Experimental observation of hairpin auto-generation events in a turbulent boundary layer

2016 ◽  
Vol 795 ◽  
pp. 611-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Jodai ◽  
G. E. Elsinga

Time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry experiments show that new hairpin vortices are generated within a fully developed and unperturbed turbulent boundary layer. The measurements are taken at a Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness of 2038, and cover the near-wall region below $y^{+}=140$, where $y^{+}$ is the wall-normal distance in wall units. Instantaneous visualizations of the flow reveal near-wall low-speed streaks with associated quasi-streamwise vortices, retrograde inverted arch vortices, hairpin vortices and hairpin packets. The hairpin heads are observed as close to the wall as $y^{+}=30$. Examples of hairpin packet evolution reveal the development of new hairpin vortices, which are created upstream and close to the wall in a manner consistent with the auto-generation model (Zhou et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 387, 1999, pp. 353–396). The development of the new hairpin appears to be initiated by an approaching sweep event, which perturbs the shear layer associated with the initial packet. The shear layer rolls up, thereby forming the new hairpin head. The head subsequently connects to existing streamwise vortices and develops into a hairpin. The time scale associated with the hairpin auto-generation is 20–30 wall units of time. This demonstrates that hairpins can be created over short distances within a developed turbulent boundary layer, implying that they are not simply remnants of the laminar-to-turbulent transition process far upstream.

2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 670-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Labraga ◽  
B. Lagraa ◽  
A. Mazouz ◽  
L. Keirsbulck

A model of the dynamic physical processes that occur in the near-wall region of a turbulent flow at high Reynolds numbers is described. The hairpin vortex is postulated to be the basic flow structure of the turbulent boundary layer. It is argued that the central features of the near-wall flow can be explained in terms of how asymmetric hairpin vortices interact with the background shear flow, with each other, and with the surface layer near the wall. The physical process that leads to the regeneration of new hairpin vortices near the surface is described, as well as the processes of evolution of such vortices to larger-scale motions farther from the surface. The model is supported by recent important developments in the theory of unsteady surface-layer separation and a number of ‘kernel' experiments which serve to elucidate the basic fluid mechanics phenomena believed to be relevant to the turbulent boundary layer. Explanations for the kinematical behaviour observed in direct numerical simulations of low Reynolds number boundary-layer and channel flows are given. An important aspect of the model is that it has been formulated to be consistent with accepted rational mechanics concepts that are known to provide a proper mathematical description of high Reynolds number flow.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaotong Cui ◽  
Nan Jiang ◽  
Xiaobo Zheng ◽  
Zhanqi Tang

Abstract This study experimentally investigates the impact of a single piezoelectric (PZT) actuator on a turbulent boundary layer from a statistical viewpoint. The working conditions of the actuator include a range of frequencies and amplitudes. The streamwise velocity signals in the turbulent boundary layer flow are measured downstream of the actuator using a hot-wire anemometer. The mean velocity profiles and other basic parameters are reported. Spectra results obtained by discrete wavelet decomposition indicate that the PZT vibration primarily influences the near-wall region. The turbulent intensities at different scales suggest that the actuator redistributes the near-wall turbulent energy. The skewness and flatness distributions show that the actuator effectively alters the sweep events and reduces intermittency at smaller scales. Moreover, under the impact of the PZT actuator, the symmetry of vibration scales’ velocity signals is promoted and the structural composition appears in an orderly manner. Probability distribution function results indicate that perturbation causes the fluctuations in vibration scales and smaller scales with high intensity and low intermittency. Based on the flatness factor, the bursting process is also detected. The vibrations reduce the relative intensities of the burst events, indicating that the streamwise vortices in the buffer layer experience direct interference due to the PZT control.


Author(s):  
Pranav Joshi ◽  
Xiaofeng Liu ◽  
Joseph Katz

In this study we focus on the effect of mean and fluctuating pressure gradients on the structure of boundary layer turbulence. Two dimensional, time-resolved PIV measurements have been performed upstream of and inside an accelerating sink flow for inlet Reynolds number of Reθ = 3071, and acceleration parameter of K=1.1×10−6. The time-resolved data enables us to calculate the planer projection of pressure gradient by integrating the in-plane components of the material acceleration of the fluid (neglecting out-of-plane contribution). We use it to study the effect of boundary layer scale fluctuating pressure gradients ∂p′~/∂x, which are expected to be mostly two-dimensional, on the flow structure. Due to the imposed mean favorable pressure gradient (FPG) within the sink flow, the Reynolds stresses normalized by the local freestream velocity decrease over the entire boundary layer. However, when scaled by the inlet freestream velocity, the stresses increase close to the wall and decrease in the outer part of the boundary layer. This trend is caused by the confinement of the newly generated vortical structures in the near-wall region of the accelerating flow due to combined effects of downward mean flow, and stretching by velocity gradients. Within both the zero pressure gradient (ZPG) and FPG boundary layers, sweeping motions mostly occur during positive fluctuating pressure gradients ∂p′~/∂x>0 as the fluid moving towards the wall is decelerated by the presence of the wall. Vorticity is depleted in the near-wall region, as the wall absorbs −ω′ from the flow by viscous diffusion. On the other hand, ejections occur mostly during periods of favorable fluctuating pressure gradients ∂p′~/∂x<0. During these periods, there is more viscous flux of vorticity −ω′ into the flow, since ∂−ω′/∂y<0 at the wall. Large scale ejection motions associated with ∂p′~/∂x<0 are more likely to transport smaller scale turbulence to the outer region of the boundary layer, while turbulence remains largely confined close to the wall due to the sweeping motions accompanying ∂p′~/∂x>0. During periods of ∂p′~/∂x>0 in the ZPG boundary layer, sweeps tend to increase the momentum in the near-wall region, whereas the adverse pressure gradient decelerates the fluid. These competing effects result in an unstable ω′<0 shear layer which rolls up into coherent vortical structures and increases ω′ω′ near the wall as compared to periods of ∂p′~/∂x<0. Due to the strong mean acceleration of the flow and weaker sweeps in the FPG boundary layer, the formation of an unstable shear layer, and hence vortical structures, is suppressed, decreasing the enstrophy close to the wall as compared to periods of ∂p′~/∂x<0.


2013 ◽  
Vol 729 ◽  
pp. 524-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prahladh S. Iyer ◽  
Krishnan Mahesh

AbstractDirect numerical simulation (DNS) is used to study laminar to turbulent transition induced by a discrete hemispherical roughness element in a high-speed laminar boundary layer. The simulations are performed under conditions matching the experiments of Danehy et al. (AIAA Paper 2009–394, 2009) for free-stream Mach numbers of 3.37, 5.26 and 8.23. It is observed that the Mach 8.23 flow remains laminar downstream of the roughness, while the lower Mach numbers undergo transition. The Mach 3.37 flow undergoes transition closer to the bump when compared with Mach 5.26, in agreement with experimental observations. Transition is accompanied by an increase in ${C}_{f} $ and ${C}_{h} $ (Stanton number). Even for the case that did not undergo transition (Mach 8.23), streamwise vortices induced by the roughness cause a significant rise in ${C}_{f} $ until 20$D$ downstream. The mean van Driest transformed velocity and Reynolds stress for Mach 3.37 and 5.26 show good agreement with available data. Temporal spectra of pressure for Mach 3.37 show that frequencies in the range of 10–1000 kHz are dominant. The transition process involves the following key elements: upon interaction with the roughness element, the boundary layer separates to form a series of spanwise vortices upstream of the roughness and a separation shear layer. The system of spanwise vortices wrap around the roughness element in the form of horseshoe/necklace vortices to yield a system of counter-rotating streamwise vortices downstream of the element. These vortices are located beneath the separation shear layer and perturb it, which results in the formation of trains of hairpin-shaped vortices further downstream of the roughness for the cases that undergo transition. These hairpins spread in the span with increasing downstream distance and the flow increasingly resembles a fully developed turbulent boundary layer. A local Reynolds number based on the wall properties is seen to correlate with the onset of transition for the cases considered.


2013 ◽  
Vol 444-445 ◽  
pp. 416-422
Author(s):  
Yang Yang Tang ◽  
Zhi Qiang Li ◽  
Yong Wang ◽  
Ya Chao Di ◽  
Huan Xu ◽  
...  

The extended GAO-YONG turbulence model is used to simulate the flow and heat transfer of flat-plate turbulent boundary layer, and the results indicate that GAO-YONG turbulence model may well describe boundary layer flow and heat transfer from near-wall region to far outer area, without using any empirical coefficients and near-wall treatments, such as wall-function or modified low Reynolds number model, which are used widely in all RANS turbulence models.


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