High-order generalisation of the diagnostic scaling for turbulent boundary layers

The diagnostic scaling concept, introduced for the streamwise turbulence intensity in wall-bounded turbulent flows (Alfredsson, Segalini and Örlü, Phys. Fluids 2011;23:041702), is here extended and generalised not only for the higher even-order central statistical moments, but also for the odd moments and thereby the probability density distribution of the streamwise velocity fluctuations. Turbulent boundary layer data up to a friction Reynolds number of 60,000 are employed and demonstrate the feasibility of the diagnostic scaling for the data throughout the logarithmic and wake regions. A comparison with the generalised logarithmic law for even-order moments by Meneveau and Marusic (J. Fluid Mech. 2013;719:R1) based on the attached-eddy hypothesis, is reported. The diagnostic plot provides an apparent Reynolds-number-independent scaling of the data, and is exploited to reveal the functional dependencies of the constants needed in the attached-eddy-based model. In particular, the invariance of the lowest order diagnostic scaling poses an intriguing incompatibility with the asymptotic constancy of the Townsend–Perry constant.     

Inflow conditions for spatial direct numerical simulation of turbulent boundary layers

The inflow conditions for spatial direct numerical simulation (SDNS) of turbulent boundary layers should reflect the characteristics of upstream turbulence, which is a puzzle. In this paper a new method is suggested, in which the flow field obtained by using temporal direct numerical simulation (TDNS) for fully developed turbulent flow (only flow field for a single moment is sufficient) can be used as the inflow of SDNS with a proper transformation. The calculation results confirm that this method is feasible and effective. It is also found that, under a proper time-space transformation, all statistics of the fully developed turbulence obtained by both temporal mode and spatial mode DNS are in excellent agreement with each other, not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively. The normal-wise distributions of mean flow profile, turbulent Mach number and the root mean square (RMS) of the fluctuations of various variables, as well as the Reynolds stresses of the fully developed turbulence obtained by using SDNS, bear similarity in nature. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90205021), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 20060400707), and the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China (Grant No. 200328), and partially supported by Liu-Hui Center of Applied Mathematics, Nankai University and Tianjin University     

Phase-relationships between scales in the perturbed turbulent boundary layer

The phase-relationship between large-scale motions and small-scale fluctuations in a non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layer was investigated. A zero-pressure-gradient flat plate turbulent boundary layer was perturbed by a short array of two-dimensional roughness elements, both statically, and under dynamic actuation. Within the compound, dynamic perturbation, the forcing generated a synthetic very-large-scale motion (VLSM) within the flow. The flow was decomposed by phase-locking the flow measurements to the roughness forcing, and the phase-relationship between the synthetic VLSM and remaining fluctuating scales was explored by correlation techniques. The general relationship between large- and small-scale motions in the perturbed flow, without phase-locking, was also examined. The synthetic large scale cohered with smaller scales in the flow via a phase-relationship that is similar to that of natural large scales in an unperturbed flow, but with a much stronger organizing effect. Cospectral techniques were employed to describe the physical implications of the perturbation on the relative orientation of large- and small-scale structures in the flow. The correlation and cospectral techniques provide tools for designing more efficient control strategies that can indirectly control small-scale motions via the large scales.     

Recycling inflow method for simulations of spatially evolving turbulent boundary layers over rough surfaces

The technique by Lund et al. to generate turbulent inflow for simulations of developing boundary layers over smooth flat plates is extended to the case of surfaces with roughness elements. In the Lund et al. method, turbulent velocities on a sampling plane are rescaled and recycled back to the inlet as inflow boundary condition. To rescale mean and fluctuating velocities, appropriate length scales need be identified and for smooth surfaces, the viscous scale l_ν = ν/u_τ (where ν is the kinematic viscosity and u_τ is the friction velocity) is employed for the inner layer. Different from smooth surfaces, in rough wall boundary layers the length scale of the inner layer, i.e. the roughness sub-layer scale l_d, must be determined by the geometric details of the surface roughness elements and the flow around them. In the proposed approach, it is determined by diagnosing dispersive stresses that quantify the spatial inhomogeneity caused by the roughness elements in the flow. The scale l_d is used for rescaling in the inner layer, and the boundary layer thickness δ is used in the outer region. Both parts are then combined for recycling using a blending function. Unlike the blending function proposed by Lund et al. which transitions from the inner layer to the outer layer at approximately 0.2δ, here the location of blending is shifted upwards to enable simulations of very rough surfaces in which the roughness length may exceed the height of 0.2δ assumed in the traditional method. The extended rescaling–recycling method is tested in large eddy simulation of flow over surfaces with various types of roughness element shapes.     

Simulations of turbulent asymptotic suction boundary layers

A series of large-eddy simulations of a turbulent asymptotic suction boundary layer (TASBL) was performed in a periodic domain, on which uniform suction was applied over a flat plate. Three Reynolds numbers (defined as ratio of free-stream and suction velocity) of Re = 333, 400 and 500 and a variety of domain sizes were considered in temporal simulations in order to investigate the turbulence statistics, the importance of the computational domain size, the arising flow structures as well as temporal development length required to achieve the asymptotic state. The effect of these two important parameters was assessed in terms of their influence on integral quantities, mean velocity, Reynolds stresses, higher order statistics, amplitude modulation and spectral maps. While the near-wall region up to the buffer region appears to scale irrespective of Re and domain size, the parameters of the logarithmic law (i.e. von Kármán and additive coefficient) decrease with increasing Re, while the wake strength decreases with increasing spanwise domain size and vanishes entirely once the spanwise domain size exceeds approximately two boundary-layer thicknesses irrespective of Re. The wake strength also reduces with increasing simulation time. The asymptotic state of the TASBL is characterised by surprisingly large friction Reynolds numbers and inherits features of wall turbulence at numerically high Re. Compared to a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) or a channel flow without suction, the components of the Reynolds-stress tensor are overall reduced, but exhibit a logarithmic increase with decreasing suction rates, i.e. increasing Re. At the same time, the anisotropy is increased compared to canonical wall-bounded flows without suction. The reduced amplitudes in turbulence quantities are discussed in light of the amplitude modulation due to the weakened larger outer structures. The inner peak in the spectral maps is shifted to higher wavelength and the strength of the outer peak is much less than for TBLs. An additional spatial simulation was performed, in order to relate the simulation results to wind tunnel experiments, which – in accordance with the results from the temporal simulation – indicate that a truly TASBL is practically impossible to realise in a wind tunnel. Our unique data set agrees qualitatively with existing literature results for both numerical and experimental studies, and at the same time sheds light on the fact why the asymptotic state could not be established in a wind tunnel experiment, viz. because experimental studies resemble our simulation results from too small simulation boxes or insufficient development times.     

Spectral energy balance in dry convective boundary layers

Three-dimensional large-eddy simulations (LES) of the convective boundary layer over a domain of approximately 6 km are performed with the UCLA LES model. Simulations are forced with a constant surface heat flux and prescribed subsidence, and are run to equilibrium. Sub-grid scale fluxes are parameterised with the Smagorinsky–Lilly scheme. A range of grid spacings from 40 down to 5 m are employed. Kinetic energy spectra and the various terms in the kinetic energy spectral budget – heat flux, nonlinear transfer, pressure, and dissipation – are computed using two-dimensional discrete Fourier transforms at every vertical level. Despite the fact that isotropic grid spacings of down to 5 m (grid sizes of 1152²×400) were used, an inertial range with a ?5/3 spectrum is not obtained. Rather, shallower energy spectral slopes that are closer to ?4/3 are found. The shallower spectra are shown to possibly result from the injection of kinetic energy over a wide range of scales via a very broad heat flux spectrum. Only with the highest resolution (Δx = 5 m) does the total heat flux begin to converge and the possibility of local isotropy emerge at small scales. Dependence on surface heat flux and domain size is considered. Preliminary sub-grid scale sensitivity results are obtained through comparison with the turbulent kinetic energy sub-grid scale model.     

Evolution of the vortex structures and turbulent spots at the late-stage of transitional boundary layers

The nonlinear evolution process of new vortex structures at the late-stage of the transition, including the 3-D spatial structure of barrel-shaped vortex and dark spots structure observed by experiment research, has been confirmed by our computational results. The formation mechanisms of these structures have been explored. It is revealed that the new vortex structures, the ring-like vortex chain and induced disturbance velocities play a dominant role in the generation of turbulent spots.     

Mean momentum balance analysis of rough-wall turbulent boundary layers

Mean momentum balances (MMB) are carried out for zero pressure gradient rough-wall turbulent boundary layer flows. The balance characterizes the mean dynamical mechanisms and reveals dominant terms in the governing equation, which constitutes a necessary step in the derivation of scaling behaviors. The Reynolds stress profiles in rough-wall boundary layers are, however, quite scattered and the uncertainty in the data poses challenges for educing the MMB. The present study employs a method that invokes theoretical constraints to more reliably reveal Reynolds stress gradient behaviors in the presence of data scatter.Properties of the rough-wall mean momentum balances are compared to those of the smooth-wall case. Important qualitative features of the layer structure that exists for the smooth-wall are shown to also exist for rough-wall boundary layers. Specifically, the present analysis reveals the existence of a stress gradient balance layer, and thus the importance of the viscous force term well above the roughness crests. The smooth-wall Reynolds stress peak position scales in proportion with the geometric mean of inner-outer characteristic lengths. Roughness, however, imposes new dynamical length scales and evidence is provided to indicate that the scale separations between the inner length, roughness length, peak Reynolds stress length and outer length are important. The failure of the rough-wall Reynolds stress profiles to merge under smooth-wall meso-scalings clearly reveals the additional richness of the problem.Although more data are required to gain a complete characterization, the present results provide evidence that the combined roughness-Reynolds number problem exhibits significantly greater complexity than captured by the prevalent scheme for characterizing and classifying roughness regimes.     

Drag reduction in spatially developing turbulent boundary layers by spatially intermittent blowing at constant mass-flux

A series of large-eddy simulations of spatially developing turbulent boundary layers with uniform blowing at moderate Reynolds numbers (based on free-stream velocity, U_∞, and momentum thickness, θ) up to Re_θ ≈ 2500 were performed with the special focus on the effect of intermittent (separated in streamwise direction) blowing sections. The number of blowing sections, N, investigated is set to be 3, 6, 20, 30 and compared to N = 1, which constitutes the reference case, while the total wall-mass flux is constrained to be the same for all considered cases, corresponding to a blowing amplitude of 0.1% of U_∞ for the reference case. Results indicate that the reference case provides a net-energy saving rate of around 18%, which initially decreases at most 2% points for N = 3 but recovers with increasing N, where the initial reduction of the drag reduction is found to be related to the shorter streamwise length of the intermittent blowing sections. The physical decomposition of the skin friction drag through the Fukagata-Iwamoto-Kasagi (FIK) identity shows that the distribution of all components over each blowing section has similar trends, resulting in similar averaged values over the whole control region.     

Investigating asymptotic suction boundary layers using a one-dimensional stochastic turbulence model

The turbulent asymptotic suction boundary layer is studied using a one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. ODT is a fully resolved, unsteady stochastic simulation technique. While flow properties reside on a one-dimensional domain, turbulent advection is represented using mapping events whose occurrences are governed by a random process. Due to its reduced spatial dimensionality, ODT achieves major cost reductions compared to three-dimensional (3D) simulations. A comparison to recent direct numerical simulation (DNS) data at moderate Reynolds number (Re = u_∞ / v₀ = 333, where u_∞ and v₀ are the free stream and suction velocity, respectively) suggests that the ODT model is capable of reproducing several velocity statistics, i.e. mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy budgets, while peak turbulent stresses are under-estimated by ODT. Variation of the Reynolds number in the range Re ∈ [333,400,500,1000] shows that ODT can reproduce various trends observed as a result of increased suction in turbulent asymptotic suction boundary layers, i.e. the reduction of Reynolds stresses and enhanced skin friction. While up to Re = 500 our results can be directly compared to recent LES data, the simulation at Re = 1000 is currently not feasible through full 3D simulations, hence ODT may assist the design of future DNS or LES simulations at larger Reynolds numbers.     

不同光线入射角度下超声速湍流边界层气动光学效应的实验研究

利用基于纳米粒子的平面激光散射技术获取超声速(Ma=3.0)湍流边界层的密度分布,采用光线追迹方法计算其对应的光程差分布,并结合边界层气动光学相似律验证实验结果的可靠性.着重研究了光线入射角度对超声速湍流边界层气动光学效应的影响,并对其内在机理进行了分析.研究表明,气动光学效应对光线入射角度的依赖性源于光线在流场中的传输路径,传输路径的不同导致了光线在流场中的传输距离以及对应密度脉动互相关结果的差异.光线倾斜入射导致其在流场中传输距离增长,进而气动光学效应出现恶化.光线入射方向与壁面垂直方向之间的夹角越大,气动光学效应越显著,而且不同时刻的差异性增加,气动光学效应校正的难度增加.超声速湍流边界层中大量具有特定方向的涡结构导致了湍流边界层气动光学效应的各向异性.当光线倾斜向下游入射时,光线传播方向与流场中的涡结构具有较好的一致性,体现为此方向上密度脉动互相关系数较大,故气动光学效应比较严重.而当光线倾斜向上游入射时,相关系数较小,故气动光学效应较弱.     

Improved nonlinear parabolized stability equations approach for hypersonic boundary layers

The nonlinear parabolized stability equations(NPSEs) approach is widely used to study the evolution of disturbances in hypersonic boundary layers owing to its high computational efficiency. However, divergence of the NPSEs will occur when disturbances imposed at the inlet no longer play a leading role or when the nonlinear effect becomes very strong.Two major improvements are proposed here to deal with the divergence of the NPSEs. First, all disturbances are divided into two types: dominant waves and non-dominant waves. Disturbances imposed at the inlet or playing a leading role are defined as dominant waves, with all others being defined as non-dominant waves. Second, the streamwise wavenumbers of the non-dominant waves are obtained using the phase-locked method, while those of the dominant waves are obtained using an iterative method. Two reference wavenumbers are introduced in the phase-locked method, and methods for calculating them for different numbers of dominant waves are discussed. Direct numerical simulation(DNS) is performed to verify and validate the predictions of the improved NPSEs in a hypersonic boundary layer on an isothermal swept blunt plate.The results from the improved NPSEs approach are in good agreement with those of DNS, whereas the traditional NPSEs approach is subject to divergence, indicating that the improved NPSEs approach exhibits greater robustness.     

A Web services accessible database of turbulent channel flow and its use for testing a new integral wall model for LES

The output from a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent channel flow at Re_τ ≈ 1000 is used to construct a publicly and Web services accessible, spatio-temporal database for this flow. The simulated channel has a size of 8πh × 2h × 3πh, where h is the channel half-height. Data are stored at 2048 × 512 × 1536 spatial grid points for a total of 4000 time samples every 5 time steps of the DNS. These cover an entire channel flow-through time, i.e. the time it takes to traverse the entire channel length 8πh at the mean velocity of the bulk flow. Users can access the database through an interface that is based on the Web services model and perform numerical experiments on the slightly over 100 terabytes (TB) DNS data on their remote platforms, such as laptops or local desktops. Additional technical details about the pressure calculation, database interpolation, and differentiation tools are provided in several appendices. As a sample application of the channel flow database, we use it to conduct an a-priori test of a recently introduced integral wall model for large eddy simulation of wall-bounded turbulent flow. The results are compared with those of the equilibrium wall model, showing the strengths of the integral wall model as compared to the equilibrium model.     

A class of Cartesian grid embedded boundary algorithms for incompressible flow with time-varying complex geometries

We present a class of numerical algorithms for simulating viscous fluid problems of incompressible flow interacting with moving rigid structures. The proposed Cartesian grid embedded boundary algorithms employ a slightly different idea from the traditional direct-forcing immersed boundary methods: the proposed algorithms calculate and apply the force density in the extended solid domain to uphold the solid velocity and hence the boundary condition at the rigid-body surface. The principle of the embedded boundary algorithm allows us to solve the fluid equations on a Cartesian grid with a set of external forces spread onto the grid points occupied by the rigid structure. The proposed algorithms use the MAC (marker and cell) algorithm to solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Unlike projection methods, the MAC scheme incorporates the gradient of the force density in solving the pressure Poisson equation, so that the dipole force, due to the jump of pressure across the solid-fluid interface, is directly balanced by the gradient of the force density. We validate the proposed algorithms via the classical benchmark problem of flow past a cylinder. Our numerical experiments show that numerical solutions of the velocity field obtained by using the proposed algorithms are smooth across the solid-fluid interface. Finally, we consider the problem of a cylinder moving between two parallel plane walls. Numerical solutions of this problem obtained by using the proposed algorithms are compared with the classical asymptotic solutions. We show that the two solutions are in good agreement.     

High-order compact schemes for incompressible flows: A simple and efficient method with quasi-spectral accuracy

In this paper, a finite difference code for Direct and Large Eddy Simulation (DNS/LES) of incompressible flows is presented. This code is an intermediate tool between fully spectral Navier–Stokes solvers (limited to academic geometry through Fourier or Chebyshev representation) and more versatile codes based on standard numerical schemes (typically only second-order accurate). The interest of high-order schemes is discussed in terms of implementation easiness, computational efficiency and accuracy improvement considered through simplified benchmark problems and practical calculations. The equivalence rules between operations in physical and spectral spaces are efficiently used to solve the Poisson equation introduced by the projection method. It is shown that for the pressure treatment, an accurate Fourier representation can be used for more flexible boundary conditions than periodicity or free-slip. Using the concept of the modified wave number, the incompressibility can be enforced up to the machine accuracy. The benefit offered by this alternative method is found to be very satisfactory, even when a formal second-order error is introduced locally by boundary conditions that are neither periodic nor symmetric. The usefulness of high-order schemes combined with an immersed boundary method (IBM) is also demonstrated despite the second-order accuracy introduced by this wall modelling strategy. In particular, the interest of a partially staggered mesh is exhibited in this specific context. Three-dimensional calculations of transitional and turbulent channel flows emphasize the ability of present high-order schemes to reduce the computational cost for a given accuracy. The main conclusion of this paper is that finite difference schemes with quasi-spectral accuracy can be very efficient for DNS/LES of incompressible flows, while allowing flexibility for the boundary conditions and easiness in the code development. Therefore, this compromise fits particularly well for very high-resolution simulations of turbulent flows with relatively complex geometries without requiring heavy numerical developments.     

A numerical investigation of the evolution of 2-D disturbances in hypersonic boundary layers and the effect on the flow structure due to the existence of shocklets

The evolution of 2-D disturbances in hypersonic boundary layer with Mach number 6,8, and 10 was investigated numerically by three different numerical schemes. At the entrance, second mode T-S waves with different amplitudes were introduced, and the relation between the Mach number and the amplitude of the disturbance when shocklets started to appear was investigated. By comparing the disturbance velocity profiles with those provided by linear stability theory, the effects of shocklets on flow structures were also investigated.     

A kernel-free boundary integral method for elliptic boundary value problems

This paper presents a class of kernel-free boundary integral (KFBI) methods for general elliptic boundary value problems (BVPs). The boundary integral equations reformulated from the BVPs are solved iteratively with the GMRES method. During the iteration, the boundary and volume integrals involving Green’s functions are approximated by structured grid-based numerical solutions, which avoids the need to know the analytical expressions of Green’s functions. The KFBI method assumes that the larger regular domain, which embeds the original complex domain, can be easily partitioned into a hierarchy of structured grids so that fast elliptic solvers such as the fast Fourier transform (FFT) based Poisson/Helmholtz solvers or those based on geometric multigrid iterations are applicable. The structured grid-based solutions are obtained with standard finite difference method (FDM) or finite element method (FEM), where the right hand side of the resulting linear system is appropriately modified at irregular grid nodes to recover the formal accuracy of the underlying numerical scheme. Numerical results demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of the KFBI methods are presented. It is observed that the number of GMRES iterations used by the method for solving isotropic and moderately anisotropic BVPs is independent of the sizes of the grids that are employed to approximate the boundary and volume integrals. With the standard second-order FEMs and FDMs, the KFBI method shows a second-order convergence rate in accuracy for all of the tested Dirichlet/Neumann BVPs when the anisotropy of the diffusion tensor is not too strong.