scholarly journals The structure of a three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer

1993 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 43-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Degani ◽  
F. T. Smith ◽  
J. D. A. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Outer Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Overlap Region

The three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer is shown to have a self-consistent two-layer asymptotic structure in the limit of large Reynolds number. In a streamline coordinate system, the streamwise velocity distribution is similar to that in two-dimensional flows, having a defect-function form in the outer layer which is adjusted to zero at the wall through an inner wall layer. An asymptotic expansion accurate to two orders is required for the cross-stream velocity which is shown to exhibit a logarithmic form in the overlap region. The inner wall-layer flow is collateral to leading order but the influence of the pressure gradient, at large but finite Reynolds numbers, is not negligible and can cause substantial skewing of the velocity profile near the wall. Conditions under which the boundary layer achieves self-similarity and the governing set of ordinary differential equations for the outer layer are derived. The calculated solution of these equations is matched asymptotically to an inner wall-layer solution and the composite profiles so formed describe the flow throughout the entire boundary layer. The effects of Reynolds number and cross-stream pressure gradient on the cross-stream velocity profile are discussed and it is shown that the location of the maximum cross-stream velocity is within the overlap region.

On the evolution of a turbulent boundary layer induced by a three-dimensional roughness element

1992 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 101-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Klebanoff ◽  
W. G. Cleveland ◽  
K. D. Tidstrom
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Roughness Elements

An experimental investigation is described which has as its objectives the extension of the technical data base pertaining to roughness-induced transition and the advancement of the understanding of the physical processes by which three-dimensional roughness elements induce transition from laminar to turbulent flow in boundary layers. The investigation was carried out primarily with single hemispherical roughness elements surface mounted in a well-characterized zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer on a flat plate. The critical roughness Reynolds number at which turbulence is regarded as originating at the roughness was determined for the roughness elements herein considered and evaluated in the context of data existing in the literature. The effect of a steady and oscillatory free-stream velocity on eddy shedding was also investigated. The Strouhal behaviour of the ‘hairpin’ eddies shed by the roughness and role they play in the evolution of a fully developed turbulent boundary layer, as well as whether their generation is governed by an inflexional instability, are examined. Distributions of mean velocity and intensity of the u-fluctuation demonstrating the evolution toward such distributions for a fully developed turbulent boundary layer were measured on the centreline at Reynolds numbers below and above the critical Reynolds number of transition. A two-region model is postulated for the evolutionary change toward a fully developed turbulent boundary layer: an inner region where the turbulence is generated by the complex interaction of the hairpin eddies with the pre-existing stationary vortices that lie near the surface and are inherent to a flow about a three-dimensional obstacle in a laminar boundary layer; and an outer region where the hairpin eddies deform and generate turbulent vortex rings. The structure of the resulting fully developed turbulent boundary layer is discussed in the light of the proposed model for the evolutionary process.

On the asymptotic similarity of the zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer

2008 ◽  
Vol 616 ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. JONES ◽  
T. B. NICKELS ◽  
IVAN MARUSIC
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Similarity Solution ◽  
Friction Velocity ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Free Stream Velocity ◽  
Stream Velocity

We investigate similarity solutions for the outer part of a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer in the limit of infinite Reynolds number. Previous work by George (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. vol. 365, 2007 p. 789) has suggested that the only appropriate velocity scale for the outer region is U1, the free-stream velocity. This is based on the fact that scaling with U1 leads to a mathematically valid similarity solution of the momentum equation for the outer region in the asymptotic limit of infinite Reynolds number. Here we show that the classical scaling using the friction velocity also leads to a valid similarity solution for the outer flow in this limit. Therefore on this basis it is not possible to dismiss the friction velocity as a possible scaling as has been suggested by George (2007) and others. We show that both the free-stream velocity and the friction velocity are potentially valid scalings according to this theoretical criterion.

A Superposition Analysis of the Turbulent Boundary Layer in an Adverse Pressure Gradient

1951 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Donald Ross ◽  
J. M. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Wall Shear Stress ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Pressure Recovery ◽  
Stress Coefficient ◽  
Wall Shear

Abstract As an interim solution to the problem of the turbulent boundary layer in an adverse pressure gradient, a super-position method of analysis has been developed. In this method, the velocity profile is considered to be the result of two effects: the wall shear stress and the pressure recovery. These are superimposed, yielding an expression for the velocity profiles which approximate measured distributions. The theory also leads to a more reasonable expression for the wall shear-stress coefficient.

Effect of Transverse Curvature on Turbulent-Boundary-Layer Characteristics

1958 ◽  
Vol 2 (04) ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
Yun-Sheng Yu
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Circular Cylinder ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Boundary Layer Thickness ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Shearing Stress ◽  
Transverse Curvature ◽  
Similarity Laws

Tests made on the turbulent boundary layer on a circular cylinder in axial flow at zero pressure gradient are described. From the measurements, similarity laws of the velocity profile are formulated, and various boundary-layer characteristics are evaluated and compared with the flatplate results. It is found that the effect of transverse curvature is to increase the surface shearing stress and to decrease the boundary-layer thickness, and that the latter variation is more pronounced than the former.

Power Law Velocity Profile in the Turbulent Boundary Layer on Transitional Rough Surfaces

2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (8) ◽  
pp. 1083-1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Afzal
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Functional Equation ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Skin Friction ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Wall Roughness ◽  
Closure Model ◽  
Log Law

A new approach to scaling of transitional wall roughness in turbulent flow is introduced by a new nondimensional roughness scale ϕ. This scale gives rise to an inner viscous length scale ϕν∕uτ, inner wall transitional variable, roughness friction Reynolds number, and roughness Reynolds number. The velocity distribution, just above the roughness level, turns out to be a universal relationship for all kinds of roughness (transitional, fully smooth, and fully rough surfaces), but depends implicitly on roughness scale. The open turbulent boundary layer equations, without any closure model, have been analyzed in the inner wall and outer wake layers, and matching by the Izakson-Millikan-Kolmogorov hypothesis leads to an open functional equation. An alternate open functional equation is obtained from the ratio of two successive derivatives of the basic functional equation of Izakson and Millikan, which admits two functional solutions: the power law velocity profile and the log law velocity profile. The envelope of the skin friction power law gives the log law, as well as the power law index and prefactor as the functions of roughness friction Reynolds number or skin friction coefficient as appropriate. All the results for power law and log law velocity and skin friction distributions, as well as power law constants are explicitly independent of the transitional wall roughness. The universality of these relations is supported very well by extensive experimental data from transitional rough walls for various different types of roughnesses. On the other hand, there are no universal scalings in traditional variables, and different expressions are needed for various types of roughness, such as inflectional roughness, monotonic roughness, and others. To the lowest order, the outer layer flow is governed by the nonlinear turbulent wake equations that match with the power law theory as well as log law theory, in the overlap region. These outer equations are in equilibrium for constant value of m, the pressure gradient parameter, and under constant eddy viscosity closure model, the analytical and numerical solutions are presented.

The Three-Dimensional Turbulent Boundary Layer on an Infinite Yawed Wing

1971 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Nash ◽  
R. R. Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Lift Coefficient ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Numerical Representation ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Incompressible Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Displacement Thickness ◽  
Attachment Line

SummaryThis paper presents the results of some calculations of the incompressible turbulent boundary layer on an infinite yawed wing. A discussion is made of the effects of increasing lift coefficient, and increasing Reynolds number, on the displacement thickness, and on the magnitude and direction of the skin friction. The effects of the state of the boundary layer (laminar or turbulent) along the attachment line are also considered.A study is made to determine whether the behaviour of the boundary layer can adequately be predicted by a two-dimensional calculation. It is concluded that there is no simple way to do this (as is provided, in the laminar case, by the principle of independence). However, with some modification, a two-dimensional calculation can be made to give an acceptable numerical representation of the chordwise components of the flow.

Small-scale characteristics of a turbulent boundary layer over a rough wall

1997 ◽  
Vol 342 ◽  
pp. 263-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. SHAFI ◽  
R. A. ANTONIA
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Outer Layer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy Dissipation Rate ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Rough Wall ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Smooth Wall ◽  
Velocity Derivative

Measurements of the spanwise and wall-normal components of vorticity and their constituent velocity derivative fluctuations have been made in a turbulent boundary layer over a mesh-screen rough wall using a four-hot-wire vorticity probe. The measured spectra and variances of vorticity and velocity derivatives have been corrected for the effect of spatial resolution. The high-wavenumber behaviour of the spectra conforms closely with isotropy. Over most of the outer layer, the normalized magnitudes of the velocity derivative variances differ significantly from those over a smooth wall layer. The differences are such that the variances are much more nearly isotropic over the rough wall than on the smooth wall. This behaviour is consistent with earlier observations that the large-scale structure in this rough wall layer is more isotropic than that in a smooth wall layer. Isotropy-based approximations for the mean energy dissipation rate and mean enstrophy are consequently more reliable in this rough wall layer than in a smooth wall layer. In the outer layer, the vorticity variances are slightly larger than those over a smooth wall; reflecting structural differences between the two flows.

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.

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