Instabilities in channel flow with system rotation

1989 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 543-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Henrik Alfredsson ◽  
Håkan Persson

A flow visualization study of instabilities caused by Coriolis effects in plane rotating Poiseuille flow has been carried out. The primary instability takes the form of regularly spaced roll cells aligned in the flow direction. They may occur at Reynolds numbers as low as 100, i.e. almost two orders of magnitude lower than the critical Reynolds number for Tollmien-Schlichting waves in channel flow without rotation. The development of such roll cells was studied as a function of both the Reynolds number and the rotation rate and their properties compared with results from linear spatial stability theory. The theoretically obtained most unstable wavenumber agrees fairly well with the experimentally observed value. At high Reynolds number a secondary instability sets in, which is seen as a twisting of the roll cells. A wavytype disturbance is also seen at this stage which, if the rotational speed is increased, develops into large-scale ‘turbulence’ containing imbedded roll cells.

Author(s):  
Frank T. Smith ◽  
Edward R. Johnson

A body of finite size is moving freely inside, and interacting with, a channel flow. The description of this unsteady interaction for a comparatively dense thin body moving slowly relative to flow at medium-to-high Reynolds number shows that an inviscid core problem with vorticity determines much, but not all, of the dominant response. It is found that the lift induced on a body of length comparable to the channel width leads to differences in flow direction upstream and downstream on the body scale which are smoothed out axially over a longer viscous length scale; the latter directly affects the change in flow directions. The change is such that in any symmetric incident flow the ratio of slopes is found to be cos ⁡ ( π / 7 ) , i.e. approximately 0.900969, independently of Reynolds number, wall shear stresses and velocity profile. The two axial scales determine the evolution of the body and the flow, always yielding instability. This unusual evolution and linear or nonlinear instability mechanism arise outside the conventional range of flow instability and are influenced substantially by the lateral positioning, length and axial velocity of the body.


Author(s):  
Oleg S Ryzhov

High Reynolds number mathematical models for convected vortex impinging against a local hump and sound scattering into Tollmien–Schlichting eigenmodes are introduced to simulate basic mechanisms of the disturbance excitation typical of turbomachinery environments. The streamwise dimension of the transitional flow on the suction side of a blade is evaluated on the assumption that the transition length is of equal order with the extent of viscous/inviscid interaction controlling the boundary-layer response. The triple-deck theory gives a simple power law correlation to express a value of the Reynolds number based on the transition length in terms of the Reynolds number calculated with the blade cord. Precisely the same correlation stems from processing experimental data for both smooth and rough surfaces. The computation shows the explosive development of highly modulated wave packets and their rapid breakdown brought about by erratic short-scaled wiggles riding on the primary long-scaled oscillation cycles. The filling-up of distant parts of the wavenumber spectrum is at the heart of the signal distortion. This process heralds the start of deep transition terminating in fully developed turbulent flow well before reaching the upper stability branch. With the time-harmonic excitation broadly used in experiments, transition requires a much longer distance to complete. An agreement between theoretical predictions based on the assumption of indefinitely large Reynolds numbers and experimental findings from wind-tunnel observations at finite Reynolds numbers is encouraging.


Author(s):  
W. J. Baars ◽  
N. Hutchins ◽  
I. Marusic

Small-scale velocity fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers are often coupled with the larger-scale motions. Studying the nature and extent of this scale interaction allows for a statistically representative description of the small scales over a time scale of the larger, coherent scales. In this study, we consider temporal data from hot-wire anemometry at Reynolds numbers ranging from Re τ ≈2800 to 22 800, in order to reveal how the scale interaction varies with Reynolds number. Large-scale conditional views of the representative amplitude and frequency of the small-scale turbulence, relative to the large-scale features, complement the existing consensus on large-scale modulation of the small-scale dynamics in the near-wall region. Modulation is a type of scale interaction, where the amplitude of the small-scale fluctuations is continuously proportional to the near-wall footprint of the large-scale velocity fluctuations. Aside from this amplitude modulation phenomenon, we reveal the influence of the large-scale motions on the characteristic frequency of the small scales, known as frequency modulation. From the wall-normal trends in the conditional averages of the small-scale properties, it is revealed how the near-wall modulation transitions to an intermittent-type scale arrangement in the log-region. On average, the amplitude of the small-scale velocity fluctuations only deviates from its mean value in a confined temporal domain, the duration of which is fixed in terms of the local Taylor time scale. These concentrated temporal regions are centred on the internal shear layers of the large-scale uniform momentum zones, which exhibit regions of positive and negative streamwise velocity fluctuations. With an increasing scale separation at high Reynolds numbers, this interaction pattern encompasses the features found in studies on internal shear layers and concentrated vorticity fluctuations in high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.


1967 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gaster

SummaryFlight tests on the Handley Page suction wing showed that turbulence at the wing root can propagate along the leading edge and cause the whole flow to be turbulent. The flow on the attachment line of a swept wing was studied in a low speed wind tunnel with particular reference to this problem of turbulent contamination.The critical Reynolds number, RθL, of the attachment-line boundary layer for the spanwise spread of turbulence was found to be about 100 for sweep angles in the range 40°–60°. A device was developed to act as a barrier to the turbulent root flow so that a clean laminar flow could exist outboard. This device was shown to be effective up to an Rθ of at least 170, so that experiments were possible on a laminar boundary layer at Reynolds numbers above the lower critical value. A spark was used to introduce spots of turbulence into the attachment-line boundary layer and the propagation speeds of the leading and trailing edges were measured. The spots expanded, the leading edge moving faster than the trailing edge, at high Reynolds numbers, and contracted at low values.The behaviour of Tollmien-Schlichting waves was also investigated by exciting the flow with sound emanating from a small hole on the attachment line. Measurements of the perturbation phase and amplitude were made downstream of the source and, although accurate values of wave length and propagation speed could be found, difficulties were experienced in evaluating the amplification ratio. Nevertheless, all small disturbances decayed at a sufficient distance from the source hole up to the highest available Reynolds number of 170.


2009 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. 137-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. SÉBILLEAU ◽  
L. LIMAT ◽  
J. EGGERS

We consider the steady flow near a free surface at intermediate to high Reynolds numbers, both experimentally and theoretically. In our experiment, an axisymmetric capillary meniscus is suspended from a cylindrical tube, held slightly above a horizontal water surface. A flow of dyed water is released through the tube into the reservoir, and flow lines are thus recorded. At low Reynolds numbers, flow lines follow the free surface, and injected water spreads horizontally inside the container. Increasing the Reynolds number, the injected fluid penetrates to a certain distance into the bath, but ultimately follows the free surface. Above a critical Reynolds number of approximately 60, the flow separates from the free surface in the meniscus region and a jet projects vertically into the bath. We find no indication that the flow reattaches at higher Reynolds numbers, nor are our findings sensitive to surface contamination. We show theoretically and confirm experimentally that the separating streamline forms a right angle with the free surface.


If U is the velocity of the mean motion the following main results are obtained: 1. The region where U = c , c being the wave velocity, is the source where vibrations are generated; i.e. the slowly varying vibrations give rise to large rapidly varying vibrations in passing through the critical point. 2. Curved profiles admit a periodic motion at sufficiently high Reynolds numbers. 3. Parabolic flow is unstable at high Reynolds numbers; i.e. an infinitely small disturbance is sufficient to break up such flow. The critical Reynolds number is equal to R = U 0 h/v =6700, and the corresponding wavelength is about three times the width of the channel ( U 0 is the mean velocity at the axis, and h is the half-width of the channel).


2014 ◽  
Vol 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Avsarkisov ◽  
S. Hoyas ◽  
M. Oberlack ◽  
J. P. García-Galache

AbstractA new set of numerical simulations of turbulent plane Couette flow in a large box of dimension ($\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}20\pi h,\, 2h,\, 6\pi h$) at Reynolds number $(\mathit{Re}_{\tau }) =125$, 180, 250 and 550 is described and compared with simulations at lower Reynolds numbers, Poiseuille flows and experiments. The simulations present a logarithmic near-wall layer and are used to verify and revise previously known results. It is confirmed that the fluctuation intensities in the streamwise and spanwise directions do not scale well in wall units. The scaling failure occurs both near to and away from the wall. On the contrary, the wall-normal intensity scales in inner units in the near-wall region and in outer units in the core region. The spectral ridge found by Hoyas & Jiménez (Phys. Fluids, vol. 18, 2003, 011702) for the turbulent Poiseuille flow can also be seen in the present flow. Away from the wall, very large-scale motions are found spanning through all the length of the channel. The statistics of these simulations can be downloaded from the webpage of the Chair of Fluid Dynamics.


2013 ◽  
Vol 731 ◽  
pp. 46-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Rosenberg ◽  
M. Hultmark ◽  
M. Vallikivi ◽  
S. C. C. Bailey ◽  
A. J. Smits

AbstractWell-resolved streamwise velocity spectra are reported for smooth- and rough-wall turbulent pipe flow over a large range of Reynolds numbers. The turbulence structure far from the wall is seen to be unaffected by the roughness, in accordance with Townsend’s Reynolds number similarity hypothesis. Moreover, the energy spectra within the turbulent wall region follow the classical inner and outer scaling behaviour. While an overlap region between the two scalings and the associated${ k}_{x}^{- 1} $law are observed near${R}^{+ } \approx 3000$, the${ k}_{x}^{- 1} $behaviour is obfuscated at higher Reynolds numbers due to the evolving energy content of the large scales (the very-large-scale motions, or VLSMs). We apply a semi-empirical correction (del Álamo & Jiménez,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 640, 2009, pp. 5–26) to the experimental data to estimate how Taylor’s frozen field hypothesis distorts the pseudo-spatial spectra inferred from time-resolved measurements. While the correction tends to suppress the long wavelength peak in the logarithmic layer spectrum, the peak nonetheless appears to be a robust feature of pipe flow at high Reynolds number. The inertial subrange develops around${R}^{+ } \gt 2000$where the characteristic${ k}_{x}^{- 5/ 3} $region is evident, which, for high Reynolds numbers, persists in the wake and logarithmic regions. In the logarithmic region, the streamwise wavelength of the VLSM peak scales with distance from the wall, which is in contrast to boundary layers, where the superstructures have been shown to scale with boundary layer thickness throughout the entire shear layer. Moreover, the similarity in the streamwise wavelength scaling of the large- and very-large-scale motions supports the notion that the two are physically interdependent.


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