Propagation of shear-layer structures in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer

Two non-intrusive techniques, namely laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) and the electrochemical method, have been used for simultaneous measurements of the instantaneous streamwise velocity (U) and longitudinal wall shear stress (S), evaluated in a zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer. The space-time correlation between the fluctuating velocity and shear stress suggests that the coherent flow structures are propagated (i) under a slight angle of 5° in the near-wall region and (ii) at an average angle of 15.5° for y⁺>30. It is shown that the time shift obtained from the correlation between the LDA and the electrochemical signals is due to the dynamic behaviour of the electrodiffusion probe, but also to the leaning character of the coherent structures.     

Effect of different initial conditions on a turbulent round free jet

Velocity measurements were made in two jet flows, the first exiting from a smooth contraction nozzle and the second from a long pipe with a fully developed pipe flow profile. The Reynolds number, based on nozzle diameter and exit bulk velocity, was the same (䏪,000) in each flow. The smooth contraction jet flow developed much more rapidly and approached self-preservation more rapidly than the pipe jet. These differences were associated with differences in the turbulence structure in both the near and far fields between the two jets. Throughout the shear layer for x<3d, the peak in the v spectrum occurred at a lower frequency in the pipe jet than in the contraction jet. For x́d, the peaks in the two jets appeared to be nearly at the same frequency. In the pipe jet, the near-field distributions of f(r) and g(r), the longitudinal and transverse velocity correlation functions, differed significantly from the contraction jet. The integral length scale L_u was greater in the pipe jet, whereas L_v was smaller. In the far field, the distributions of f(r) and g(r) were nearly similar in the two flows. The larger initial shear layer thickness of the pipe jet produced a dimensionally lower frequency instability, resulting in longer wavelength structures, which developed and paired at larger downstream distances. The regular vortex formation and pairing were disrupted in the shear layer of the pipe jet. The streamwise vortices, which enhance entrainment and turbulent mixing, were absent in the shear layer of the pipe jet. The formation of large-scale structures should occur much farther downstream in the pipe jet than in the contraction jet.     

The accuracy of turbulent velocity component measurements by multi-sensor hot-wire probes: a new approach to an old problem

The measurement accuracy of different hot-wire probes possessing between two and 12 sensors is analyzed. Experimental data were sampled in a round free jet and in a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer by a 12-sensor hot-wire probe. Testing of the various hot-wire configurations is enabled by selectively considering different combinations of the 12 available anemometer output voltages. The influence on the measurement accuracy of neglecting the velocity gradients as well as neglecting one velocity component is analyzed. Two approaches were applied. One is based on expressions that relate the instantaneous velocity components and velocity gradients, and the other is based on a simple least-squares regression method. It is found that neglecting the instantaneous fluctuations of the velocity gradients for the measurement of the cross-stream velocity component, V, has a crucial influence and results in large errors. It is also shown that this influence is less significant or even negligible for the measurement accuracy of the other two velocity components, U and W.     

Experimental analysis of turbulent flow structure in a fully developed rib-roughened rectangular channel with PIV

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the turbulent water-flow structure over one-side micro-repeated ribs in a narrow two-dimensional rectangular channel by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two rib pitch-to-height ratios p/k of 10 and 20 were investigated while the rib height was held constant at 4 mm. The rib height-to-channel equivalent diameter ratio k/D_e was 0.1. The streamwise mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy fields in the fully developed flow region of the channel were calculated at three different positions of x=0, 3.8, and -6.2 mm, which corresponded to center, downstream, and upstream of the rib, respectively, and for two Reynolds numbers Re of 7,000 and 20,000. A large-scale turbulent eddy was generated by the rib promoter and then propagated into the mainstream flow, which led to the deformation of the velocity profile. Downstream of the rib, rotating and counter-rotating eddies were also generated by the rib promoter. The enhancement of the turbulent kinetic energy was not changed when the Reynolds number increased from 7,000 to 20,000 between p/k=20 and 10. The reattachment length L_R was measured from velocity vector fields in the developing, fully developed, and exit regions of the flow over the range Re=1,400-50,000. The results showed that the ratio p/k and the Reynolds number had no significant effect on the reattachment length beyond a critical value of Re=15,000, where L_R was found to be approximately 4 times the rib height.     

Study of the flow around surface-mounted pyramids

The turbulent flow around square-based wall-mounted pyramids in thin and thick boundary layers was experimentally investigated as a function of the pyramid apex angle, ‘, and angle of attack, f, based on mean flow surface patterns, pressure and velocity measurements. For thin boundary layers, wake periodicity is observed. For slender pyramids (15°<‘<75°), the periodic formation and shedding of vortices is observed. The shedding frequency scales with the length scale L=w'(w'/h)^-1/4, where h is the pyramid height and w' is the frontal (projected) base width. For broad pyramids, wake periodicity exists but cannot be related to vortex shedding. Vortex shedding appears related to the existence of a double vortex structure along the side faces of the slender pyramids. The location of the separation point upstream and the attachment point downstream of the obstacle also scales with L. For thick boundary layers, no wake periodicity is observed and the mean flow structure in the wake differs from that seen for thin boundary layers. The location of the separation and attachment points scales only approximately with L.     

Numerical investigation on effects of induced jet on boundary layer and turbulent models around airfoils

In this study the effects of induced jet at trailing edge of a two dimensional airfoil on its boundary layer shape, separation over surface and turbulent parameters behind trailing edge are numerically investigated and compared against a previous experimental data. After proving independency of results from mesh size and obtaining the required mesh size, different turbulent models are examined and RNG k-epsilon model is chosen because of good agreement with experimental data in velocity and turbulent intensity variations. A comparison between ordinary and jet induced cases, regarding numerical data, is made. The results showed that because of low number of measurement points in experimental study, turbulent intensity extremes are not captured. While in numerical study, these values and their positions are well calculated and exact variation of turbulent intensity is acquired. Also a study in effect of jet at high angles of attack is done and the results showed the ability of jet in controlling separation and reducing wake region.     

Quantitative temperature imaging in gas-phase turbulent thermal convection by laser-induced fluorescence of acetone

In this paper, an acetone planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique for nonintrusive temperature imaging is demonstrated in gas-phase (Pr = 0.72) turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection at Rayleigh number Ra = 1.3᎒⁵. The PLIF technique provides quantitative spatially correlated temperature data without the flow intrusion or time lag associated with physical probes, and without the significant path averaging that plagues most optical heat-transfer diagnostic tools, such as the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, thus making PLIF an attractive choice for quantitative thermal imaging in easily perturbed, complex three-dimensional flow fields. The "instantaneous" (20-ns integration time) thermal images presented have a spatial resolution of 176쐀아 µm and a single-pulse temperature measurement precision of - 2.5 K, or 2.5% of the total temperature difference. These images represent a two-dimensional slice through a complex three-dimensional flow, allowing for thermal structure of the turbulence to be quantified. Statistics such as the horizontally averaged temperature profile, root-mean square (rms) temperature fluctuation, two-point spatial correlations, and conditionally averaged plume structures are computed from an ensemble of 100 temperature images. The profiles of the mean temperature and rms temperature fluctuation are in good agreement with previously published data, and the results obtained from the two-point spatial correlations and conditionally averaged temperature fields show the importance of large-scale coherent structures in this turbulent flow.     

Layered structure of turbulent plane wall jet

This paper investigates the layered structure of a turbulent plane wall jet at a distance from the nozzle exit. Based on the force balances in the mean momentum equation, the turbulent plane wall jet is divided into three regions: a boundary layer-like region (BLR) adjacent to the wall, a half free jet-like region (HJR) away from the wall, and a plug flow-like region (PFR) in between. In the PFR, the mean streamwise velocity is essentially the maximum velocity, and the simplified mean continuity and mean momentum equations result in a linear variation of the mean wall-normal velocity and Reynolds shear stress. In the HJR, as in a turbulent free jet, a proper scale for the mean wall-normal flow is the mean wall-normal velocity far from the wall and a proper scale for the Reynolds shear stress is the product of the maximum mean streamwise velocity and the velocity scale for the mean wall-normal flow. The BLR region can be divided into four sub-layers, similar to those in a canonical pressure-driven turbulent channel flow or shear-driven turbulent boundary layer flow. Building on the log-law for the mean streamwise velocity in the BLR, a new skin friction law is proposed for a turbulent wall jet. The new prediction agrees well with the correlation of Bradshaw and Gee (1960) over moderate Reynolds numbers, but gives larger skin frictions at higher Reynolds numbers.     

Investigation of the microstructure a turbulent jet in a wake

The study of the characteristics of the turbulence in the boundary layer and in free jets is one of the most important problems of the aerodynamics of viscous fluids. The accumulation of information on the pulsation characteristics of jet flows and the establishment of the corresponding governing laws may serve to verify the basic hypotheses of the semiempirical theories of turbulence, and also for the development of more advanced computational methods. In many cases the measurement of the pulsation characteristics of turbulent jets is of practical interest.The studies made up till now [1–5] of the microstructure of turbulent flow in the primary region of submerged axisymmetric jets have made it possible to obtain several interesting results. In particular, in addition to the average velocity profiles, hot-wire anemometric equipment has been used to measure the normal and tangential Reynolds stresses and also the intermittency factor in cross sections of the jet, the distribution of the intensity of the longitudinal and lateral velocity pulsations along the axis, the correlation coefficients and the corresponding integral turbulence scales, etc. These measurements have made it possible to draw several important conclusions on the mechanism of turbulent exchange, on the order of the terms omitted in the equation of motion, and on the semiempirical theories of turbulence [6–9].The common deficiency of the studies mentioned above is that near the boundary of a submerged jet, where the average velocity is practically equal to zero, the intensity of the pulsations is so great that it makes the reliability of the results obtained by means of the hotwire anemometer questionable. In this connection Townsend [6] indicated the advisability of studying the microstructure of a turbulent jet issuing into a low-velocity ambient flow.The present study had as its objective the investigation of the microstructure of the primary region of an axisymmetric jet in a wake flow over quite a broad range of the flow ratio parameter m=u/u₀;here u₀ is the average velocity at the nozzle exit, u is the velocity of the ambient stream. For various values of the parameter m in the primary region of the jet measurements were made of the profiles of the three components of the pulsation velocity and the Reynolds shear stresses, and also the values of the average velocity and two components of the pulsation velocity at a large number of points on the jet axis. The measured profiles of the Reynolds shear stresses were compared with the corresponding profiles calculated on the basis of the boundary layer equations from the experimentally determined average velocity profiles. For two values of the parameter m, in one of the sections of the jet measurements were made of the correlation coefficients of the longitudinal components of the pulsation velocity and the variation across the jet of the integral turbulence scale was determined.The results obtained give an idea of the influence of the parameter m on the characteristics of the turbulent jet in an ambient stream.     

Performances of motion tracking enhanced Tomo-PIV on turbulent shear flows

The motion tracking enhancement technique (MTE) is a recently introduced method to improve the accuracy of tomographic PIV measurements at seeding density higher than currently practiced. The working principle is based on the fact that the particle field and its projections are correlated between the two exposures. Therefore, information from subsequent exposures can be shared within the tomographic reconstruction process of a single object, which largely reduces the energy lost into ghost particles. The study follows a previous work based on synthetic particle images, showing that the MTE technique has an effect similar to that of increasing the number of cameras. In the present analysis, MTE is applied to Tomographic PIV data from two time-resolved experiments on turbulent shear flows: a round jet at Re = 5,000 (f _acq = 1,000 Hz) and a turbulent boundary layer at the trailing edge of an airfoil (Re _c = 370,000) measured at 12,000 Hz. The application of MTE is extended to the case of more than two recordings. The performance is assessed comparing the results from a lowered number of cameras with respect to the full tomographic imaging system. The analysis of the jet flow agrees with the findings of numerical simulations provided the results are scaled taking into account the concept of MTE efficiency based on the volume fraction where ghost-pairs (Elsinga et al. 2010a) are produced. When a large fraction of fluid has uniform motion (stagnant fluid surrounding the jet), only a moderate reduction in ghost intensity is expected by MTE. Nevertheless, a visible recovery of reconstruction quality is observed for the 3-cameras system when MTE is applied making use of 3 recordings. In the turbulent boundary layer, the objective is set to increase the seeding density beyond current practice, and the experiments are performed at approximately 200,000 particles/megapixel. The measurement robustness is monitored with the signal-to-noise ratio S/N for the cross-correlation analysis. An estimate of the precision error is obtained for the turbulent boundary layer case following the peak height of the spatio-temporal cross-correlation function (frozen-turbulence). The MTE approach appears to be essential for the increase in robustness and measurement precision at such seeding density.     

4D Magnetic resonance velocimetry for mean velocity measurements in complex turbulent flows

An adaptation of a medical magnetic resonance imaging system to the noninvasive measurement of three-component mean velocity fields in complex turbulent engineering flows is described. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the capabilities of the technique with respect to its accuracy, time efficiency and applicability as a design tool for complex turbulent internal geometries. The technique, called 4D magnetic resonance velocimetry (4D-MRV), is used to measure the mean flow in fully developed low-Reynolds number turbulent pipe flow, Re=6400 based on bulk mean velocity and diameter, and in a model of a gas turbine blade internal cooling geometry with four serpentine passages, Re=10,000 and 15,000 based on bulk mean velocity and hydraulic diameter. 4D-MRV is capable of completing full-field measurements in three-dimensional volumes with sizes on the order of the magnet bore diameter in less than one hour. Such measurements can include over 2 million independent mean velocity vectors. Velocities measured in round pipe flow agreed with previous experimental results to within 10%. In the turbulent cooling passage flow, the average flow rates calculated from the 4D-MRV velocity profiles agreed with ultrasonic flowmeter measurements to within 7%. The measurements lend excellent qualitative insight into flow structures even in the highly complex 180° bends. Accurate quantitative measurements were obtained throughout the Re=10,000 flow and in the Re=15,000 flow except in the most complex regions, areas just downstream of high-speed bends, where velocities and velocity fluctuations exceeded MRV capabilities for the chosen set of scan parameters. General guidelines for choosing scanning parameters and suggestions for future development are presented.     

Numerical investigation of turbulent free jet flows issuing from rectangular nozzles: the influence of small aspect ratio

In this research, the fluid and thermal characteristics of a rectangular turbulent jet flow is studied numerically. The results of three-dimensional jet issued from a rectangular nozzle are presented. A numerical method employing control volume approach with collocated grid arrangement was employed. Velocity and pressure fields are coupled with SIMPLEC algorithm. The turbulent stresses are approximated using k–e{\varepsilon} model with two different inlet conditions. The velocity and temperature fields are presented and the rates of their decay at the jet centerline are noted. The velocity vectors of the main flow and the secondary flow are illustrated. Also, effect of aspect ratio on mixing in rectangular cross-section jets is considered. The aspect ratios that were considered for this work were 1:1 to 1:4. The results showed that the jet entrains more with smaller AR. Special attention has been drawn to the influence of the Reynolds number (based on hydraulic diameter) as well as the inflow conditions on the evolution of the rectangular jet. An influence on the jet evolution is found for smaller Re, but the jet is close to a converged state for higher Reynolds numbers. The inflow conditions have considerable influence on the jet characteristics.     

An entrainment model for the turbulent jet in a coflow

The entrainment hypothesis was introduced by G.I. Taylor to describe one-dimensionally the development of turbulent jets issuing into a stagnant or coflowing environment. It relates the mass flow rate of surrounding fluid entrained into the jet to the characteristic velocity difference between the jet and the coflow. A model based on this hypothesis along with axial velocity assumed to follow a realistic Gaussian distribution is presented. It possesses an implicit analytical solution, and its results are compared and shown to be fully equivalent to previously published models that are rather based on a spreading hypothesis. All of them are found to be in agreement with experimental results, on a wide range of downstream positions and for various coflow intensities. To cite this article: N. Enjalbert et al., C. R. Mecanique 337 (2009).     

Experimental study on flow control of the turbulent boundary layer with micro-bubbles

The effect of micro-bubbles on the turbulent boundary layer in the channel flow with Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from \(0.87\times 10 ^{5}\) to \(1.23\times 10^{5}\) is experimentally studied by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The micro-bubbles are produced by water electrolysis. The velocity profiles, Reynolds stress and instantaneous structures of the boundary layer, with and without micro-bubbles, are measured and analyzed. The presence of micro-bubbles changes the streamwise mean velocity of the fluid and increases the wall shear stress. The results show that micro-bubbles have two effects, buoyancy and extrusion, which dominate the flow behavior of the mixed fluid in the turbulent boundary layer. The buoyancy effect leads to upward motion that drives the fluid motion in the same direction and, therefore, enhances the turbulence intense of the boundary layer. While for the extrusion effect, the presence of accumulated micro-bubbles pushes the flow structures in the turbulent boundary layer away from the near-wall region. The interaction between these two effects causes the vorticity structures and turbulence activity to be in the region far away from the wall. The buoyancy effect is dominant when the Re is relatively small, while the extrusion effect plays a more important role when Re rises.     

The response of a turbulent boundary layer to artificial disturbances

With periodic fluid injection through small slots, a turbulent boundary layer is artificially disturbed on scales that are of the order of those of the natural quasi-periodic events. The periodic phase-average of the streamwise fluid velocity is determined from hot-film measurements, and used to find the coherent velocity component as defined by the triple decomposition. It appears that, when a disturbance is active, the generated flow pattern is very similar to the one caused by the interaction of a crossflow and a jet. However, when it is terminated, the turbulent boundary layer returns to its undisturbed state.     

Velocity measurements in a two-phase turbulent jet

The motion of oil droplets in a round turbulent air jet is investigated experimentally. Direct information on the droplets' average velocity is obtained by means of a Laser Doppler velocimeter. Average velocity profiles of the droplets are measured along the axis of the jet and transverse to it. The results are compared to the free jet expansion.The jet Reynolds number is in the range 10⁴–10⁵, the droplets' diameters are 50 μm and below and the volume concentration of the oil in the air is 10^?6.At the jet exit, the air velocity is higher than the droplets' velocity, at the developed region of the jet the droplets' velocity is found to be higher than the free air jet velocity at the same location. In the radial direction, the velocity profiles of the droplets are self similar and the droplets' velocity is lower than the free air jet velocity at the same location. The droplets' velocity decay along the axis of the jet is slower than the air velocity in the free jet and the two-phase jet is narrower than the submerged free air jet at the same exit velocity.     

Influence of surface roughness on anisotropy in a turbulent boundary layer flow

The departure from isotropy of turbulent boundary layers over a smooth and a rough wall is presented. The experimental data are analyzed using an anisotropic invariant map. It is shown that the k-type roughness is characterized by a reduced anisotropy of the Reynolds stress tensor. Moreover, the approximation of the diffusive transport of u and v developed in the Hanjalic-Launder numerical model is compared with the experimental results over a smooth and a rough wall. Diffusive transport of u and v is modeled more accurately in the case of the rough surface than in the case of the smooth surface, which can be attributed to the more isotropic behavior of the Reynolds stress tensor for the structures in the rough-wall layer.     

Large eddy simulation of a developing turbulent boundary layer at a low Reynolds number

A spectral code has been used to simulate a developing turbulent boundary layer at low Reynolds number Re_θ (based on free stream velocity and momentum thickness) between 353 and 576. The starting field was generated by allowing a step change of temperature to diffuse outwards from one wall in a fully developed channel flow. The thermal boundary layer so created was conditionally sampled to convert it into a momentum boundary layer with an irrotational free stream region, a process which is justified by appeal to experiments. This initial field was allowed to develop until the momentum boundary layer thickness δ₉₉₅ had grown to about 1·5 times its original thickness. The results of the simulation have been compared with a wide range of experimental data. The outcome of this comparison is generally very satisfactory; the main trends of the experiments are well reproduced and our simulation supplements and extends the existing sets of experimental data. The simulation also gives pressure statistics which cannot be obtained experimentally. In particular, it gives the contribution of pressure diffusion to the balance equations for the Reynolds stress and indicates the error produced by omitting this term.     

Direct numerical simulation of a particle-laden low Reynolds number turbulent round jet

Direct numerical simulation method is used for the investigating of particle-laden turbulent flows in a spatially evolution of low Reynolds number axisymmetric jet, and the Eulerian–Lagrangian point-particle approach is employed in the simulation. The simulation uses an explicit coupling scheme between particles and the fluid, which considers two-way coupling between the particle and the fluid. The DNS results are compared well with experimental data with equal Reynolds number (R_e = 1700). Our objects are: (i) to investigate the correlation between the particle number density and the fluctuating of fluid streamwise velocity; (ii) to examine whether the three-dimensional vortex structures in the particle-laden jet are the same as that in the free-air jet and how the particles modulate the thee-dimensional vortex structures and turbulence properties with different Stokes number particles; (iii) to discover the particle circumferential dispersion with different Stokes number particles. Our findings: (i) all the particles, regardless of their particle size, tend to preferentially accumulate in the region with large-than-mean fluid streamwise velocity; (ii) the small Stokes number particles take an important part in the modulation of three-dimensional vortex structures, but for the intermediate and larger sized particles, this modulation effect seems not so apparent; (iii) the particle circumferential dispersion is more effective for the smaller and intermediate sized particles, especially for the intermediate sized particles.     

Numerical investigation of corner angle and wing number effects on fluid flow characteristics of a turbulent stellar jet

In this research the fluid dynamics characteristics of a stellar turbulent jet flow is studied numerically and the results of three dimensional jet issued from a stellar nozzle are presented. A numerical method based on control volume approach with collocated grid arrangement is employed. The turbulent stresses are approximated using k–ε and k–ω models with four different inlet conditions. The velocity field is presented and the rate of decay at jet centerline is noted. Special attention is drawn on the influence of corner angle and number of wings on mixing in stellar cross section jets. Stellar jets with three; four and five wings and 15–65° corner angles are studied. Also the effect of Reynolds number (based on hydraulic diameter) as well as the inflow conditions on the evolution of the stellar jet is studied. The Numerical results show that the jet entrains more with corner angle 65° and five wings number. The jet is close to a converged state for high Reynolds numbers. Also the influence of the inflow conditions on the jet characteristics is so strong.