scholarly journals Wind in a Natural and Artificial Wildland Fire Fuel Bed

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Yana Bebieva ◽  
Kevin Speer ◽  
Liam White ◽  
Robert Smith ◽  
Gabrielle Mayans ◽  
...  

Fuel beds represent the layer of fuel that typically supports continuous combustion and wildland fire spread. We examine how wind propagates through and above loose and packed pine needle beds and artificial 3D-printed fuel beds in a wind tunnel. Vertical profiles of horizontal velocities are measured for three artificial fuel beds with prescribed porosities and two types of fuel beds made with long-leaf pine needles. The dependence of the mean velocity within the fuel bed with respect to the ambient velocity is linked to the porosity. Experimental results show significant structure to the vertical profile of mean flow within the bed, and suggest that small-scale sweeps and ejections play a role in this system redistributing momentum similar to larger-scale canopy flows.

1999 ◽  
Vol 394 ◽  
pp. 303-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. VERNET ◽  
G. A. KOPP ◽  
J. A. FERRÉ ◽  
FRANCESC GIRALT

Simultaneous velocity and temperature measurements were made with rakes of sensors that sliced a slightly heated turbulent wake in the spanwise direction, at different lateral positions 150 diameters downstream of the cylinder. A pattern recognition analysis of hotter-to-colder transitions was performed on temperature data measured at the mean velocity half-width. The velocity data from the different ‘slices’ was then conditionally averaged based on the identified temperature events. This procedure yielded the topology of the average three-dimensional large-scale structure which was visualized with iso-surfaces of negative values of the second eigenvector of [S2+Ω2]. The results indicate that the average structure of the velocity fluctuations (using a triple decomposition of the velocity field) is found to be a shear-aligned ring-shaped vortex. This vortex ring has strong outward lateral velocities in its symmetry plane which are like Grant's mixing jets. The mixing jet region extends outside the ring-like vortex and is bounded by two foci separated in the spanwise direction and an upstream saddle point. The two foci correspond to what has been previously identified in the literature as the double rollers.The ring vortex extracts energy from the mean flow by stretching in the mixing jet region just upstream of the ring boundary. The production of the small-scale (incoherent) turbulence by the coherent field and one-component energy dissipation rate occur just downstream of the saddle point within the mixing jet region. Incoherent turbulence energy is extracted from the mean flow just outside the mixing jet region, but within the core of the structure. These processes are highly three-dimensional with a spanwise extent equal to the mean velocity half-width.When a double decomposition is used, the coherent structure is found to be a tube-shaped vortex with a spanwise extent of about 2.5l0. The double roller motions are integral to this vortex in spite of its shape. Spatial averages of the coherent velocity field indicate that the mixing jet region causes a deficit of mean streamwise momentum, while the region outside the foci of the double rollers has a relatively small excess of streamwise momentum.


Ocean Science ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. M. Canuto ◽  
M. S. Dubovikov

Abstract. Several studies have shown that sub-mesoscales (SM ~1 km horizontal scale) play an important role in mixed layer dynamics. In particular, high resolution simulations have shown that in the case of strong down-front wind, the re-stratification induced by the SM is of the same order of the de-stratification induced by small scale turbulence, as well as of that induced by the Ekman velocity. These studies have further concluded that it has become necessary to include SM in ocean global circulation models (OGCMs), especially those used in climate studies. The goal of our work is to derive and assess an analytic parameterization of the vertical tracer flux under baroclinic instabilities and wind of arbitrary directions and strength. To achieve this goal, we have divided the problem into two parts: first, in this work we derive and assess a parameterization of the SM vertical flux of an arbitrary tracer for ocean codes that resolve mesoscales, M, but not sub-mesoscales, SM. In Part 2, presented elsewhere, we have used the results of this work to derive a parameterization of SM fluxes for ocean codes that do not resolve either M or SM. To carry out the first part of our work, we solve the SM dynamic equations including the non-linear terms for which we employ a closure developed and assessed in previous work. We present a detailed analysis for down-front and up-front winds with the following results: (a) down-front wind (blowing in the direction of the surface geostrophic velocity) is the most favorable condition for generating vigorous SM eddies; the de-stratifying effect of the mean flow and re-stratifying effect of SM almost cancel each other out, (b) in the up-front wind case (blowing in the direction opposite to the surface geostrophic velocity), strong winds prevents the SM generation while weak winds hinder the process but the eddies amplify the re-stratifying effect of the mean velocity, (c) wind orthogonal to the geostrophic velocity. In this case, which was not considered in numerical simulations, we show that when the wind direction coincides with that of the horizontal buoyancy gradient, SM eddies are generated and their re-stratifying effect partly cancels the de-stratifying effect of the mean velocity. The case when wind direction is opposite to that of the horizontal buoyancy gradient, is analogous to the case of up-front winds. In conclusion, the new multifaceted implications on the mixed layer stratification caused by the interplay of both strength and directions of the wind in relation to the buoyancy gradient disclosed by high resolution simulations have been reproduced by the present model. The present results can be used in OGCMs that resolve M but not SM.


2000 ◽  
Vol 402 ◽  
pp. 349-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAKESHI MIYAZAKI ◽  
JULIAN C. R. HUNT

The structure of initially isotropic homogeneous turbulence interacting with a columnar vortex (with circulation Γ and radius σ), idealized both as a solid cylinder and a hollow core model is analysed using the inhomogeneous form of linear rapid distortion theory (RDT), for flows where the r.m.s. turbulence velocity u0 is small compared with Γ/σ. The turbulent eddies with scale Γ are distorted by the mean velocity gradient and also, over a distance Γ from the surface of the vortex, by their direct impingement onto it, whether it is solid or hollow. The distortion of the azimuthal component of turbulent vorticity by the differential rotation in the mean flow around the columnar vortex causes the mean-square radial velocity away from the cylinder to increase as (Γt/2πr2)2 (Γx/r)u20, when (r − σ) > Γx, but on the surface of the vortices ((r − σ) < Γx) where 〈u2r〉 is reduced, 〈u2z〉 increases to the same order, while the other components do not grow. Statistically, while the vorticity field remains asymmetric, the velocity field of small-scale eddies near the vortex core rapidly becomes axisymmetric, within a period of two or three revolutions of the columnar vortex. Calculation of the distortion of small-scale initially random velocity fields shows how the turbulent eddies, as they are wrapped around the columnar vortex, become like vortex rings, with similar properties to those computed by Melander & Hussain (1993) using a fully nonlinear direct numerical simulation. A mechanism is proposed for how interactions between the external turbulence and the columnar vortex can lead to non-axisymmetric vortex waves being excited on the vortex and damped fluctuations in its interior. If the columnar vortex is not significantly distorted by these linear effects, estimates are made of how nonlinear effects lead to the formation of axisymmetric turbulent vortices which move as result of their image vorticity (in addition to the self-induction velocity) at a velocity of order u0tΓ/σ2 parallel to the vortex. Even when the circulation (γ) of the turbulent vortices is a small fraction of Γ, they can excite self-destructive displacements through resonance on a time scale σ/u0.


2017 ◽  
Vol 825 ◽  
pp. 764-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. R. Graham

Rapid distortion of turbulence (RDT) theory is applied to homogeneous, isotropic turbulence incident on a horizontal axis turbine rotor such as a wind turbine or tidal-stream turbine. The mean flow field of the rotor which distorts the turbulence is represented by the commonly used axisymmetric actuator disc model due to Betz and Joukowski. The fluctuating streamwise component of the turbulence distorted by this field is calculated at the actuator disc plane. Turbulence velocity intensities and spectra are evaluated for general ratios of turbulence integral length scale to the rotor diameter, including the small-scale limit for which the original homogeneous strain analysis of Batchelor and Proudman may be applied. The distortion of the mean velocity profile of an incident rotor wake which may be considered a zero frequency disturbance relevant to wind and tidal turbine operation in large arrays is also analysed by the same method, treating it as a deterministic disturbance in the incident flow.


2021 ◽  
Vol 929 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Agastya Balantrapu ◽  
Christopher Hickling ◽  
W. Nathan Alexander ◽  
William Devenport

Experiments were performed over a body of revolution at a length-based Reynolds number of 1.9 million. While the lateral curvature parameters are moderate ( $\delta /r_s < 2, r_s^+>500$ , where $\delta$ is the boundary layer thickness and r s is the radius of curvature), the pressure gradient is increasingly adverse ( $\beta _{C} \in [5 \text {--} 18]$ where $\beta_{C}$ is Clauser’s pressure gradient parameter), representative of vehicle-relevant conditions. The mean flow in the outer regions of this fully attached boundary layer displays some properties of a free-shear layer, with the mean-velocity and turbulence intensity profiles attaining self-similarity with the ‘embedded shear layer’ scaling (Schatzman & Thomas, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 815, 2017, pp. 592–642). Spectral analysis of the streamwise turbulence revealed that, as the mean flow decelerates, the large-scale motions energize across the boundary layer, growing proportionally with the boundary layer thickness. When scaled with the shear layer parameters, the distribution of the energy in the low-frequency region is approximately self-similar, emphasizing the role of the embedded shear layer in the large-scale motions. The correlation structure of the boundary layer is discussed at length to supply information towards the development of turbulence and aeroacoustic models. One major finding is that the estimation of integral turbulence length scales from single-point measurements, via Taylor's hypothesis, requires significant corrections to the convection velocity in the inner 50 % of the boundary layer. The apparent convection velocity (estimated from the ratio of integral length scale to the time scale), is approximately 40 % greater than the local mean velocity, suggesting the turbulence is convected much faster than previously thought. Closer to the wall even higher corrections are required.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 466-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Catania ◽  
A. Mittica

In addition to the frequently used statistical ensemble-average, non-Reynolds filtering operators have long been proposed for nonstationary turbulent quantities. Several techniques for the reduction of velocity data acquired in the cylinder of internal combustion reciprocating engines have been developed by various researchers in order to separate the “mean flow” from the “fluctuating motion,” cycle by cycle, and to analyze small-scale engine turbulence by statistical methods. Therefore a thorough examination of these techniques and a detailed comparison between them would seem to be a preliminary step in attempting a general study of unconventional averaging procedures for reciprocating engine flow application. To that end, in the present work, five different cycle-resolved data reduction methods and the conventional ensemble-average were applied to the same in-cylinder velocity data, so as to review and compare them. One of the methods was developed by the authors. The data were acquired in the cylinder of a direct-injection automotive diesel engine, during induction and compression strokes, using an advanced hot-wire anemometry technique. Correlation and spectral analysis of the engine turbulence, as determined from the data with the different procedures, were also performed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 370-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anshuman Roy ◽  
Ronald G. Larson

Abstract We present a one-parameter model that fits quantitatively the mean velocity profiles from experiments and numerical simulations of drag-reduced wall-bounded flows of dilute solutions of polymers and non-Brownian fibers in the low and modest drag reduction regime. The model is based on a viscous mechanism of drag reduction, in which either extended polymers or non-Brownian fibers increase the extensional viscosity of the fluid and thereby suppress both small and large turbulent eddies and reduce momentum transfer to the wall, resulting in drag reduction. Our model provides a rheological interpretation of the upward parallel shift S+ in the mean velocity profile upon addition of polymer, observed by Virk. We show that Virk’s correlations for the dependence on polymer molecular weight and concentration of the onset wall shear stress and slope increment on the Prandtl-Karman plot can be translated to two dimensionless numbers, namely an onset Weissenberg number and an asymptotic Trouton ratio of maximum extensional viscosity to zero-shear viscosity. We believe that our model, while simple, captures the essential features of drag reduction that are universal to flexible polymers and fibers, and, unlike the Virk phenomenology, can easily be extended to flows with inhomogeneous polymer or fiber concentration fields.


2002 ◽  
Vol 461 ◽  
pp. 61-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. PERRY ◽  
IVAN MARUSIC ◽  
M. B. JONES

A new approach to the classic closure problem for turbulent boundary layers is presented. This involves, first, using the well-known mean-flow scaling laws such as the log law of the wall and the law of the wake of Coles (1956) together with the mean continuity and the mean momentum differential and integral equations. The important parameters governing the flow in the general non-equilibrium case are identified and are used for establishing a framework for closure. Initially closure is achieved here empirically and the potential for achieving closure in the future using the wall-wake attached eddy model of Perry & Marusic (1995) is outlined. Comparisons are made with experiments covering adverse-pressure-gradient flows in relaxing and developing states and flows approaching equilibrium sink flow. Mean velocity profiles, total shear stress and Reynolds stress profiles can be computed for different streamwise stations, given an initial upstream mean velocity profile and the streamwise variation of free-stream velocity. The attached eddy model of Perry & Marusic (1995) can then be utilized, with some refinement, to compute the remaining unknown quantities such as Reynolds normal stresses and associated spectra and cross-power spectra in the fully turbulent part of the flow.


1967 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Kelly

In experiments concerning the instability of free shear layers, oscillations have been observed in the downstream flow which have a frequency exactly half that of the dominant oscillation closer to the origin of the layer. The present analysis indicates that the phenomenon is due to a secondary instability associated with the nearly periodic flow which arises from the finite-amplitude growth of the fundamental disturbance.At first, however, the stability of inviscid shear flows, consisting of a non-zero mean component, together with a component periodic in the direction of flow and with time, is investigated fairly generally. It is found that the periodic component can serve as a means by which waves with twice the wavelength of the periodic component can be reinforced. The dependence of the growth rate of the subharmonic wave upon the amplitude of the periodic component is found for the case when the mean flow profile is of the hyperbolic-tangent type. In order that the subharmonic growth rate may exceed that of the most unstable disturbance associated with the mean flow, the amplitude of the streamwise component of the periodic flow is required to be about 12 % of the mean velocity difference across the shear layer. This represents order-of-magnitude agreement with experiment.Other possibilities of interaction between disturbances and the periodic flow are discussed, and the concluding section contains a discussion of the interactions on the basis of the energy equation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 390 ◽  
pp. 325-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. NAZARENKO ◽  
N. K.-R. KEVLAHAN ◽  
B. DUBRULLE

A WKB method is used to extend RDT (rapid distortion theory) to initially inhomogeneous turbulence and unsteady mean flows. The WKB equations describe turbulence wavepackets which are transported by the mean velocity and have wavenumbers which evolve due to the mean strain. The turbulence also modifies the mean flow and generates large-scale vorticity via the averaged Reynolds stress tensor. The theory is applied to Taylor's four-roller flow in order to explain the experimentally observed reduction in the mean strain. The strain reduction occurs due to the formation of a large-scale vortex quadrupole structure from the turbulent spot confined by the four rollers. Both turbulence inhomogeneity and three-dimensionality are shown to be important for this effect. If the initially isotropic turbulence is either homogeneous in space or two-dimensional, it has no effect on the large-scale strain. Furthermore, the turbulent kinetic energy is conserved in the two-dimensional case, which has important consequences for the theory of two-dimensional turbulence. The analytical and numerical results presented here are in good qualitative agreement with experiment.


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