An experimental investigation of coherent substructures associated with turbulent spots in a laminar boundary layer

1984 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 319-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric C. Itsweire ◽  
Charles W. Van Atta
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Vortex Structure ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Averaging Technique ◽  
Large Vortex ◽  
Flow Visualizations

Longitudinal and transverse components of the velocity were simultaneously measured for various vertical locations at 20 off-centreline positions in turbulent spots artificially generated in a zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer. Global ensemble-averaged velocity diagrams and vertical vorticity contours were computed in similarity coordinates ξ = (x − x0)/(U∞(t−t0)) and ζ = z/(U∞(t−t0)) for different heights η = y/δ* above the plate. This global averaging technique inadequately describes the spot, which is not a single large vortex structure. A discriminative averaging technique was developed to construct a ‘statistically most-probable’ spot with sufficient resolution to include some of the largest substructures detected in visual studies. Four eddies were identified in vertical slices of the central region of the spot, while several rows appeared in the plan view. These features of the velocity and vorticity contours of the statistically most-probable spot exhibit similarities with structures observed in flow visualizations.

An experimental investigation of turbulent spots and breakdown to turbulence

1960 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Elder
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Hydrodynamic Stability ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Turbulent Spot ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Critical Intensity

The theory of hydrodynamic stability and the impact on it of recent work with turbulent spots is discussed. Emmons's (1951) assumptions about the growth and interaction of turbulent spots are found experimentally to be substantially correct. In particular it is shown that the region of turbulent flow on a flat plate is simply the sum of the areas that would be obtained if all spots grew independently.An investigation of the conditions required for breakdown to turbulence near a wall, that is, to initiate a turbulent spot, suggests that regardless of how disturbances are generated in a laminar boundary layer and independent of both the Reynolds number and the spatial extent of the disturbances, breakdown to turbulence occurs by the initiation of a turbulent spot at all points at which the velocity fluctuation exceeds a critical intensity. Over most of the layer this intensity is about 0·2 times the free-stream velocity. The Reynolds number is important merely in respect of the growth of disturbances prior to breakdown.

Investigation of transition to turbulence using white-noise excitation and local analysis techniques

1997 ◽  
Vol 348 ◽  
pp. 29-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. N. SHAIKH
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
White Noise ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Nonlinear Flow ◽  
Local Analysis ◽  
Hot Wire ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
White Noise Excitation ◽  
Highly Nonlinear

Weak free-stream turbulence excites modulated Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) waves in a laminar boundary layer that grow in magnitude with downstream distance and ultimately lead to the formation of turbulent spots and then fully turbulent flow. Hot-wire experiments have indicated that the development of localized large-amplitude ‘events’ in the velocity records are the essential precursor to the eventual formation of turbulent spots in the flow field. Traditional global Fourier techniques are unable to resolve the localized nature of these events and hence provide little useful information concerning the physical processes responsible for this breakdown process.This investigation used sequences of computer-generated deterministic white noise to excite a laminar boundary layer via a loudspeaker embedded in a flat-plate model. This form of excitation generated the modulated disturbance waves of interest a short distance downstream from the source in a repeatable and deterministic manner. Further downstream the pattern of flow breakdown and subsequent generation of turbulent spots was similar to that observed in naturally excited situations. By repeatedly exciting the boundary layer with a single white-noise sequence it was possible to examine the highly nonlinear stages of ‘event’ development and breakdown with a single hot-wire probe.Two local analysis techniques, the wavelet transform (WT) and singular spectrum analysis (SSA), were used in conjunction with the white-noise excitation technique to examine the highly nonlinear flow mechanisms responsible for the localized formation of events that lead to the eventual breakdown to turbulence.

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