Structure of the Reynolds stress near the wall

1972 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Willmarth ◽  
S. S. Lu

Experimental studies of the flow field near the wall in a turbulent boundary layer using hot-wire probes are reported. Measurements of the productuvare studied using the technique of conditional sampling with a large digital computer to single out special events (bursting) when large contributions to turbulent energy and Reynolds stress occur. The criterion used to determine when the productuvis sampled is that the streamwise velocity at the edge of the sublayer should have attained a certain value. With this simple criterion we find that 60% of the contribution to$\overline{uv}$is produced when the sublayer velocity is lower than the mean. This result is true at both low,Rθ= 4230, and high,Rθ= 38 000, Reynolds numbers. With a more strict sampling criterion, that the filtered sublayer velocity at two side-by-side points should be simultaneously low and decreasing, individual contributions to$\overline{uv}$as large as 62$\overline{uv}$have been identified. Additional measurements using correlations between truncateduandvsignals reveal that the largest contributions to the Reynolds stress and turbulent energy occur whenu< 0,v> 0 during an intense bursting process and the remainder of the contributions occur during a less intense recovery process. Thus, contributions to the turbulent energy production and Reynolds stress at a point near the wall are of relatively large magnitude, short duration and occur intermittently. A rough measure of the intermittency factor foruvat a point near the wall is 0·55 since 99% of the contribution to$\overline{uv}$is made during only 55% of the total time.

2013 ◽  
Vol 718 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. McKeon

AbstractMarusic et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 716, 2013, R3) show the first clear evidence of universal logarithmic scaling emerging naturally (and simultaneously) in the mean velocity and the intensity of the streamwise velocity fluctuations about that mean in canonical turbulent flows near walls. These observations represent a significant advance in understanding of the behaviour of wall turbulence at high Reynolds number, but perhaps the most exciting implication of the experimental results lies in the agreement with the predictions of such scaling from a model introduced by Townsend (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 11, 1961, pp. 97–120), commonly termed the attached eddy hypothesis. The elegantly simple, yet powerful, study by Marusic et al. should spark further investigation of the behaviour of all fluctuating velocity components at high Reynolds numbers and the outstanding predictions of the attached eddy hypothesis.


Author(s):  
D. Sumner ◽  
O. O. Akosile

An experimental investigation was conducted of a circular cylinder immersed in a uniform planar shear flow, where the approach velocity varies across the diameter of the cylinder. The study was motivated by some apparent discrepancies between numerical and experimental studies of the flow, and the general lack of experimental data, particularly in the subcritical Reynolds number regime. Of interest was the direction and origin of the steady mean lift force experienced by the cylinder, which has been the subject of contradictory results in the literature, and for which measurements have rarely been reported. The circular cylinder was tested at Reynolds numbers from Re = 4.0×104 − 9.0×104, and the dimensionless shear parameter ranged from K = 0.02 − 0.07, which corresponded to a flow with low to moderate shear. The results showed that low to moderate shear has no appreciable influence on the Strouhal number, but has the effect of lowering the mean drag coefficient. The circular cylinder develops a small steady mean lift force directed towards the low-velocity side, which is attributed to an asymmetric mean static pressure distribution on its surface. The reduction in the mean drag force, however, cannot be attributed solely to this asymmetry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 783 ◽  
pp. 379-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Marusic ◽  
K. A. Chauhan ◽  
V. Kulandaivelu ◽  
N. Hutchins

In this paper we study the spatial evolution of zero-pressure-gradient (ZPG) turbulent boundary layers from their origin to a canonical high-Reynolds-number state. A prime motivation is to better understand under what conditions reliable scaling behaviour comparisons can be made between different experimental studies at matched local Reynolds numbers. This is achieved here through detailed streamwise velocity measurements using hot wires in the large University of Melbourne wind tunnel. By keeping the unit Reynolds number constant, the flow conditioning, contraction and trip can be considered unaltered for a given boundary layer’s development and hence its evolution can be studied in isolation from the influence of inflow conditions by moving to different streamwise locations. Careful attention was given to the experimental design in order to make comparisons between flows with three different trips while keeping all other parameters nominally constant, including keeping the measurement sensor size nominally fixed in viscous wall units. The three trips consist of a standard trip and two deliberately ‘over-tripped’ cases, where the initial boundary layers are over-stimulated with additional large-scale energy. Comparisons of the mean flow, normal Reynolds stress, spectra and higher-order turbulence statistics reveal that the effects of the trip are seen to be significant, with the remnants of the ‘over-tripped’ conditions persisting at least until streamwise stations corresponding to $Re_{x}=1.7\times 10^{7}$ and $x=O(2000)$ trip heights are reached (which is specific to the trips used here), at which position the non-canonical boundary layers exhibit a weak memory of their initial conditions at the largest scales $O(10{\it\delta})$, where ${\it\delta}$ is the boundary layer thickness. At closer streamwise stations, no one-to-one correspondence is observed between the local Reynolds numbers ($Re_{{\it\tau}}$, $Re_{{\it\theta}}$ or $Re_{x}$ etc.), and these differences are likely to be the cause of disparities between previous studies where a given Reynolds number is matched but without account of the trip conditions and the actual evolution of the boundary layer. In previous literature such variations have commonly been referred to as low-Reynolds-number effects, while here we show that it is more likely that these differences are due to an evolution effect resulting from the initial conditions set up by the trip and/or the initial inflow conditions. Generally, the mean velocity profiles were found to approach a constant wake parameter ${\it\Pi}$ as the three boundary layers developed along the test section, and agreement of the mean flow parameters was found to coincide with the location where other statistics also converged, including higher-order moments up to tenth order. This result therefore implies that it may be sufficient to document the mean flow parameters alone in order to ascertain whether the ZPG flow, as described by the streamwise velocity statistics, has reached a canonical state, and a computational approach is outlined to do this. The computational scheme is shown to agree well with available experimental data.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Tropea ◽  
R. Gackstatter

The flow over a fence and a block mounted in a fully developed channel flow is experimentally investigated as a function of the Reynolds number, blockage ratio and length-to-height ratio using a laser-Doppler-anemometer. The information obtained includes the location and size of the primary and secondary recirculation zones, and profiles of the mean streamwise velocity component. The experiments were carried out in a channel for a Reynolds number in the range 150 < ReH < 4500. Comparisons are drawn between the obstacle flow and the backward-facing step flow.


2016 ◽  
Vol 795 ◽  
pp. 210-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. Squire ◽  
C. Morrill-Winter ◽  
N. Hutchins ◽  
M. P. Schultz ◽  
J. C. Klewicki ◽  
...  

Turbulent boundary layer measurements above a smooth wall and sandpaper roughness are presented across a wide range of friction Reynolds numbers, ${\it\delta}_{99}^{+}$, and equivalent sand grain roughness Reynolds numbers, $k_{s}^{+}$ (smooth wall: $2020\leqslant {\it\delta}_{99}^{+}\leqslant 21\,430$, rough wall: $2890\leqslant {\it\delta}_{99}^{+}\leqslant 29\,900$; $22\leqslant k_{s}^{+}\leqslant 155$; and $28\leqslant {\it\delta}_{99}^{+}/k_{s}^{+}\leqslant 199$). For the rough-wall measurements, the mean wall shear stress is determined using a floating element drag balance. All smooth- and rough-wall data exhibit, over an inertial sublayer, regions of logarithmic dependence in the mean velocity and streamwise velocity variance. These logarithmic slopes are apparently the same between smooth and rough walls, indicating similar dynamics are present in this region. The streamwise mean velocity defect and skewness profiles each show convincing collapse in the outer region of the flow, suggesting that Townsend’s (The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow, vol. 1, 1956, Cambridge University Press.) wall-similarity hypothesis is a good approximation for these statistics even at these finite friction Reynolds numbers. Outer-layer collapse is also observed in the rough-wall streamwise velocity variance, but only for flows with ${\it\delta}_{99}^{+}\gtrsim 14\,000$. At Reynolds numbers lower than this, profile invariance is only apparent when the flow is fully rough. In transitionally rough flows at low ${\it\delta}_{99}^{+}$, the outer region of the inner-normalised streamwise velocity variance indicates a dependence on $k_{s}^{+}$ for the present rough surface.


1997 ◽  
Vol 351 ◽  
pp. 167-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. BALACHANDAR ◽  
R. MITTAL ◽  
F. M. NAJJAR

The properties of the time- and span-averaged mean wake recirculation region are investigated in separated flows over several different two-dimensional bluff bodies. Ten different cases are considered and they divide into two groups: cylindrical geometries of circular, elliptic and square cross-sections and the normal plate. A wide Reynolds number range from 250 to 140000 is considered, but in all the cases the attached portion of the boundary layer remains laminar until separation. The lower Reynolds number data are from direct numerical simulations, while the data at the higher Reynolds number are obtained from large-eddy simulation and the experimental work of Cantwell & Coles (1983), Krothapalli (1996, personal communication), Leder (1991) and Lyn et al. (1995). Unlike supersonic and subsonic separations with a splitter plate in the wake, in all the cases considered here there is strong interaction between the shear layers resulting in Kármán vortex shedding. The impact of this fundamental difference on the distribution of Reynolds stress components and pressure in relation to the mean wake recirculation region (wake bubble) is considered. It is observed that in all cases the contribution from Reynolds normal stress to the force balance of the wake bubble is significant. In fact, in the cylinder geometries this contribution can outweigh the net force from the shear stress, so that the net pressure force tends to push the bubble away from the body. In contrast, in the case of normal plate, owing to the longer wake, the net contribution from shear stress outweighs that from the normal stress. At higher Reynolds numbers, separation of the Reynolds stress components into incoherent contributions provides more insight. The behaviour of the coherent contribution, arising from the dominant vortex shedding, is similar to that at lower Reynolds numbers. The incoherent contribution to Reynolds stress, arising from small-scale activity, is compared with that of a canonical free shear layer. Based on these observations a simple extension of the wake model (Sychev 1982; Roshko 1993a, b) is proposed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 657 ◽  
pp. 335-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAVIER JIMÉNEZ ◽  
SERGIO HOYAS ◽  
MARK P. SIMENS ◽  
YOSHINORI MIZUNO

The behaviour of the velocity and pressure fluctuations in the outer layers of wall-bounded turbulent flows is analysed by comparing a new simulation of the zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer with older simulations of channels. The 99 % boundary-layer thickness is used as a reasonable analogue of the channel half-width, but the two flows are found to be too different for the analogy to be complete. In agreement with previous results, it is found that the fluctuations of the transverse velocities and of the pressure are stronger in the boundary layer, and this is traced to the pressure fluctuations induced in the outer intermittent layer by the differences between the potential and rotational flow regions. The same effect is also shown to be responsible for the stronger wake component of the mean velocity profile in external flows, whose increased energy production is the ultimate reason for the stronger fluctuations. Contrary to some previous results by our group, and by others, the streamwise velocity fluctuations are also found to be higher in boundary layers, although the effect is weaker. Within the limitations of the non-parallel nature of the boundary layer, the wall-parallel scales of all the fluctuations are similar in both the flows, suggesting that the scale-selection mechanism resides just below the intermittent region, y/δ = 0.3–0.5. This is also the location of the largest differences in the intensities, although the limited Reynolds number of the boundary-layer simulation (Reθ ≈ 2000) prevents firm conclusions on the scaling of this location. The statistics of the new boundary layer are available from http://torroja.dmt.upm.es/ftp/blayers/.


2019 ◽  
Vol 879 ◽  
pp. 255-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Kawata ◽  
P. Henrik Alfredsson

In turbulent planar Couette flow under anticyclonic spanwise system rotation, large-scale roll-cell structures arise due to a Coriolis-force-induced instability. The structures are superimposed on smaller-scale turbulence, and with increasing angular velocity ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}_{z}$) such roll cells dominate the flow field and small-scale turbulence is instead suppressed in a certain rotation number range $0<Ro\lesssim 0.1$ ($Ro=2\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}_{z}h/U_{w}$, where $h$ is the channel half-width, $U_{w}$ the wall velocity). At low rotation numbers around $Ro\approx 0.02$ both large-scale roll cells and smaller-scale turbulence coexist. In the present study, we investigate interaction between these structures through a scale-by-scale analysis of the Reynolds stress transport. We show that at low rotation numbers $Ro\approx 0.01$ the turbulence productions by the mean flow gradient and the Coriolis force occur at different scales and thereby the turbulent energy distribution over a wide range of scales is maintained. On the other hand at higher rotation numbers $Ro\gtrsim 0.05$, a zero-absolute-vorticity state is established and production of small scales from the mean shear disappears although large-scale turbulence production is maintained through the Coriolis force. At high enough Reynolds numbers, where scale separation between the near-wall structures and the roll cells is relatively distinct, transition between these different $Ro$ regimes is found to occur rather abruptly around $Ro\approx 0.02$, resulting in a non-monotonic behaviour of the wall shear stress as a function of $Ro$. It is also shown that at such an intermediate rotation number the roll cells interact with smaller scales by moving near-wall structures towards the core region of the channel, by which the Reynolds stress is transported from relatively small scales near the wall towards larger scales in the channel centre. Such Reynolds stress transport by scale interaction becomes increasingly significant as the Reynolds number increases, and results in a reversed mean velocity gradient at the channel centre at high enough Reynolds numbers.


2001 ◽  
Vol 441 ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
JÖRG SCHUMACHER

A statistically stationary and nearly homogeneous turbulent shear flow is established by an additional volume forcing in combination with stress-free boundary conditions in the shear direction. Both turbulent energy and enstrophy are stationary to a much better approximation than in previous simulations that use remeshing. The temporal fluctuations decrease with increasing Reynolds number. Energy spectra and shear-stress cospectra show that local isotropy is satisfactorily obeyed at the level of second-order moments. However, derivative moments of high order up to n = 7 yield increasing moments for n [ges ] 4 for the spanwise vorticity and the transverse derivative of the streamwise velocity in the range of Taylor Reynolds numbers 59 [les ] Rλ [les ] 99. These findings, which are in apparent violation of local isotropy, agree with recent measurements.


An experimental study has been made of the conditions in the turbulent' wake behind a cylinder in an air stream at cylinder Reynolds numbers between 100 and 7000. The measurements include the mean velocity distribution, the distribution of the three components of turbulence, the statistical distribution in time of the turbulent velocity components, and the correlation derivatives in the downstream direction for both the longitudinal and transverse correlations. It is shown that the intensities of the three components of turbulent velocities are nearly equal except at the centre of the wake, where the balance between viscous decay and diffusion from the regions of shear results in a considerably greater intensity for the component at right angles to the direction of flow and also to the axis of the cylinder, i.e. in the direction of diffusion of turbulent energy. An analysis of the energy in the wake proves that complete dynamical similarity in the wake, if it is ever attained, does not occur closer to the cylinder than 1000 diameters, and that the viscous dissipation of energy can be described in terms of a length parameter, nearly constant over the width of the wake and approximately equal to the measured value of Taylor’s scale of micro-turbulence.


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