Flow Structure Identification in Unsteady Flow in Porous Media

Author(s):  
Vishal A. Patil ◽  
James A. Liburdy

This study is an experimental investigation of the turbulent flow structure in randomly packed porous bed made with uniform sized spheres. Results are based on time resolved, two component PIV measurements in individual pore spaces of the bed. Data are presented for pore Reynolds number range of 54–3964. Three different flow regimes are identified, steady laminar, and unsteady transitional and turbulent flows. Small scale coherent vortical structures are visualized, by performing large eddy scale decomposition, for pore Reynolds number of greater than 1000. Quantative analysis of vortical coherent structures was performed using swirl strength analysis. The number density of vortical structures is found to monotonically increase gradually with pore Reynolds number. The rotation rate of these vortical structures is found to increase linearly with pore Reynolds number. The stretching rate (linear deformation) of the eddies were calculated using continuity to determine the out of plane stretching. The ratio of stretching rate to swirl strength (rotation rate) shows a normal distribution which collapsed onto a single curve. The convective velocities of the structures show a symmetric distribution with a peak value close to 0.8 times the average pore velocity.

2012 ◽  
Vol 696 ◽  
pp. 122-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kan Wang ◽  
Meng Wang

AbstractCompressible large-eddy simulations are carried out to study the aero-optical distortions caused by Mach 0.5 flat-plate turbulent boundary layers at Reynolds numbers of ${\mathit{Re}}_{\theta } = 875$, 1770 and 3550, based on momentum thickness. The fluctuations of refractive index are calculated from the density field, and wavefront distortions of an optical beam traversing the boundary layer are computed based on geometric optics. The effects of aperture size, small-scale turbulence, different flow regions and beam elevation angle are examined and the underlying flow physics is analysed. It is found that the level of optical distortion decreases with increasing Reynolds number within the Reynolds-number range considered. The contributions from the viscous sublayer and buffer layer are small, while the wake region plays a dominant role, followed by the logarithmic layer. By low-pass filtering the fluctuating density field, it is shown that small-scale turbulence is optically inactive. Consistent with previous experimental findings, the distortion magnitude is dependent on the propagation direction due to anisotropy of the boundary-layer vortical structures. Density correlations and length scales are analysed to understand the elevation-angle dependence and its relation to turbulence structures. The applicability of Sutton’s linking equation to boundary-layer flows is examined, and excellent agreement between linking equation predictions and directly integrated distortions is obtained when the density length scale is appropriately defined.


1990 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 459-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Badr ◽  
M. Coutanceau ◽  
S. C. R. Dennis ◽  
C. Ménard

The unsteady flow past a circular cylinder which starts translating and rotating impulsively from rest in a viscous fluid is investigated both theoretically and experimentally in the Reynolds number range 103 [les ] R [les ] 104 and for rotational to translational surface speed ratios between 0.5 and 3. The theoretical study is based on numerical solutions of the two-dimensional unsteady Navier–Stokes equations while the experimental investigation is based on visualization of the flow using very fine suspended particles. The object of the study is to examine the effect of increase of rotation on the flow structure. There is excellent agreement between the numerical and experimental results for all speed ratios considered, except in the case of the highest rotation rate. Here three-dimensional effects become more pronounced in the experiments and the laminar flow breaks down, while the calculated flow starts to approach a steady state. For lower rotation rates a periodic structure of vortex evolution and shedding develops in the calculations which is repeated exactly as time advances. Another feature of the calculations is the discrepancy in the lift and drag forces at high Reynolds numbers resulting from solving the boundary-layer limit of the equations of motion rather than the full Navier–Stokes equations. Typical results are given for selected values of the Reynolds number and rotation rate.


2017 ◽  
Vol 829 ◽  
pp. 486-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. L. Wong ◽  
J. Zhao ◽  
D. Lo Jacono ◽  
M. C. Thompson ◽  
J. Sheridan

While flow-induced vibration of bluff bodies has been extensively studied over the last half-century, only limited attention has been given to flow-induced vibration of elastically mounted rotating cylinders. Since recent low-Reynolds-number numerical work suggests that rotation can enhance or suppress the natural oscillatory response, the former could find applications in energy harvesting and the latter in vibration control. The present experimental investigation characterises the dynamic response and wake structure of a rotating circular cylinder undergoing vortex-induced vibration at a low mass ratio ($m^{\ast }=5.78$) over the reduced velocity range leading to strong oscillations. The experiments were conducted in a free-surface water channel with the cylinder vertically mounted and attached to a motor that provided constant rotation. Springs and an air-bearing system allow the cylinder to undertake low-damped transverse oscillations. Under cylinder rotation, the normalised frequency response was found to be comparable to that of a freely vibrating non-rotating cylinder. At reduced velocities consistent with the upper branch of a non-rotating transversely oscillating cylinder, the maximum oscillation amplitude increased with non-dimensional rotation rate up to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}\approx 2$. Beyond this, there was a sharp decrease in amplitude. Notably, this critical value corresponds approximately to the rotation rate at which vortex shedding ceases for a non-oscillating rotating cylinder. Remarkably, at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=2$ there was approximately an 80 % increase in the peak amplitude response compared to that of a non-rotating cylinder. The observed amplitude response measured over the Reynolds-number range of ($1100\lesssim Re\lesssim 6300$) is significantly different from numerical predictions and other experimental results recorded at significantly lower Reynolds numbers.


Author(s):  
Christopher J. Chesnakas ◽  
Stuart D. Jessup

An extensive experimental investigation was carried out to examine tip-vortex induced cavitation on a ducted propulsor. The flowfield about a 3-bladed, ducted rotor operating in uniform inflow was measured in detail with three-dimensional LDV; cavitation inception was measured; and a correlated hydrophone/high-speed video system was used to identify and characterize the early, sub-visual cavitation events. Two geometrically-similar, ducted rotors were tested over a Reynolds number range from 1.4×106 to 9×106 in order to determine how the tip-vortex cavitation scales with Reynolds number. Analysis of the data shows that exponent for scaling tip-vortex cavitation with Reynolds number is smaller than for open rotors. It is shown that the parameters which are commonly accepted to control tip-vortex cavitation, vortex circulation and vortex core size, do not directly control cavitation inception on this ducted rotor. Rather it appears that cavitation is initiated by the stretching and deformation of secondary vortical structures resulting from the merger of the leakage and tip vortices.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Xian Lin ◽  
Shao-Yen Ko ◽  
F. K. Tsou

This paper presents results of an experimental study on the heat transfer enhancement in laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids, aqueous Carbopol-934 solutions through a small-scale square duct. The square duct is a top-wall heated configuration with a hydraulic diameter of 0.4 cm. The aqueous Carbopol solutions examined are those neutralized, and have a polymer concentration range of 1000–2000 wppm. It is shown that the enhanced heat transfer behavior of the Carbopol solutions within low Reynolds number range is different from that within relatively high Reynolds number range. There exists a limiting polymer concentration, Cmax, at which the non-Newtonian fluid possesses the maximum ability to enhance heat transfer. If the polymer concentration becomes too high, the minimum Reynolds number required to enhance heat transfer increases with the increasing polymer concentration.


Author(s):  
Tim Burdett ◽  
Jason Gregg ◽  
Kenneth Van Treuren

The standard of living throughout the world has increased dramatically over the last 30 years and is projected to continue to rise. This growth leads to an increased demand on conventional energy sources, such as fossil fuels. However, these are finite resources. Thus, there is an increasing demand for alternative energy sources, such as wind energy. Much of current wind turbine research focuses on large-scale (>1 MW), technologically-complex wind turbines installed in areas of high average wind speed (>20 mph). An alternative approach is to focus on small-scale (1–10kW), technologically-simple wind turbines built to produce power in low wind regions. While these turbines may not be as efficient as the large-scale systems, they require less industrial support and a less complicated electrical grid since the power can be generated at the consumer’s location. To pursue this approach, a design methodology for small-scale wind turbines must be developed and validated. This paper addresses one element of this methodology, airfoil performance prediction. In the traditional design process, an airfoil is selected and published lift and drag curves are used to optimize the blade twist and predict performance. These published curves are typically generated using either experimental testing or a numeric code, such as PROFIL (the Eppler Airfoil Design and Analysis Code) or XFOIL. However, the published curves often represent performance over a different range of Reynolds numbers than the actual design conditions. Wind turbines are typically designed from 2-D airfoil data, so having accurate airfoil data for the design conditions is critical. This is particularly crucial for small-scale, fixed-pitched wind turbines, which typically operate at low Reynolds numbers (<500,000) where airfoil performance can change significantly with Reynolds number. From a simple 2-D approach, the ideal operating condition for an airfoil to produce torque is the angle of attack at which lift is maximized and drag is minimized, so prediction of this angle will be compared using experimental and simulated data. Theoretical simulations in XFOIL of the E387 airfoil, designed for low Reynolds numbers, suggest that this optimum angle for design is Reynolds number dependent, predicting a difference of 2.25° over a Reynolds number range of 460,000 to 60,000. Published experimental data for the E387 airfoil demonstrate a difference of 2.0° over this same Reynolds number range. Data taken in the Baylor University Subsonic Wind Tunnel for the S823 airfoil shows a similar trend. This paper examines data for the E387 and S823 airfoils at low Reynolds numbers (75,000, 150,000, and 200,000 for the S823) and compares the experimental data with XFOIL predictions and published PROFIL predictions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 602 ◽  
pp. 327-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHEL STANISLAS ◽  
LAURENT PERRET ◽  
JEAN-MARC FOUCAUT

A study of streamwise oriented vortical structures embedded in turbulent boundary layers is performed by investigating an experimental database acquired by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) in a plane normal both to the mean flow and the wall. The characteristics of the experimental data allow us to focus on the spatial organization within the logarithmic region for Reynolds numbers Reθ up to 15000. On the basis of the now accepted hairpin model, relationships and interaction between streamwise vortices are first investigated via computation of two-point spatial correlations and the use of linear stochastic estimation (LSE). These analyses confirm that the shape of the most probable coherent structures corresponds to an asymmetric one-legged hairpin vortex. Moreover, two regions of different dynamics can be distinguished: the near-wall region below y+=150, densely populated with strongly interacting vortices; and the region above y+=150 where interactions between eddies happen less frequently. Characteristics of the detected eddies, such as probability density functions of their radius and intensity, are then studied. It appears that Reynolds number as well as wall-normal independences of these quantities are achieved when scaling with the local Kolmogorov scales. The most probable size of the detected vortices is found to be about 10 times the Kolmogorov length scale. These results lead us to revisit the equation for the mean square vorticity fluctuations, and to propose a new balance of this equation in the near-wall region. This analysis and the above results allow us to propose a new description of the near-wall region, leading to a new scaling which seems to have a good universality in the Reynolds-number range investigated. The possibility of reaching a universal scaling at high enough Reynolds number, based on the external velocity and the Kolmogorov length scale is suggested.


2018 ◽  
Vol 839 ◽  
pp. 430-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo M. Pereira ◽  
Luca Moriconi ◽  
Laurent Chevillard

We develop a stochastic model for the velocity gradient dynamics along a Lagrangian trajectory in isotropic and homogeneous turbulent flows. Comparing with different attempts proposed in the literature, the present model, at the cost of introducing a free parameter known in turbulence phenomenology as the intermittency coefficient, gives a realistic picture of velocity gradient statistics at any Reynolds number. To achieve this level of accuracy, we use as a first modelling step a regularized self-stretching term in the framework of the recent fluid deformation (RFD) approximation that was shown to give a realistic picture of small-scale statistics of turbulence only up to moderate Reynolds numbers. As a second step, we constrain the dynamics, in the spirit of Girimaji & Pope (Phys. Fluids A, vol. 2, 1990, p. 242), in order to impose a peculiar statistical structure to the dissipation seen by the Lagrangian particle. This probabilistic closure uses as a building block a random field that fulfils the statistical description of the intermittency, i.e. multifractal, phenomenon. To do so, we define and generalize to a statistically stationary framework a proposition made by Schmitt (Eur. Phys. J. B, vol. 34, 2003, p. 85). These considerations lead us to propose a nonlinear and non-Markovian closed dynamics for the elements of the velocity gradient tensor. We numerically integrate this dynamics and observe that a stationary regime is indeed reached, in which (i) the gradient variance is proportional to the Reynolds number, (ii) gradients are typically correlated over the (small) Kolmogorov time scale and gradient norms over the (large) integral time scale, (iii) the joint probability distribution function of the two non-vanishing invariants $Q$ and $R$ reproduces the characteristic teardrop shape, (iv) vorticity becomes preferentially aligned with the intermediate eigendirection of the deformation tensor and (v) gradients are strongly non-Gaussian and intermittent, a behaviour that we quantify by appropriate high-order moments. Additionally, we examine the problem of rotation rate statistics of (axisymmetric) anisotropic particles as observed in direct numerical simulations. Although our realistic picture of velocity gradient fluctuations leads to better results when compared to the former RFD approximation, it is still unable to provide an accurate description for the rotation rate variance of oblate spheroids.


Author(s):  
Lin Dong ◽  
Akira Rinoshika

This paper proposes vehicle door mirrors with a tip shape and ditch to reduce the aerodynamic drag. The mean drag coefficients Cd of various mirror models were first measured using load cells within a 103–105 Reynolds number range in a wind tunnel. The Cd of controlled mirrors with different ditch widths remained constant at approximately 0.75 and was lower than that of conventional mirrors. Using a large eddy simulation (LES), the 3D flow structures around modified and conventional mirrors were numerically analyzed at a Reynolds number of 2.8 × 105. Based on a three-dimensional orthogonal wavelet multi-resolution technique, the instantaneous three-dimensional vorticity and velocity were decomposed into three wavelet levels or scales: large scale with a 62 mm central scale, intermediate scale with a 29 mm central scale, and small scale with a 16 mm central scale. This indicated that the length of the region of the vorticity iso-surfaces in an improved door mirror model as the tip ditch decreases. Because the tip ditch produced the more streamwise vortices, the large-scale spanwise vortices were suppressed. The streamwise vortices and spanwise vortices of the small- and intermediate-scale structures increased, which is mainly caused by the ditch in the tip.


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