Structure of large-scale vortices and unsteady reverse flow in the reattaching zone of a turbulent separation bubble

1985 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 463-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaru Kiya ◽  
Kyuro Sasaki

This paper describes experiments concerning the structure of large-scale vortices and the unsteady reverse-flow properties in the reattaching zone of a nominally two-dimensional separation bubble formed at the leading edge of a blunt flat plate with right-angled corners. The experiment was performed in a wind tunnel with a constant Reynolds number 2.6 × 104 (based on the main-flow velocity and the thickness of the plate). Split-film probes, being sensitive to instantaneous reversals of flow direction, were extensively employed. An important feature of this study is a judicious use of surface-pressure fluctuations as a conditioning signal to educe the structure of the large-scale vortices.Distributions of fluctuating-velocity vectors and contour lines of high-frequency turbulent energy in a few space–time domains are presented and discussed. The most economical interpretation of these space-time distributions is that the large-scale vortices in the reattaching zone are hairpin vortices whose configuration is sketched in the text. The unsteady flow in the reattaching zone is mainly governed by two agents; the motion of the large-scale vortices and the low-frequency unsteadiness. The unsteady flow is clarified in terms of the motion (in a space–time domain) of zeros of the longitudinal velocity close to the surface of the plate; the effects of the two agents on this motion are presented separately. On the basis of these results, a mathematical model of the unsteady flow in the reattaching zone is suggested and found to yield good comparison with measured reverse-flow intermittency and frequency of local-flow reversals. It appears that the separation bubble experiences shrinkage and enlargement in connection with the low-frequency unsteadiness and that the speed of shrinkage is much greater than that of enlargement. The strength of the large-scale vortices in the reattaching zone seems to be dependent on the phase of the low-frequency unsteadiness.

1984 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 13-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Cherry ◽  
R. Hillier ◽  
M. E. M. P. Latour

Measurements of fluctuating pressure and velocity, together with instantaneous smoke-flow visualizations, are presented in order to reveal the unsteady structure of a separated and reattaching flow. It is shown that throughout the separation bubble a low-frequency motion can be detected which appears to be similar to that found in other studies of separation. This effect is most significant close to separation, where it leads to a weak flapping of the shear layer. Lateral correlation scales of this low-frequency motion are less than the reattachment length, however; it appears that its timescale is about equal to the characteristic timescale for the shear layer and bubble to change between various shedding phases. These phases were defined by the following observations: shedding of pseudoperiodic trains of vortical structures from the reattachment zone, with a characteristic spacing between structures of typically 60% to 80% of the bubble length; a large-scale but irregular shedding of vorticity; and a relatively quiescent phase with the absence of any large-scale shedding structures and a significant ‘necking’ of the shear layer downstream of reattachment.Spanwise correlations of velocity in the shear layer show on average an almost linear growth of spanwise scale up to reattachment. It appears that the shear layer reaches a fully three-dimensional state soon after separation. The reattachment process does not itself appear to impose an immediate extra three-dimensionalizing effect upon the large-scale structures.


Author(s):  
M J Crompton ◽  
R V Barrett

Detailed measurements of the separation bubble formed behind the sharp leading edge of a flat plate at low speeds and incidence are reported. The Reynolds number based on chord length ranged from 0.1 × 105 to 5.5 × 105. Extensive use of laser Doppler anemometry allowed detailed velocity measurements throughout the bubble. The particular advantages of laser Doppler anemometry in this application were its ability to define flow direction without ambiguity and its non-intrusiveness. It allowed the mean reattachment point to be accurately determined. The static pressure distribution along the plate was also measured. The length of the separation bubble was primarily determined by the plate incidence, although small variations occurred with Reynolds number because of its influence on the rate of entrainment and growth of the shear layer. Above about 105, the Reynolds number effect was no longer evident. The reverse flow boundary layer in the bubble exhibited signs of periodic stabilization before separating close to the leading edge, forming a small secondary bubble rotating in the opposite sense to the main bubble.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Poiata ◽  
Jean-Pierre Vilotte ◽  
Nikolai Shapiro ◽  
Mariano Supino ◽  
Kazushige Obara

<p>Short-duration transient seismic events known as low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) are a component of the slow earthquakes family observed in the transition zone, at the root of seismogenic regions of the subduction zones or active faults. LFEs are the signature of impulse seismic energy radiation associated to and often mixed within complex tectonic tremor signal. Detailed analysis and characterization of LFE space-time activity in relation to other slow earthquake phenomena can provide important information about the state and the processes of fault interface.</p><p>We derive a catalog of LFEs in western Shikoku (Japan) by applying a full waveform coherency-based detection and location method to the 4-year continuous data covering the period of 2013-2016 and recorded at Hi-net seismic stations of NIED. The obtained catalog of over 150,000 detected events allows looking into the details of LFE space-time activity during the tectonic tremor sequences and inter-sequence periods.</p><p>We use this catalogue of LFEs to perform a systematic statistical analysis of the event occurrence patterns by applying correlation and clustering analysis to infer the large-scale (long temporal ~ 1-2 day duration) space-time characteristics and interaction patterns of activity and its potential relation to the structural complexity of the subducting plate. We also analyze the correlation between the migration of clustered LFE activity during energetic tremor sequences and short-term slow slip events occurring in the area during the analyzed period.</p>


1958 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Favre ◽  
J. J. Gaviglio ◽  
R. J. Dumas

This paper describes the results of further experimental investigation of the turbulent boundary layer with zero pressure gradient. Measurements of autocorrelation and of space-time double correlation have been made respectively with single hot-wires and with two hot-wires with the separation vector in any direction. Space-time correlations reach a maximum for some optimum delay. In the case of two points set on a line orthogonal to the plate, the optimum delay Ti is not zero. In the general case it is equal to the corresponding delay Ti, increased by compensating delay for translation with the mean flow. Taylor's hypothesis may be applied to the boundary layer at distances from the wall greater than 3% of the layer thickness. Space-time isocorrelation surfaces obtained with optimum delay have a large aspect ratio in the mean flow direction, even if they are relative to a point close to the wall (0·03δ); the correlations along the mean flow then retain high values on account of the large scale of the turbulence.


Author(s):  
Xu Hao ◽  
Liu Bao ◽  
Cai Le ◽  
Zhou Xun ◽  
Wang Songtao ◽  
...  

Vortex structures of the separation flow fields in compressor cascades controlled by the boundary layer oscillating suction (BLOS) are numerically investigated. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method is adopted to present the variation of characteristics owned by large-scale vortices. It is found that unsteady perturbation re-organizes the aspirated flow fields and, if in a proper situation, reduces the loss furthermore. Through POD analysis, variations of vortical structures are described. The results turn out that the periodic perturbation leads to a vortex shedding process with the same frequency as the excitation. The reason of loss reduction could be summarized by actuated vortices enhancing the momentum of the stagnated fluid in the reverse flow region as well as decreasing the frequencies of vortex shedding. Finally, 3-D numerical results turn out that the oscillation can transform the stable corner separation bubble to vortex rings shedding downstream and hence improve cascade performance.


Author(s):  
B. R. McAuliffe ◽  
M. I. Yaras

This paper presents experimental results on separation-bubble transition at low Reynolds number and low freestream turbulence, measured on an airfoil using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The two-dimensional PIV measurements have been performed over the suction surface of a low-Reynolds-number airfoil in a water tow-tank facility. Reynolds numbers, based on airfoil chord length and towing speed, of 40,000 and 65,000 have been examined at various angles of incidence, providing a range of streamwise pressure distributions and transitional separation-bubble geometries. The types of bubbles observed range from a short and thick bubble with separation near the leading edge of the airfoil, to a long and thin bubble with separation far downstream of the suction peak. The PIV measurements facilitate visualization of the vortex dynamics associated with separation-bubble transition. The growth of instability waves within the separated shear layer and eventual breakdown into turbulence is documented through the instantaneous vector fields. For all cases examined, large-scale vortex shedding and multiple reverse-flow zones are observed in the reattachment region. A technique for estimating the location of transition onset based on statistical turbulence quantities is presented, and comparisons are made to existing transition models.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
pp. 872-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dejoan ◽  
Y.-J. Jang ◽  
M. A. Leschziner

Large eddy simulation and statistical turbulence closures are used to investigate and contrast the ability of both strategies to represent the effects arising from the unsteady perturbation of a separated backward-facing-step flow caused by a slot jet injected periodically at zero net mass-flow rate into the flow at the step edge, at an angle of 45 deg relative to the flow direction. Experimental data show the effects to depend nonlinearly on the perturbation frequency, the strongest response arising at a Strouhal number of 0.2, which is the condition investigated herein. The principal response is a shortening of the separation bubble by almost 30%, a result that is highly pertinent to active flow control. As the injection frequency lies within the low-frequency range of the large scales of the turbulence spectrum, an issue of particular interest that is addressed herein is the ability of the statistical models, operating within a phase-averaged URANS framework, to reproduce the experimental observations and the response derived from the simulation.


Author(s):  
Adrien Thacker ◽  
Sandrine Aubrun ◽  
Annie Leroy ◽  
Philippe Devinant

This study presents results of an experimental analysis of the unsteady features of the flow around the rear part of an Ahmed body with a rear slant angle of 25°. This analysis focuses on the half elliptic separation bubble that developps on the rear slanted surface and brings new information, improving the understanding of the flow unsteadiness. Flow investigations are carried out using hot wire probe measurements for velocity fluctuations in the plane of symmetry above the rear slanted surface and five unsteady flush mounted pressure taps (Kulite transducers) simultaneously acquiring static pressure fluctuations along the middle line of the slanted surface. Spectral analysis and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition of the output signal show the emergence of a low frequency unsteadiness and high frequency activities which, in accordance with bibliography about separated and reattaching flow configurations, is related to a global flapping of the separated shear layer and a large scale vortices shedding. Characteristic frequencies of both instabilities is given and physical effects of the low frequency unsteadiness is related with the flapping motion of the separated shear layer.


Author(s):  
Anne Dejoan ◽  
Yong-Jun Jang ◽  
Michael A. Leschziner

Large eddy simulation and statistical turbulence closure are used to investigate and contrast the ability of both strategies to represent the effects arising from the unsteady perturbation of a separated backward-facing-step flow by means of a slot jet injected periodically at zero net mass-flow rate into the flow at the step edge at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the flow direction. Experimental data show the effects to depend non-linearly on the perturbation frequency, the strongest response arising at a Strouhal number of 0.2, which is the condition investigated herein. The principal response is a shortening of the separation bubble by almost 30%, a result that is highly pertinent to active flow control. As the injection frequency lies within the low-frequency range of the large scales of the turbulence spectrum, an issue of particular interest that is addressed is the ability of the statistical models, operating within a phase-averaged URANS framework, to reproduce the experimental observations and the response derived from the simulation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Slawinska ◽  
Olivier Pauluis ◽  
Andrew J. Majda ◽  
Wojciech W. Grabowski

Abstract This paper discusses the sparse space–time superparameterization (SSTSP) algorithm and evaluates its ability to represent interactions between moist convection and the large-scale circulation in the context of a Walker cell flow over a planetary scale two-dimensional domain. The SSTSP represents convective motions in each column of the large-scale model by embedding a cloud-resolving model, and relies on a sparse sampling in both space and time to reduce computational cost of explicit simulation of convective processes. Simulations are performed varying the spatial compression and/or temporal acceleration, and results are compared to the cloud-resolving simulation reported previously. The algorithm is able to reproduce a broad range of circulation features for all temporal accelerations and spatial compressions, but significant biases are identified. Precipitation tends to be too intense and too localized over warm waters when compared to the cloud-resolving simulations. It is argued that this is because coherent propagation of organized convective systems from one large-scale model column to another is difficult when superparameterization is used, as noted in previous studies. The Walker cell in all simulations exhibits low-frequency variability on a time scale of about 20 days, characterized by four distinctive stages: suppressed, intensification, active, and weakening. The SSTSP algorithm captures spatial structure and temporal evolution of the variability. This reinforces the confidence that SSTSP preserves fundamental interactions between convection and the large-scale flow, and offers a computationally efficient alternative to traditional convective parameterizations.


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