Kinematics of a turbulent boundary layer

In the article an attempt is made, within the framework of the Navier-Stokes equations, to describe the field of the instantaneous velocities of a liquid in the region of a turbulent flow near the wall. It is assumed that the velocities of the liquid are determined by the field of the eddies arising in regions of ejections under the action of pressure pulses in the region near the wall.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 34–40, September–October, 1973.     

Bubble migration in a turbulent boundary layer

The wall void peaking distribution observed in an upward turbulent bubbly boundary layer along a flat plate is generated by bubbles that move towards the plate, come into contact with the wall and then slide along it. This transverse ‘migration’ has been studied using flow visualization, high speed video and particle tracking techniques to measure the trajectories of mono-disperse air bubbles at very low void fractions. Investigations have been performed at four Reynolds numbers in the range 280 < Re_θ < 3000, covering both the laminar and turbulent regimes, with mono-disperse bubbles of mean equivalent diameter between 2 mm and 6 mm. Lagrangian statistics calculated from hundreds of trajectories show that the migration only occurs in the turbulent regime and for bubble diameters below some critical value: 3.5 mm < d_eqcrit < 4 mm. Above this size (We > 3), the interface deformation is such that bubbles do not remain at the wall, even when they are released at the surface. Also, bubble migration is shown to be non-systematic, to have a non-deterministic character in the sense that trajectories differ significantly, to increase with Reynolds number and to take place on a short time scale. A series of experiments with isolated bubbles demonstrates that these results are not influenced by bubble–bubble interactions and confirm that two-way coupling in the flow is limited. Flow visualizations show that the migration originates with the capture of bubbles inside the large turbulent structures of the boundary layer (‘bulges’). The bubbles begin to move towards the wall as they cross these structures, and the point at which they reach the wall is strongly correlated with the position of the deep ‘valleys’ which separate the turbulent ‘bulges’. The analysis of the mean Lagrangian trajectories of migrating bubbles confirms these observations. Firstly, the average time of migration calculated from these trajectories coincides with the mean transit time of the bubbles across the structures. Secondly, once the trajectories have been scaled by this transit time and the boundary layer thickness δ, they all have the same form in the region y/δ < 0.4, independent of the Reynolds number.     

Three-component LDA measurements in a turbulent boundary layer

An experimental study of a three-dimensional, pressuredriven, attached turbulent boundary-layer flow was made at Mach 0.4. Both the mean velocities and the full Reynolds stress tensor were measured simultaneously by a three-component LDA system. Value of the resultant shear stress to turbulent kinetic energy ratio varied between 0.1 and 0.2 and did not remain constant across the boundary-layer. Slopes of the streamwise and azimuthal mixing length distributions in the wall region were around 0.4 and 1.2, respectively. Skew angle of the turbulent shear stress was larger than skew angle of the velocity gradient.     

Wake layer in a thermal turbulent boundary layer with pressure gradient

The open equations of thermal turbulent boundary layer subjected to pressure gradient have been analysed by method of matched asymptotic expansions at large Reynolds number. The flow is divided into outer wake layer and inner wall layer. The asymptotic expansions are matched by Millikan-Kolmogorov hypothesis. The temperature profile in overlap region yields composite law which reduce to log. law for moderate pressure gradient and inverse half power law for strong adverse pressure gradient. In case of a shallow thermal wake, the matching result of outer wake layer reduces to composite temperature defect law, which is more general than the classical log. law. The comparison of data for thermal boundary layer with strong adverse pressure gradient is also considered. Received on 26 May 1998     

RMS spanwise vorticity measurements in a turbulent boundary layer

Turbulent boundary layer measurements of the rms spanwise vorticity t_z with a four hot-wire probe are in reasonable agreement with direct numerical simulations and other published measurements at comparable Reynolds numbers. It is shown that a reasonable accurate approximation for _z can be obtained with only two parallel hot wires.     

Multiple distortion of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer

Two experiments were performed to study the response of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer to successive distortions. In the first experiment (Case 1), the flow passed over a forward-facing ramp formed by 20° compression corner followed by a 20° expansion corner located about 4_o downstream, where _o is the incoming boundary layer thickness. In the second experiment (Case 2), the forward-facing ramp was constructed of curved compression and expansion surfaces with the same turning angles and total step height as in Case 1. The radii of curvature for the compression and expansion surfaces were equal to 12_o. In both experiments, the flow relaxation was observed over a distance equal to 12_o. In this relaxation region, the mean and turbulent flow behavior of the boundary layer was measured. The mean velocity profile was found to be altered by the distortion. Recovery of the profile began near the wall and occurred rapidly, but in the outer part of the boundary layer, recovery proceeded slowly. Turbulence measurements revealed a dramatic reduction in the turbulence shear stress and a progressively decaying streamwise Reynolds stress profile.     

Low-speed streak and internal shear layer motions in a turbulent boundary layer

Some features of the inner region of a flat plate turbulent boundary layer are investigated by a Digital Particle Image Velocimetry technique. Measurements in planes parallel to the wall are examined. The energetic spanwise modes of the streaky motions are analysed by spatial Fourier analysis at different distances from the wall. Internal shear layers are deduced by applying VISA technique at y⁺=20 and detected events are ensemble averaged. The deduced flow structure highlights the dominant spatial relationship between low-speed streak and internal shear layer motions.     

Stochastic modeling of particle diffusion in a turbulent boundary layer

Several Continuous Random Walk (CRW) models were constructed to predict turbulent particle diffusion based on Eulerian statistics that can be obtained with Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solutions. The test conditions included a wide range of particle inertias (Stokes numbers) with a near-wall injection (y⁺ = 4) in a turbulent boundary layer that is strongly anisotropic and inhomogeneous. To assess the performance of the models, the CRW results were compared to particle diffusion statistics gathered from a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). In particular, comparisons were made with transverse concentration profiles, root-mean-square of particle trajectory coordinates, and mean transverse particle velocity away from the wall.The results showed that accurate simulation required a modified (non-dimensionalized) Markov chain to handle the large gradients in turbulence near the wall as shown by simulations with fluid-tracer particles. For finite-inertia particles, an incremental drift correction for the Markov chain developed herein to account for Stokes number effects was critical to avoiding non-physical particle collection in low-turbulence regions. In both cases, inclusion of anisotropy in the turbulence model was found to be important, but the influence of off-diagonal terms was found to be weak. The results were generally good, especially for long-time and large inertia particles.     

Heat transfer in a turbulent boundary layer with stepped injection

The asymptotic theory of a turbulent boundary layer has been applied to derive relationships for the heat and mass transfer when there is injection and consequent nonuniformity in the gas composition. Experimental studies are reported on heat and mass transfer with stepped injection of homogeneous and inhomogeneous gases; the results confirm the equations for the heat and mass transfer at a permeable surface when a foreign gas is blown in.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 4, pp. 124–129, July–August, 1973.     

Small scale intermittency in a rough wall turbulent boundary layer

Relatively good quality isotropy is observed in the central region of a turbulent boundary layer developing over a mesh screen rough wall. Spectra of velocity and, more especially, vorticity fluctuations satisfy isotropy over a significant wavenumber range. Inertial range scaling exponents ζ _u2 (p) and ζ _u3 (p) of moments of order p(?8) of increments of the transverse velocity fluctuations u ₂ and u ₃ are significantly smaller than the exponents ζ _u1 (p) of increments of the longitudinal velocity fluctuation u ₁. Exponents inferred from the locally averaged values of squared transverse vorticity fluctuations are only slightly smaller than ζ _u1 (p). The difference between ζ _u1 (p) and ζ _u2 (p) [or ζ _u3 (p)] more likely reflects the departure from isotropy of inertial range scales. There is evidence to suggest that the difference decreases with an increase in the Reynolds number and/or a decrease in the magnitude of the mean shear.     

Ignition of hydrogen in a turbulent boundary layer on a plate

The ignition of hydrogen blown into a turbulent supersonic boundary layer on a flat plate is investigated numerically. It is assumed that the mixture consists of six chemically active components H, O, OH, H₂O, O₂, H₂ and inert nitrogen N₂. The boundary layer is divided into outer and inner regions, for which different expressions for the coefficients of turbulent transport are used. The influence of pulsations on the rates of the chemical reactions, and also the back reaction of the chemical processes on the mechanism of turbulent transfer are not taken into account. The surface of the plate is assumed to be absolutely catalytic with respect to the recombination reactions of the H and O atoms. The influence of the blowing intensity, the Mach number in the outer flow, and the pressure on the ignition delay is analyzed. The possibility of effective porous cooling of the surface when there is combustion in the boundary layer is demonstrated.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 33–40, November–December, 1979.I thank V. G. Gromov and V. A. Levin for their interest in the work.     

Aerodynamic forces on a tall building in a turbulent boundary layer

The model studies were designed to obtain information concerning wind loads on a tall building by placing the model in a turbulent shear flow simulating expected atmospheric boundary-layer winds. Since current design codes are inadequate for predicting all possible motions of tall buildings, it is important that better knowledge of mean and fluctuating loadings and their distributions becomes available. Experiments were conducted to determine the mean and fluctuating forces and twisting moments at several levels over the surface of a model. By determining the effects at several levels simultaneously, it was possible to correlate forces and moments at five levels with one common level. A single model was tested at varying orientations. Tests were also conducted with an identical model placed upstream so that its wake influenced the flow around the instrumented model. Results are presented in terms of distributions of force and moment coefficients and correlations at different levels. The spectral character of the force and moment components is illustrated for one case. Paper was presented at 1977 SESA Spring Meeting held in Dallas, TX on May 15–20.     

Large-eddy simulation of a turbulent boundary layer with blowing

The modifications of a turbulent boundary layer induced by blowing through a porous plate were investigated using large-eddy simulation. The Reynolds number (based on the length of the plate) of the main flow was about 850000. Large-eddy simulations of such a boundary layer needs a turbulent inflow condition. After a review of available turbulent inflow, we describe in details the condition we developed, which consisted of recycling the velocity fluctuations. Then we show the necessity for this inflow to be non-stationary and to be three dimensional with respect to the mass conservation equation. If these properties are not achieved, we found that the velocity fluctuations do not grow as expected along the domain. Finally, the results of simulations of the boundary layer submitted to blowing are compared with experimental measurements. The good agreement obtained validate our turbulent inflow conditions and also the blowing model used. PACS 47.27.Eq, 47.27.Te, 44.20.+b     

Film cooling by injection into a turbulent boundary layer

Most papers on film cooling concern injection of a homogeneous gas. Stollery et al. [1] examined the case of tangential injection of gas into a boundary layer, the specific heat_63-01 differing little from that of the main flow,_63-02.Here we examine the effectiveness of film cooling of a thermally isolated planar wall by local supply to a turbulent boundary layer.