The laminar boundary layer near a body corner point

A method is developed for calculating the characteristics of a laminar boundary layer near a body contour corner point, in the vicinity of which the outer supersonic stream passes through a rarefaction flow. In the study we use the asymptotic solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in the region with large longitudinal gradients of the flow functions for large values of the Reynolds number, the general form of which was used in [1].The pressure, heat flux, and friction distributions along the body surface are obtained. For small pressure differentials near the corner the solution of the corresponding equations for small disturbances is obtained in analytic form.The conventional method for studying viscous gas flow near body surfaces for large values of the Reynolds number is the use of the Prandtl boundary layer theory. Far from the body the asymptotic solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in the first approximation reduces to the solution of the Euler equations, while near the body it reduces to the solution of the Prandtl boundary layer equations. The characteristic feature of the boundary layer region is the small variation of the flow functions in the longitudinal direction in comparison with their variation in the transverse direction. However, in many cases this condition is violated.The necessity arises for constructing additional asymptotic expansions for the region in which the longitudinal and transverse variations of the flow functions are quantities of the same order. The general method for constructing asymptotic solutions for such flows with the use of the known method of outer and inner expansions is presented in [1].In the following we consider the flow in a laminar boundary layer for the case of a viscous supersonic gas stream in the vicinity of a body corner point. Behind the corner the flow separates from the body surface and flows around a stagnant zone, in which the pressure differs by a specified amount from the pressure in the undisturbed flow ahead of the point of separation. A pressure (rarefaction) disturbance propagates in the subsonic portion of the boundary layer upstream for a distance which in order of magnitude is equal to several boundary layer thicknesses. In the disturbed region of the boundary layer the longitudinal and transverse pressure and velocity disturbances are quantities of the same order. In this study we construct additional asymptotic expansions in the first approximation and calculate the distributions of the pressure, friction stress, and thermal flux along the body surface.     

Wake-boundary layer interaction subject to convex and concave curvatures and adverse pressure gradient

Measurements of mean velocity and turbulent quantities have been carried out when the wake of a symmetrical airfoil interacts with the boundary layer on the (i) walls of a straight duct/diffuser and (ii) convex and concave walls of a curved duct/diffuser. The effects of adverse pressure gradient and of curvatures on the interaction are studied separately and in combination. Six cases are considered, viz. with (i) neither pressure gradient nor curvature, (ii) adverse pressure gradient and no curvature, (iii) and (iv) convex curvature with zero and adverse pressure gradients, respectively, (v) and (vi) concave curvature with zero and adverse pressure gradients, respectively. For the flows with curvature, the curvature parameter δ/R is 0.023, and for the flows with adverse pressure gradient, the Clauser pressure gradient parameter β is 0.62. The individual influences of adverse pressure gradient and convex and concave curvatures on the boundary layer are similar to those observed by earlier investigations. It is further observed that the combined effect of concave/convex curvature and the adverse pressure gradient causes higher turbulence intensities than the sum of the individual effects. The effect of curvature is to make the wake asymmetric, and in combination with adverse pressure gradient the asymmetry increases. It is observed that the adverse pressure gradient causes faster wake–boundary-layer interaction. Comparing measurements in a straight duct, a curved duct, a curved diffuser and a straight diffuser, it is seen that the convex curvature reduces the boundary layer thickness. The asymmetry in wake development compensates for this effect and the wake–boundary-layer interaction on a convex surface is almost the same as that on a straight surface. In the case of interaction with the boundary layer on a concave surface, the curvature increases the boundary layer thickness and causes enhanced turbulence intensities. However, the asymmetry in wake is such that the extent of wake is lower towards the boundary layer side. As a result, the wake–boundary-layer interaction on concave surface is almost the same as on a straight surface. The interaction is faster in the presence of adverse pressure gradient. Received: 16 June 2000 / Accepted: 17 May 2001     

Some equilibrium turbulent boundary layers

Using the Coles additive law of the wall and law of the wake for the mean velocity profile of a two-dimensional turbulent boundary layer, a differential equation for the friction and wake parameters is derived from the momentum integral equation with a view to finding out the conditions under which the boundary layer can exhibit equilibrium. It is predicted that equilibrium is possible for boundary layers in favorable pressure gradient over smooth as well as k-type rough walls. When the roughness height is allowed to increase linearly with the streamwise distance, equilibrium exists also in zero pressure gradient. For a d-type rough wall, equilibrium is possible for a certain range of pressure gradients, from favorable to adverse. Most of the predictions are verified by evaluating the friction and wake parameters from the available experimental data on mean velocity measurements.     

Turbulent thermal boundary layer on a plate. Reynolds analogy and heat transfer law over the entire range of prandtl numbers

Arational asymptotic theory is proposed,which describes the turbulent dynamic and thermal boundary layer on a flat plate under zero pressure gradient. The fact that the flow depends on a finite number of governing parameters makes it possible to formulate algebraic closure conditions relating the turbulent shear stress and heat flux with the gradients of the averaged velocity and temperature. As a result of constructing an exact asymptotic solution of the boundary layer equations, the known laws of the wall for velocity and temperature, the velocity and temperature defect laws, and the expressions for the skin friction coefficient, Stanton number, and Reynolds analogy factor are obtained. The latter makes it possible to give two new formulations of the temperature defect law, one of which is identical to the velocity defect law and contains neither the Stanton number nor the turbulent Prandtl number, and the second formulation does not contain the skin friction coefficient. The heat transfer law is first obtained in the form of a universal functional relationship between three parameters: the Stanton number, the Reynolds number, and the molecular Prandtl number. The conclusions of the theory agree well with the known experimental data.     

On the boundary layer methods

In this paper, the defect of the traditionary boundary layer methods (including the method of matched asymptotic expansions and the method of Visik-Lyusternik) is noted, from those methods we can not construct the asymptotic expansion of boundary layer term substantially. So the method of multiple scales is proposed for constructing the asymptotic expansion of boundary layer term, the reasonable result is obtained. Furthermore, we compare this method with the method used by Levinson, and find that both methods give the same asymptotic expansion of boundary layer term, but our method is simpler.Again, we apply this method to study some known works on singular perturbations. The limitations of those works have been noted, and the asymptotic expansion of solution is constructed in general condition.     

Asymptotic solution of the equations for a three-dimensional multicomponent laminar boundary layer with large injection

The asymptotic method of outer and inner expansions is used to analyze the flow of a multicomponent gas in a three-dimensional boundary layer on a smooth blunt body with large injection. Asymptotic expressions are derived for the friction coefficients, the heat and diffusion fluxes of the components on the surface of the body, and the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles of the components across the layer of injected gases. It is shown that with large injection the limiting (bottom) streamlines on the surface of the body coincide in the first approximation with the vectorial lines of the pressure gradient.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 47–56, March–April, 1975.The author is indebted to G. A. Tirskii for a discussion of the work.     

The turbulent/non-turbulent interface in an adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer

The turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) in an adverse pressure gradient (APG, β = 1.45) turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is explored here by using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data; β is the Clauser pressure gradient parameter. For comparison, the DNS data for a zero pressure gradient (ZPG) TBL is included. The interface is extracted with an approach based on enstrophy criteria. Depending on the enstrophy, the outer boundary layer flow can be classified into the free stream, boundary layer wake, and intermittent flow regimes. The fractal dimension of the interface is obtained by using the box-counting algorithm, and was found to be constant over a long range of box sizes. The TNTI shows a monofractal behavior. The geometric complexity of a TNTI can be determined in terms of the genus, which is defined as the number of handles in a geometric object. We examine the volume and projection area of the genus of the TNTI to analyze the entrainment process. The geometric complexity of the APG TBL interface and the local entrainment are greater than those of the ZPG TBL, as is evident in the increases in the genus near the interface. The local entrainment velocity is dominantly affected by the viscous diffusion at the interface.     

Turbulent flow of a fluid in the neighborhood of the trailing edge of a plate at zero angle of attack

The laminar flow regime of an incompressible fluid at the trailing edge of a plate was studied by Stewartson and Messiter [1, 2] by means of the method of matched asymptotic expansions. In. the present paper, this method is used to analyze the same problem, but in the case of turbulent flow in the boundary layer and the wake. A system of linear equations of elliptic type with variable coefficients is obtained for the averaged values of the flow parameters in the main part of the boundary layer and the wake that is responsible for the change in the displacement thickness. A solution of this system is constructed by the Fourier method in the case of a power law of the velocity in front of the interaction region.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 17–23, November–December, 1983.     

Investigation of the flows in axisymmetric and plane divergent channels with preseparation boundary layers on their walls

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to develop a procedure for constructing separationless plane and axisymmetric diffusers for incompressible high-Reynolds-number flows with a given pressure distribution over the diffuser surface and minimum friction losses. The problem for the region of interaction between the boundary layer and the inviscid outer flow is numerically solved and the effect of variation of the on-design flow parameters in the entry section on the diffuser flow parameters is studied.     

A study of a turbulent boundary layer in stalled-airfoil-type flow conditions

The experimental study of the turbulent boundary layer under external flow conditions similar to those found on the suction side of airfoils in trailing-edge post-stall conditions has been performed. Detailed boundary layer measurements were carried out with a PIV system and a two-sensor wall probe. They cover the region downstream of the suction peak where the boundary layer is subjected to a very strong adverse pressure gradient and has suffered from an abrupt transition from strong favorable to strong adverse pressure gradients. The experiments show that in spite of these severe conditions, the boundary layer is surprisingly able to recover a state of near-equilibrium before separating. In this near-equilibrium zone, the mean velocity defect and all the measured Reynolds stresses are self-similar (in the outer region) with respect to the outer scales δ and U _e δ*/δ. The mean momentum balance indicates that for the upper half of the outer region, the advection terms dominate all the stress-gradient terms in the zone prior to separation. A large portion of the outer region has therefore become essentially an inertial flow zone where an approach toward equilibrium is expected.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Effect of longitudinal surface curvature on heat transfer

The effect of longitudinal surface curvature on heat transfer has been analysed for laminar forced convection by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Utilizing the classical solution of boundary layer equations as the first order approximations, the second order perturbation for the velocity and temperature field has been calculated by a similarity analysis. The analysis permits the wall temperature to vary as a power function of distance from the stagnation point. Numerical solutions have been obtained for the resulting coupled ordinary differential equations. The results for the variation in the second order temperature profile and the second order wall temperature gradient due to surface curvature parameter, Prandtl number, wall temperature distribution parameter, and pressure gradient parameters are presented graphically. The variation in a typical temperature profile due to curvature, and percentage variations from the first order theory due to longitudinal surface curvature are also presented graphically.     

Higher approximations to the free convection flow from a heated vertical flat plate

This paper is concerned with the problem of obtaining higher approximations for the free convection from a heated vertical flat plate to that represented by the well known solution of Schmidt and Beckmann. For large Grashof number, the perturbation problem is a singular one and the method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to construct inner and outer expansions for the velocity and temperature distributions. The small perturbation parameterε is the inverse of the fourth root of the Grashof number and the expansions are shown to involve only integral powers ofε. The first three terms in the expansion are calculated and numerical results are presented for the velocity, temperature, skin friction and heat transfer. The agreement with experiment is found to be excellent, and the theory fully explains the discrepancies which exist between boundary layer theory and experiment.     

Turbulence Energy Distribution in the Stokes Layer

Using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, an analytical solution of the balance equation for turbulence energy is constructed for a shallow basin (sea) in which the fluid depth does not exceed the Stokes layer thickness. In this case, a gradient-viscous balance is established with the turbulent viscosity being balanced mainly by the pressure gradient. It is shown that nonlinear boundary layers attributable to turbulence energy diffusion are formed near the bottom and the free surface (or ice). In the neighborhood of the point of maximum flow velocity (if this maximum is attained inside the flow), a nonlinear internal boundary layer also develops. Outside these layers, the turbulence energy generation is in the first approximation balanced by the energy dissipation. Asymptotic solutions for the boundary layers are constructed.     

A parametric study of adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers

There are many open questions regarding the behaviour of turbulent boundary layers subjected to pressure gradients and this is confounded by the large parameter space that may affect these flows. While there have been many valuable investigations conducted within this parameter space, there are still insufficient data to attempt to reduce this parameter space. Here, we consider a parametric study of adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers where we restrict our attention to the pressure gradient parameter, β, the Reynolds number and the acceleration parameter, K. The statistics analyzed are limited to the streamwise fluctuating velocity. The data show that the mean velocity profile in strong pressure gradient boundary layers does not conform to the classical logarithmic law. Moreover, there appears to be no measurable logarithmic region in these cases. It is also found that the large-scale motions scaling with outer variables are energised by the pressure gradient. These increasingly strong large-scale motions are found to be the dominant contributor to the increase in turbulence intensity (scaled with friction velocity) with increasing pressure gradient across the boundary layer.     

Turbulent boundary layer with positive pressure gradient on a permeable surface under nonisothermal conditions

It is known that the longitudinal pressure gradient can exert a strong influence on the friction law and the characteristics of a dynamic turbulent boundary layer. The thermal and diffusion boundary layers are more conservative to the effect of the pressure gradient, and, hence, methods of analyzing them are based, in the majority of cases, on the hypothesis of conservativity of the heat- and mass-transfer laws to the longitudinal pressure gradient [1]. This hypothesis is verified by experimental results [2, 3] on heat transfer on an impermeable surface in a turbulent stream with positive pressure gradient under almost isothermal conditions. However, such investigations under nonisothermal conditions are practically nonexistent. An approximate theoretical analysis of the heat transfer in a turbulent boundary layer of a nonisothermal stream with a positive pressure gradient is given in this paper. Experimental results are presented. The experimental investigation was conducted in a burned-out graphite diffuser both with and without injection of an inert gas through the wall.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 43–49, July–August, 1976.     

Study of laminar separation in the vicinity of the point of piecewise-constant pressure distribution over the wall

A family of two-dimensional divergent channels with piecewise-constant velocity and pressure distributions over the wall is considered. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is applied to study the two-dimensional viscous incompressible flow at high but subcritical Reynolds numbers in the vicinity of a pressure jump point on the channel wall. It is shown that if the pressure difference is of the order O(Re^?1/4), then in the vicinity of this point a classical region of interaction between the viscous boundary layer on the wall and the outer inviscid flow occurs. The problem formulated for the interaction region is solved numerically. The asymptotic values of the pressure difference corresponding to separationless flow are determined and the separation flow patterns are constructed.     

Steady thermocapillary-buoyant convection in a shallow annular pool. Part 1: Single layer fluid

This paper examines the steady thermocapillarybuoyant convection in a shallow annular pool subjected to a radial temperature gradient. A matched asymptotic theory is used to obtain the asymptotic solutions of the flow and thermal fields in the case of small aspect ratios,which is defined as the ratio of the layer thickness to the gap width. The flow domain is divided into the core region away from the cylinder walls and two end regions near each cylinder wall. Asymptotic solutions are obtained in the core region by solving the core and end flows separately and then joining them through matched asymptotic expansions. For the system of silicon melt,the asymptotic solutions are compared with the results of numerical simulations. It is found that the two kinds of solutions have a good agreement in the core region for a small aspect ratio. With the increase of aspect ratio,the applicability of the present asymptotic solutions decreases gradually.     

Determination of skin friction in strong pressure-gradient equilibrium and near-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers

The conventional Clauser-chart method for determination of local skin friction in zero or weak pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer flows fails entirely in strong pressure-gradient situations. This failure occurs due to the large departure of the mean velocity profile from the universal logarithmic law upon which the conventional Clauser-chart method is based. It is possible to extend this method, even for strong pressure-gradient situations involving equilibrium or near-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers by making use of the so-called non-universal logarithmic laws. These non-universal log laws depend on the local strength of the pressure gradient and may be regarded as perturbations of the universal log law. The present paper shows that the modified Clauser-chart method, so developed, yields quite satisfactory results in terms of estimation of local skin friction in strongly accelerated or retarded equilibrium and near-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers that are not very close to relaminarization or separation.     

PIV measurements in a weakly separating and reattaching turbulent boundary layer

A high Reynolds number flat plate turbulent boundary layer was studied in a wind-tunnel experiment using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The flow is subjected to an adverse pressure gradient (APG) which is designed such that the boundary layer separates and reattaches, forming a weak separation bubble. With PIV we are able to get a more complete picture of this complex flow phenomenon. The view of a separation bubble being composed of large scale coherent regions of instantaneous backflow occurring randomly in a three-dimensional manner in space and time is verified by the present PIV measurements. The PIV database was used to test the applicability of various velocity scalings around the separation bubble. We found that the mean velocity profiles in the outer part of the boundary layer, and to some extent also the Reynolds shear-stress, are self-similar when using a velocity scale based on the local pressure gradient. The same can be said for the so called Perry–Schofield scaling, which suggests that the two velocity scales are connected. This can also be interpreted as an experimental evidence of the claimed relation between the latter velocity scale and the maximum Reynolds shear-stress.