Turbulence structures in high-speed air flow along a thin cylinder

Turbulent flow in the axial direction along a cylinder representing a monofilament yarn was reproduced for a relatively wide range of radius Reynolds numbers using direct numerical simulations. In the simulation of the thinnest cylinder, the friction coefficient agreed with a previously published formula. A pair of high- and low-speed streaks was detected around even the thinnest cylinder, whereby it was confirmed that turbulence was sustained according to the analysed turbulence statistics. Even when only a single pair of streaks around the cylinder was detected, the characteristics of the turbulence structures, such as the mean streak spacing based on the viscous length scale, were the same as those in flows over a flat plate. It was found that the friction coefficient changes in a way that maintains the structural characteristics of the flow, consistent with the view that universal characteristics of turbulence structures exist.