed in capillary and Couette flows of molten polymers, are described.Notations upper convected derivative of elastic strain tensor - f, f_m, f_min dimensionless (sliding) shear friction characteristics, and its maximum and minimum - G Hookean elastic modulus - G_p plateau modulus - G, G storage and loss moduli - I₁, I₂ first and second invariant of strain tensor - I₁, I₀ capillary and barrel lengths - M non-dimensional mass flow rate - M_C critical molecular weight - M^*, M_e molecular weights of a statistical segment, and of polymer chain between entanglements - M_n, M_W number average and weight average molecular weights - m, k two fitting parameters of slip model - _s , _s ^o nominal and characteristic sliding velocities - u non-dimensional sliding velocity - u _sc initial (infinitesimal) slip velocity - u ₁ upper limit of u on the lower branch - u ₂ lower limit of u on the upper branch - u _max value of u corresponding to f_min - u _min value of u corresponding to f_max - U piston speed - Q nominal volumetric flow rate - q non-dimensional volumetric flow rate - R, R_o capillary and barrel radii - M non-dimensional mass flow rate     

Near-wall damping in model predictions of separated flows

Different near-wall scalings are reviewed by the use of data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of attached and separated adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers. The turbulent boundary layer equation is analysed in order to extend the validity of existing wall damping functions to turbulent boundary layers under severe adverse pressure gradients. A proposed near-wall scaling is based on local quantities and the wall distance, which makes it applicable for general computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. It was found to have a similar behaviour as the pressure-gradient corrected analytical y^* scaling and avoids the inconsistencies present in the y⁺ scaling. The performance of the model is illustrated by model computations using explicit algebraic Reynolds stress models with near-wall damping based on different scalings.