On the breakdown of boundary layer streaks

2001 ◽  
Vol 428 ◽  
pp. 29-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL ANDERSSON ◽  
LUCA BRANDT ◽  
ALESSANDRO BOTTARO ◽  
DAN S. HENNINGSON
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
Travelling Waves ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Critical Amplitude ◽  
Flow Modification ◽  
Streamwise Streaks ◽  
Optimal Disturbances

A scenario of transition to turbulence likely to occur during the development of natural disturbances in a flat-plate boundary layer is studied. The perturbations at the leading edge of the flat plate that show the highest potential for transient energy amplification consist of streamwise aligned vortices. Due to the lift-up mechanism these optimal disturbances lead to elongated streamwise streaks downstream, with significant spanwise modulation. Direct numerical simulations are used to follow the nonlinear evolution of these streaks and to verify secondary instability calculations. The theory is based on a linear Floquet expansion and focuses on the temporal, inviscid instability of these flow structures. The procedure requires integration in the complex plane, in the coordinate direction normal to the wall, to properly identify neutral modes belonging to the discrete spectrum. The streak critical amplitude, beyond which streamwise travelling waves are excited, is about 26% of the free-stream velocity. The sinuous instability mode (either the fundamental or the subharmonic, depending on the streak amplitude) represents the most dangerous disturbance. Varicose waves are more stable, and are characterized by a critical amplitude of about 37%. Stability calculations of streamwise streaks employing the shape assumption, carried out in a parallel investigation, are compared to the results obtained here using the nonlinearly modified mean fields; the need to consider a base flow which includes mean flow modification and harmonics of the fundamental streak is clearly demonstrated.

On the generation of steady streamwise streaks in flat-plate boundary layers

2012 ◽  
Vol 698 ◽  
pp. 211-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens H. M. Fransson ◽  
Alessandro Talamelli
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Streamwise Streaks

AbstractA study on the generation and development of high-amplitude steady streamwise streaks in a flat-plate boundary layer is presented. High-amplitude streamwise streaks are naturally present in many bypass transition scenarios, where they play a fundamental role in the breakdown to turbulence process. On the other hand, recent experiments and numerical simulations have shown that stable laminar streamwise streaks of alternating low and high speed are also capable of stabilizing the growth of Tollmien–Schlichting waves as well as localized disturbances and to delay transition. The larger the streak amplitude is, for a prescribed spanwise periodicity of the streaks, the stronger is the stabilizing mechanism. Previous experiments have shown that streaks of amplitudes up to 12 % of the free stream velocity can be generated by means of cylindrical roughness elements. Here we explore the possibility of generating streaks of much larger amplitude by using a row of miniature vortex generators (MVGs) similar to those used in the past to delay or even prevent boundary layer separation. In particular, we present a boundary layer experiment where streak amplitudes exceeding 30 % have been produced without having any secondary instability acting on them. Furthermore, the associated drag with the streaky base flow is quantified, and it is demonstrated that the streaks can be reinforced by placing a second array of MVGs downstream of the first one. In this way it is possible to make the control more persistent in the downstream direction. It must be pointed out that the use of MVGs opens also the possibility to set up a control method that acts twofold in the sense that both transition and separation are delayed or even prevented.

scholarly journals An optimal path to transition in a duct

2008 ◽  
Vol 367 (1888) ◽  
pp. 529-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Biau ◽  
Alessandro Bottaro
Keyword(s):  
Travelling Waves ◽  
Optimal Path ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Optimization Procedure ◽  
Travelling Wave ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flow Distortion ◽  
Optimal Perturbation ◽  
Optimal Disturbances

This paper is concerned with the transition of the laminar flow in a duct of square cross section. As in the similar case of pipe flow, the motion is linearly stable for all Reynolds numbers, rendering this flow a suitable candidate for a study of the ‘bypass’ path to turbulence. It has already been shown that the classical linear optimal perturbation problem, yielding optimal disturbances in the form of longitudinal vortices, fails to provide an ‘optimal’ path to turbulence, i.e. optimal perturbations do not elicit a significant nonlinear response from the flow. Previous simulations have also indicated that a pair of travelling waves generates immediately, by nonlinear quadratic interactions, an unstable mean flow distortion, responsible for rapid breakdown. By the use of functions quantifying the sensitivity of the motion to deviations in the base flow, the optimal travelling wave associated with its specific defect is found by a variational approach. This optimal solution is then integrated in time and shown to display a qualitative similarity to the so-called ‘minimal defect’, for the same parameters. Finally, numerical simulations of an ‘edge state’ are conducted, to identify an unstable solution that mediates laminar–turbulent transition and relate it to results of the optimization procedure.

Transition of streamwise streaks in zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers

2002 ◽  
Vol 472 ◽  
pp. 229-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUCA BRANDT ◽  
DAN S. HENNINGSON
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting ◽  
Streamwise Streaks ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Optimal Disturbances

A transition scenario initiated by streamwise low- and high-speed streaks in a flat-plate boundary layer is studied. In many shear flows, the perturbations that show the highest potential for transient energy amplification consist of streamwise-aligned vortices. Due to the lift-up mechanism these optimal disturbances lead to elongated streamwise streaks downstream, with significant spanwise modulation. In a previous investigation (Andersson et al. 2001), the stability of these streaks in a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer was studied by means of Floquet theory and numerical simulations. The sinuous instability mode was found to be the most dangerous disturbance. We present here the first simulation of the breakdown to turbulence originating from the sinuous instability of streamwise streaks. The main structures observed during the transition process consist of elongated quasi-streamwise vortices located on the flanks of the low-speed streak. Vortices of alternating sign are overlapping in the streamwise direction in a staggered pattern. The present scenario is compared with transition initiated by Tollmien–Schlichting waves and their secondary instability and by-pass transition initiated by a pair of oblique waves. The relevance of this scenario to transition induced by free-stream turbulence is also discussed.

Morphing Continuum Theory: Incorporating the Physics of Microstructures to Capture the Transition to Turbulence Within a Boundary Layer

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis B. Wonnell ◽  
James Chen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Constitutive Relations ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Continuum Theory ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Flow Turbulence ◽  
Good Agreement ◽  
Inherent Advantage

A boundary layer with Re = 106 is simulated numerically on a flat plate using morphing continuum theory. This theory introduces new terms related to microproperties of the fluid. These terms are added to a finite-volume fluid solver with appropriate boundary conditions. The success of capturing the initial disturbances leading to turbulence is shown to be a byproduct of the physical and mathematical rigor underlying the balance laws and constitutive relations introduced by morphing continuum theory (MCT). Dimensionless equations are introduced to produce the parameters driving the formation of disturbances leading to turbulence. Numerical results for the flat plate are compared with the experimental results determined by the European Research Community on Flow, Turbulence, and Combustion (ERCOFTAC) database. Experimental data show good agreement inside the boundary layer and in the bulk flow. Success in predicting conditions necessary for turbulent and transitional (T2) flows without ad hoc closure models demonstrates the theory's inherent advantage over traditional turbulence models.

Direct numerical simulation of complete transition to turbulence via oblique breakdown at Mach 3

2011 ◽  
Vol 674 ◽  
pp. 5-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTIAN S. J. MAYER ◽  
DOMINIC A. VON TERZI ◽  
HERMANN F. FASEL
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Skin Friction ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Wave Spectrum ◽  
Linear Stability Theory ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Transitional Region ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Mach 3

A pair of oblique waves at low amplitudes is introduced in a supersonic flat-plate boundary layer at Mach 3. Its downstream development and the concomitant process of laminar to turbulent transition is then investigated numerically using linear-stability theory, parabolized stability equations and direct numerical simulations (DNS). In the present paper, the linear regime is studied first in great detail. The focus of the second part is the early and late nonlinear regimes. It is shown how the disturbance wave spectrum is filled up by nonlinear interactions and which flow structures arise and how these structures locally break down to small scales. Finally, the study answers the question whether a fully developed turbulent boundary layer can be reached by oblique breakdown. It is shown that the skin friction develops such as is typical of transitional and turbulent boundary layers. Initially, the skin friction coefficient increases in the streamwise direction in the transitional region and finally decays when the early turbulent state is reached. Downstream of the maximum in the skin friction, the flow loses its periodicity in time and possesses characteristic mean-flow and spectral properties of a turbulent boundary layer. The DNS data clearly demonstrate that oblique breakdown can lead to a fully developed turbulent boundary layer and therefore it is a relevant mechanism for transition in two-dimensional supersonic boundary layers.

Large-eddy simulation of transition to turbulence in a boundary layer developing spatially over a flat plate

1996 ◽  
Vol 326 ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
FréDÉRic Ducros, Pierre Comte ◽  
Marcel Lesieur
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Spanwise Direction ◽  
Large Eddy

It is well known that subgrid models such as Smagorinsky's cannot be used for the spatially growing simulation of the transition to turbulence of flat-plate boundary layers, unless large-amplitude perturbations are introduced at the upstream boundary: they are over-dissipative, and the flow simulated remains laminar. This is also the case for the structure-function model (SF) of Métais & Lesieur (1992). In the present paper we present a sequel to this model, the filtered-structure-function (FSF) model. It consists of removing the large-scale fluctuations of the field before computing its second-order structure function. Analytical arguments confirm the superiority of the FSF model over the SF model for large-eddy simulations of weakly unstable transitional flows. The FSF model is therefore used for the simulation of a quasi-incompressible (M∞ = 0.5) boundary layer developing spatially over an adiabatic flat plate, with a low level of upstream forcing. With the minimal resolution 650 × 32 × 20 grid points covering a range of streamwise Reynolds numbers Rex1 ε [3.4 × 105, 1.1 × 106], transition is obtained for 80 hours of time-processing on a CRAY 2 (whereas DNS of the whole transition takes about ten times longer). Statistics of the LES are found to be in acceptable agreement with experiments and empirical laws, in the laminar, transitional and turbulent parts of the domain. The dynamics of low-pressure and high-vorticity distributions is examined during transition, with particular emphasis on the neighbourhood of the critical layer (defined here as the height of the fluid travelling at a speed equal to the phase speed of the incoming Tollmien–Schlichting waves). Evidence is given that a subharmonic-type secondary instability grows, followed by a purely spanwise (i.e. time-independent) mode which yields peak-and-valley splitting and transition to turbulence. In the turbulent region, flow visualizations and local instantaneous profiles are provided. They confirm the presence of low- and high-speed streaks at the wall, weak hairpins stretched by the flow and bursting events. It is found that most of the vorticity is produced in the spanwise direction, at the wall, below the high-speed streaks. Isosurfaces of eddy viscosity confirm that the FSF model does not perturb transition much, and acts mostly in the vicinity of the hairpins.

scholarly journals The Simulation of Vortex Structures Induced by Different Local Vibrations at the Wall in a Flat-Plate Laminar Boundary Layer

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weidong Cao ◽  
Zhixiang Jia ◽  
Qiqi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Maximum Amplitude ◽  
Vortex Structures ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flow Shear ◽  
Local Vibration ◽  
Compact Finite Difference Scheme ◽  
Derivative Term

The compact finite difference scheme on non-uniform meshes and the Fourier spectral hybrid method are used to directly simulate the evolution of vortex structures in a laminar boundary layer over a flat plate. To this end, two initial local vibration disturbances, namely, the positive–negative and the negative–positive models, at the wall were adopted. The numerical results show that the maximum amplitudes of vortex structures experience a process of linear growth and nonlinear rapid growth. The vertical disturbance velocity and mean flow shear and the derivative term of the stream-wise disturbance velocity and the span-wise disturbance velocity, are important factors for vortex structure development; the high- and low-speed stripe and the stream-wise vortex are consistent with structures seen in full turbulence. The maximum amplitude of the negative–positive model grows more quickly than that of the negative–positive model, and the detailed vortex structures are different for the two models. The mean flow profiles both become plump, which leads to the instability of the laminar boundary layer. The way in which the disturbance is generated with different local vibrations influences the dynamics of vortex structures in a laminar boundary layer.

scholarly journals Transitional Flow Dynamics Behind a Micro-Ramp

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 533-552
Author(s):  
J. Casacuberta ◽  
K. J. Groot ◽  
Q. Ye ◽  
S. Hickel
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vortex Pair ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Transitional Flow ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Primary Vortex ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Near Wall

AbstractMicro-ramps are popular passive flow control devices which can delay flow separation by re-energising the lower portion of the boundary layer. We compute the laminar base flow, the instantaneous transitional flow, and the mean flow around a micro-ramp immersed in a quasi-incompressible boundary layer at supercritical roughness Reynolds number. Results of our Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) are compared with results of BiLocal stability analysis on the DNS base flow and independent tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (tomo-PIV) experiments. We analyse relevant flow structures developing in the micro-ramp wake and assess their role in the micro-ramp functionality, i.e., in increasing the near-wall momentum. The main flow feature of the base flow is a pair of streamwise counter-rotating vortices induced by the micro-ramp, the so-called primary vortex pair. In the instantaneous transitional flow, the primary vortex pair breaks up into large-scale hairpin vortices, which arise due to linear varicose instability of the base flow, and unsteady secondary vortices develop. Instantaneous vortical structures obtained by DNS and experiments are in good agreement. Matching linear disturbance growth rates from DNS and linear stability analysis are obtained until eight micro-ramp heights downstream of the micro-ramp. For the setup considered in this article, we show that the working principle of the micro-ramp is different from that of classical vortex generators; we find that transitional perturbations are more efficient in increasing the near-wall momentum in the mean flow than the laminar primary vortices in the base flow.

scholarly journals Reattachment streaks in hypersonic compression ramp flow: an input–output analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 880 ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anubhav Dwivedi ◽  
G. S. Sidharth ◽  
Joseph W. Nichols ◽  
Graham V. Candler ◽  
Mihailo R. Jovanović
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Streamwise Velocity ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Streamwise Vorticity ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Input Output Analysis ◽  
Boundary Layer Interaction ◽  
Compression Ramp

We employ global input–output analysis to quantify amplification of exogenous disturbances in compressible boundary layer flows. Using the spatial structure of the dominant response to time-periodic inputs, we explain the origin of steady reattachment streaks in a hypersonic flow over a compression ramp. Our analysis of the laminar shock–boundary layer interaction reveals that the streaks arise from a preferential amplification of upstream counter-rotating vortical perturbations with a specific spanwise wavelength. These streaks are associated with heat-flux striations at the wall near flow reattachment and they can trigger transition to turbulence. The streak wavelength predicted by our analysis compares favourably with observations from two different hypersonic compression ramp experiments. Furthermore, our analysis of inviscid transport equations demonstrates that base-flow deceleration contributes to the amplification of streamwise velocity and that the baroclinic effects are responsible for the production of streamwise vorticity. Finally, the appearance of the temperature streaks near reattachment is triggered by the growth of streamwise velocity and streamwise vorticity perturbations as well as by the amplification of upstream temperature perturbations by the reattachment shock.

scholarly journals Stability of zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer distorted by unsteady Klebanoff streaks

2011 ◽  
Vol 681 ◽  
pp. 116-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS J. VAUGHAN ◽  
TAMER A. ZAKI
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Streamwise Vorticity ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Flow Distortion ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting

The secondary instability of a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer, distorted by unsteady Klebanoff streaks, is investigated. The base profiles for the analysis are computed using direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the boundary-layer response to forcing by individual free-stream modes, which are low frequency and dominated by streamwise vorticity. Therefore, the base profiles take into account the nonlinear development of the streaks and mean flow distortion, upstream of the location chosen for the stability analyses. The two most unstable modes were classified as an inner and an outer instability, with reference to the position of their respective critical layers inside the boundary layer. Their growth rates were reported for a range of frequencies and amplitudes of the base streaks. The inner mode has a connection to the Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) wave in the limit of vanishing streak amplitude. It is stabilized by the mean flow distortion, but its growth rate is enhanced with increasing amplitude and frequency of the base streaks. The outer mode only exists in the presence of finite amplitude streaks. The analysis of the outer instability extends the results of Andersson et al. (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 428, 2001, p. 29) to unsteady base streaks. It is shown that base-flow unsteadiness promotes instability and, as a result, leads to a lower critical streak amplitude. The results of linear theory are complemented by DNS of the evolution of the inner and outer instabilities in a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer. Both instabilities lead to breakdown to turbulence and, in the case of the inner mode, transition proceeds via the formation of wave packets with similar structure and wave speeds to those reported by Nagarajan, Lele & Ferziger (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 572, 2007, p. 471).

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