The turbulent boundary layer over a wall with progressive surface waves

1970 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Kendall
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Turbulent Layer ◽  
Rubber Sheet ◽  
Pressure Drag ◽  
Generation Theory ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Waves ◽  
Vertical Height

An experimental study of the interaction of a turbulent boundary layer with a wavy wall was conducted in a wind tunnel. A smooth neoprene rubber sheet comprising a portion of the floor of the tunnel was mechanically deformed into 12 sinusoidal waves which progressed upwind or down at controlled speed. The turbulent layer thickness was a little less than the wavelength. The mean velocity profile was linear on a semi-log plot over a substantial range of vertical height.The wall pressure was observed to be asymmetrical about the wave profile, resulting in a pressure drag. Flow separation was not the cause of the drag. The drag was found to be larger than that predicted by the inviscid wave generation theory. The measurements indicate that the waves strongly modulate the turbulent structure. The phase of the turbulent stresses with respect to the waves varies with wave speed, indicating that the dynamical reaction time of the turbulence is not negligible in comparison with the wave period.

A theory of turbulence in stratified fluids

1970 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Long
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Density Profile ◽  
Richardson Number ◽  
Mixed Volume ◽  
Volume Of Fluid ◽  
Velocity Shear ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Large Wave ◽  
The Mean

An effort is made to understand turbulence in fluid systems like the oceans and atmosphere in which the Richardson number is generally large. Toward this end, a theory is developed for turbulent flow over a flat plate which is moved and cooled in such a way as to produce constant vertical fluxes of momentum and heat. The theory indicates that in a co-ordinate system fixed in the plate the mean velocity increases linearly with heightzabove a turbulent boundary layer and the mean density decreases asz3, so that the Richardson number is large far from the plate. Near the plate, the results reduce to those of Monin & Obukhov.Thecurvatureof the density profile is essential in the formulation of the theory. When the curvature is negative, a volume of fluid, thoroughly mixed by turbulence, will tend to flatten out at a new level well above the original centre of mass, thereby transporting heat downward. When the curvature is positive a mixed volume of fluid will tend to fall a similar distance, again transporting heat downward. A well-mixed volume of fluid will also tend to rise when the density profile is linear, but this rise is negligible on the basis of the Boussinesq approximation. The interchange of fluid of different, mean horizontal speeds in the formation of the turbulent patch transfers momentum. As the mixing in the patch destroys the mean velocity shear locally, kinetic energy is transferred from mean motion to disturbed motion. The turbulence can arise in spite of the high Richardson number because the precise variations of mean density and mean velocity mentioned above permit wave energy to propagate from the turbulent boundary layer to the whole region above the plate. At the levels of reflexion, where the amplitudes become large, wave-breaking and turbulence will tend to develop.The relationship between the curvature of the density profile and the transfer of heat suggests that the density gradient near the level of a point of inflexion of the density curve (in general cases of stratified, shearing flow) will increase locally as time goes on. There will also be a tendency to increase the shear through the action of local wave stresses. If this results in a progressive reduction in Richardson number, an ultimate outbreak of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability will occur. The resulting sporadic turbulence will transfer heat (and momentum) through the level of the inflexion point. This mechanism for the appearance of regions of low Richardson number is offered as a possible explanation for the formation of the surfaces of strong density and velocity differences observed in the oceans and atmosphere, and for the turbulence that appears on these surfaces.

Intermittency measurements in the turbulent boundary layer

1966 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Fiedler ◽  
M. R. Head
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Pressure Gradients ◽  
Narrow Beam ◽  
Hot Wire ◽  
Characteristic Parameters ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Form Parameter ◽  
The Mean

An improved version of Corrsin & Kistler's method has been used to measure intermittency in favourable and adverse pressure gradients, and the characteristic parameters of the intermittency have been related to the form parameterHof the mean velocity profiles.It is found that with adverse pressure gradients the centre of intermittency moves outward from the surface while the width of the intermittent zone decreases. The converse is true of favourable pressure gradients, and it seems likely that at sufficiently low values ofHthe flow over the full depth of the layer is only intermittently turbulent.A new method of intermittency measurement is presented which makes use of a photo-electric probe. Smoke is introduced into the boundary layer and illuminated by a narrow beam of parallel light normal to the surface. The photoelectric probe is focused on the illuminated region and a signal is generated when smoke passes through the focal point of the probe lens. Comparison of this signal with the output from a hot-wire at very nearly the same point shows the identity of smoke and turbulence distributions.

A three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer

1965 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Perry ◽  
P. N. Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Outer Part ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Polar Plot ◽  
Law Of The Wall ◽  
The Mean

The purpose of this paper is to provide some possible explantions for certain observed phenomena associated with the mean-velocity profile of a turbulent boundary layer which undergoes a rapid yawing. For the cases considered the yawing is caused by an obstruction attached to the wall upon which the boundary layer is developing. Only incompressible flow is considered.§1 of the paper is concerned with the outer region of the boundary layer and deals with a phenomenon observed by Johnston (1960) who described it with his triangular model for the polar plot of the velocity distribution. This was also observed by Hornung & Joubert (1963). It is shown here by a first-approximation analysis that such a behaviour is mainly a consequence of the geometry of the apparatus used. The analysis also indicates that, for these geometries, the outer part of the boundary-layer profile can be described by a single vector-similarity defect law rather than the vector ‘wall-wake’ model proposed by Coles (1956). The former model agrees well with the experimental results of Hornung & Joubert.In §2, the flow close to the wall is considered. Treating this region as an equilibrium layer and using similarity arguments, a three-dimensional version of the ‘law of the wall’ is derived. This relates the mean-velocity-vector distribution with the pressure-gradient vector and wall-shear-stress vector and explains how the profile skews near the wall. The theory is compared with Hornung & Joubert's experimental results. However at this stage the results are inconclusive because of the lack of a sufficient number of measured quantities.

The Effects of Surface Roughness on the Mean Velocity Profile in a Turbulent Boundary Layer

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Bergstrom ◽  
Nathan A. Kotey ◽  
Mark F. Tachie
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Friction Velocity ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Outer Flow ◽  
The Mean

Experimental measurements of the mean velocity profile in a canonical turbulent boundary layer are obtained for four different surface roughness conditions, as well as a smooth wall, at moderate Reynolds numbers in a wind tunnel. The mean streamwise velocity component is fitted to a correlation which allows both the strength of the wake, Π, and friction velocity, Uτ, to vary. The results show that the type of surface roughness affects the mean defect profile in the outer region of the turbulent boundary layer, as well as determining the value of the skin friction. The defect profiles normalized by the friction velocity were approximately independent of Reynolds number, while those normalized using the free stream velocity were not. The fact that the outer flow is significantly affected by the specific roughness characteristics at the wall implies that rough wall boundary layers are more complex than the wall similarity hypothesis would allow.

scholarly journals An experimental study of a three-dimensional pressure-driven turbulent boundary layer

1995 ◽  
Vol 290 ◽  
pp. 225-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Semİh M. Ölçmen ◽  
Roger L. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Coordinate System ◽  
Normal Stress ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Vector Direction ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Pressure Driven

A three-dimensional, pressure-driven turbulent boundary layer created by an idealized wing–body junction flow was studied experimentally. The data presented include time-mean static pressure and directly measured skin-friction magnitude on the wall. The mean velocity and all Reynolds stresses from a three-velocity-component fibre-optic laser-Doppler anemometer are presented at several stations along a line determined by the mean velocity vector component parallel to the wall in the layer where the $\overline{u^2}$ kinematic normal stress is maximum (normal-stress coordinate system). This line was selected by intuitively reasoning that overlap of the near-wall flow and outer-region flow occurs at the location where $\overline{u^2}$ is maximum. Along this line the flow is subjected to a strong crossflow pressure gradient, which changes sign for the downstream stations. The shear-stress vector direction in the flow lags behind the flow gradient vector direction. The flow studied here differs from many other experimentally examined three-dimensional flows in that the mean flow variables depend on three spatial axes rather than two axes, such as flows in which the three-dimensionality of the flow has been generated either by a rotating cylinder or by a pressure gradient in one direction only throughout the flow.The data show that the eddy viscosity of the flow is not isotropic. These and other selected data sets show that the ratio of spanwise to streamwise eddy viscosities in the wall-shear-stress coordinate system is less scattered and more constant (about 0.6) than in the local free-stream coordinate system or the normal stress coordinate system. For y+ > 50 and y/δ < 0.8, the ratio of the magnitude of the kinematic shear stress |τ/ρ| to the kinematic normal stress $\overline{v^2}$ is approximately a constant for three-dimensional flow stations of both shear-driven and pressure-driven three-dimensional flows. In the same region, the ratio of the kinematic shear stresses $-\overline{vw}/-\overline{uw}$ appears to be a function of y+ in wall-stress coordinates for three-dimensional pressure-driven flows.

scholarly journals The law of the wake in the turbulent boundary layer

1956 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Coles
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Shearing Stress ◽  
Universal Functions ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Law Of The Wall ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Law

After an extensive survey of mean-velocity profile measurements in various two-dimensional incompressible turbulent boundary-layer flows, it is proposed to represent the profile by a linear combination of two universal functions. One is the well-known law of the wall. The other, called the law of the wake, is characterized by the profile at a point of separation or reattachment. These functions are considered to be established empirically, by a study of the mean-velocity profile, without reference to any hypothetical mechanism of turbulence. Using the resulting complete analytic representation for the mean-velocity field, the shearing-stress field for several flows is computed from the boundary-layer equations and compared with experimental data.The development of a turbulent boundary layer is ultimately interpreted in terms of an equivalent wake profile, which supposedly represents the large-eddy structure and is a consequence of the constraint provided by inertia. This equivalent wake profile is modified by the presence of a wall, at which a further constraint is provided by viscosity. The wall constraint, although it penetrates the entire boundary layer, is manifested chiefly in the sublayer flow and in the logarithmic profile near the wall.Finally, it is suggested that yawed or three-dimensional flows may be usefully represented by the same two universal functions, considered as vector rather than scalar quantities. If the wall component is defined to be in the direction of the surface shearing stress, then the wake component, at least in the few cases studied, is found to be very nearly parallel to the gradient of the pressure.

Can a turbulent boundary layer become independent of the Reynolds number?

2018 ◽  
Vol 851 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Djenidi ◽  
K. M. Talluru ◽  
R. A. Antonia
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Rough Wall ◽  
Asymptotic State ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Velocity Defect ◽  
The Mean

This paper examines the Reynolds number ($Re$) dependence of a zero-pressure-gradient (ZPG) turbulent boundary layer (TBL) which develops over a two-dimensional rough wall with a view to ascertaining whether this type of boundary layer can become independent of $Re$. Measurements are made using hot-wire anemometry over a rough wall that consists of a periodic arrangement of cylindrical rods with a streamwise spacing of eight times the rod diameter. The present results, together with those obtained over a sand-grain roughness at high Reynolds number, indicate that a $Re$-independent state can be achieved at a moderate $Re$. However, it is also found that the mean velocity distributions over different roughness geometries do not collapse when normalised by appropriate velocity and length scales. This lack of collapse is attributed to the difference in the drag coefficient between these geometries. We also show that the collapse of the $U_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}$-normalised mean velocity defect profiles may not necessarily reflect $Re$-independence. A better indicator of the asymptotic state of $Re$ is the mean velocity defect profile normalised by the free-stream velocity and plotted as a function of $y/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$, where $y$ is the vertical distance from the wall and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$ is the boundary layer thickness. This is well supported by the measurements.

On turbulent boundary layers in oscillatory flow

1977 ◽  
Vol 353 (1672) ◽  
pp. 121-144 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Travelling Wave ◽  
Convection Velocity ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Freestream Velocity ◽  
The Mean

An experimental investigation has been made of turbulent boundary layer response to harmonic oscillations associated with a travelling wave imposed on an otherwise constant freestream velocity and convected in the freestream direction. The tests covered oscillation frequencies of 4-12 Hz for freestream amplitudes of up to 11% of the mean velocity. Additional steady flow measurements were used to infer the quasi-steady response to freestream oscillations. The results show a welcome insensitivity of the mean flow and turbulent intensity distributions to the freestream oscillations tested. An approximate analysis based on these results has been developed. It is probably of limited validity but it does provide a useful guide to the physical processes involved. The effects on boundary layer response of varying the travelling wave convection velocity and frequency of oscillation are illustrated by the analysis and show a behaviour broadly similar to that of laminar boundary layers. The travelling wave convection velocity exhibits a dominant influence on the turbulent boundary layer response to freestream oscillations.

Evolution of a moderately short turbulent boundary layer in a severe pressure gradient

1974 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Deissler
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Reynolds Shear Stress ◽  
Pressure Gradients ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Mass Injection ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Theoretical Results

The early and intermediate development of a highly accelerated (or decelerated) turbulent boundary layer is analysed. For sufficiently large accelerations (or pressure gradients) and for total normal strains which are not excessive, the equation for the Reynolds shear stress simplifies to give a stress that remains approximately constant as it is convected along streamlines. The theoretical results for the evolution of the mean velocity in favourable and adverse pressure gradients agree well with experiment for the cases considered. A calculation which includes mass injection at the wall is also given.

Wakes behind two-dimensional surface obstacles in turbulent boundary layers

1974 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Counihan ◽  
J. C. R. Hunt ◽  
P. S. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
The Body ◽  
Wake Flow ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Velocity Deficit ◽  
Wind Tunnel Measurements ◽  
The Mean

By making simple assumptions, an analytical theory is deduced for the mean velocity behind a two-dimensional obstacle (of heighth) placed on a rigid plane over which flows a turbulent boundary layer (of thickness δ). It is assumed thath[Gt ] δ, and that the wake can be divided into three regions. The velocity deficit −uis greatest in the two regions in which the change in shear stress is important, a wall region (W) close to the wall and a mixing region (M) spreading from the top of the obstacle. Above these is the external region (E) in which the velocity field is an inviscid perturbation on the incident boundary-layer velocity, which is taken to have a power-law profileU(y) =U∞(y−y1)n/δn, wheren[Gt ] 1. In (M), assuming that an eddy viscosity (=KhU(h)) can be defined for the perturbed flow in terms of the incident boundary-layer flow and that the velocity is self-preserving, it is found thatu(x,y) has the form$\frac{u}{U(h)} = \frac{ C }{Kh^2U^2(h)} \frac{f(n)}{x/h},\;\;\;\; {\rm where}\;\;\;\; \eta = (y/h)/[Kx/h]^{1/(n+2)}$, and the constant which defines the strength of the wake is$C = \int^\infty_0 y^U(y)(u-u_E)dy$, whereu=uE(x, y) asy→ 0 in region (E).In region (W),u(y) is proportional to Iny.By considering a large control surface enclosing the obstacle it is shown that the constant of the wake flow is not simply related to the drag of the obstacle, but is equal to the sum of the couple on the obstacle and an integral of the pressure field on the surface near the body.New wind-tunnel measurements of mean and turbulent velocities and Reynolds stresses in the wake behind a two-dimensional rectangular block on a roughened surface are presented. The turbulent boundary layer is artificially developed by well-established methods (Counihan 1969) in such a way that δ = 8h. These measurements are compared with the theory, with other wind-tunnel measurements and also with full-scale measurements of the wind behind windbreaks.It is found that the theory describes the distribution of mean velocity reasonably well, in particular the (x/h)−1decay law is well confirmed. The theory gives the correct self-preserving form for the distribution of Reynolds stress and the maximum increase of the mean-square turbulent velocity is found to decay downstream approximately as$ (\frac{x}{h})^{- \frac{3}{2}} $in accordance with the theory. The theory also suggests that the velocity deficit is affected by the roughness of the terrain (as measured by the roughness lengthy0) in proportion to In (h/y0), and there seems to be some experimental support for this hypothesis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document