scholarly journals Some Observations of the Behaviour of an Adverse Pressure Gradient Laminar Boundary Layer under Wake Impingement

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Vasudevan Kanjirakkad ◽  
Thomas Irps
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Transition Mechanism ◽  
Separated Shear Layer ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting ◽  
The Time Domain

The problem of laminar to turbulent transition in a boundary layer flow subjected to an adverse pressure gradient is relevant to many engineering applications. Under such conditions, the initially laminar flow within the boundary layer can undergo separation and then become turbulent upon reattachment, as transition is triggered by instabilities within the separated shear layer. In turbomachinery blades with high loading, the transition mechanism is further complicated by the presence of periodic wake disturbances shed by blades that move relatively in the upstream flow. The paper reports an experimental study of the effect of wake disturbances generated upstream on the development of a laminar boundary layer over a flat plate imposed with an adverse pressure gradient that is typical of a highly loaded front-stage compressor blade. Detailed velocity measurements using a hotwire are performed along the plate and the results are analysed both in the time domain and the frequency domain. Description of the major features identified is provided and the leading mechanisms that trigger the transition process are identified to be a possible combination of amplified Tollmien–Schlichting waves and the roll-up of vortices due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the separated shear layer.

On the origin of the inflectional instability of a laminar separation bubble

2009 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. 263-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOURABH S. DIWAN ◽  
O. N. RAMESH
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Separation Bubble ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Laminar Separation Bubble ◽  
Laminar Separation ◽  
Separated Shear Layer ◽  
The Mean

This is an experimental and theoretical study of a laminar separation bubble and the associated linear stability mechanisms. Experiments were performed over a flat plate kept in a wind tunnel, with an imposed pressure gradient typical of an aerofoil that would involve a laminar separation bubble. The separation bubble was characterized by measurement of surface-pressure distribution and streamwise velocity using hot-wire anemometry. Single component hot-wire anemometry was also used for a detailed study of the transition dynamics. It was found that the so-called dead-air region in the front portion of the bubble corresponded to a region of small disturbance amplitudes, with the amplitude reaching a maximum value close to the reattachment point. An exponential growth rate of the disturbance was seen in the region upstream of the mean maximum height of the bubble, and this was indicative of a linear instability mechanism at work. An infinitesimal disturbance was impulsively introduced into the boundary layer upstream of separation location, and the wave packet was tracked (in an ensemble-averaged sense) while it was getting advected downstream. The disturbance was found to be convective in nature. Linear stability analyses (both the Orr–Sommerfeld and Rayleigh calculations) were performed for mean velocity profiles, starting from an attached adverse-pressure-gradient boundary layer all the way up to the front portion of the separation-bubble region (i.e. up to the end of the dead-air region in which linear evolution of the disturbance could be expected). The conclusion from the present work is that the primary instability mechanism in a separation bubble is inflectional in nature, and its origin can be traced back to upstream of the separation location. In other words, the inviscid inflectional instability of the separated shear layer should be logically seen as an extension of the instability of the upstream attached adverse-pressure-gradient boundary layer. This modifies the traditional view that pegs the origin of the instability in a separation bubble to the detached shear layer outside the bubble, with its associated Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. We contend that only when the separated shear layer has moved considerably away from the wall (and this happens near the maximum-height location of the mean bubble), a description by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability paradigm, with its associated scaling principles, could become relevant. We also propose a new scaling for the most amplified frequency for a wall-bounded shear layer in terms of the inflection-point height and the vorticity thickness and show it to be universal.

Transition of streamwise streaks in zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers

2002 ◽  
Vol 472 ◽  
pp. 229-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUCA BRANDT ◽  
DAN S. HENNINGSON
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting ◽  
Streamwise Streaks ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Optimal Disturbances

A transition scenario initiated by streamwise low- and high-speed streaks in a flat-plate boundary layer is studied. In many shear flows, the perturbations that show the highest potential for transient energy amplification consist of streamwise-aligned vortices. Due to the lift-up mechanism these optimal disturbances lead to elongated streamwise streaks downstream, with significant spanwise modulation. In a previous investigation (Andersson et al. 2001), the stability of these streaks in a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer was studied by means of Floquet theory and numerical simulations. The sinuous instability mode was found to be the most dangerous disturbance. We present here the first simulation of the breakdown to turbulence originating from the sinuous instability of streamwise streaks. The main structures observed during the transition process consist of elongated quasi-streamwise vortices located on the flanks of the low-speed streak. Vortices of alternating sign are overlapping in the streamwise direction in a staggered pattern. The present scenario is compared with transition initiated by Tollmien–Schlichting waves and their secondary instability and by-pass transition initiated by a pair of oblique waves. The relevance of this scenario to transition induced by free-stream turbulence is also discussed.

Turbine Cascade Flow Control Using a “Wake Filling” Pulsed Plasma Actuator

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Perez-Blanco ◽  
Robert Van Dyken ◽  
Aaron Byerley ◽  
Tom McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Separation Bubble ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Plasma Actuator ◽  
Pulsed Plasma ◽  
Power Cost ◽  
Hot Film

Separation bubbles in high-camber blades under part-load conditions have been addressed via continuous and pulsed jets, and also via plasma actuators. Numerous passive techniques have been employed as well. In this type of blades, the laminar boundary layer cannot overcome the adverse pressure gradient arising along the suction side, resulting on a separation bubble. When separation is abated, a common explanation is that kinetic energy added to the laminar boundary layer speeds up its transition to turbulent. In the present study, a plasma actuator installed in the trailing edge (i.e. “wake filling configuration”) of a cascade blade is used to excite the flow in pulsed and continuous ways. The pulsed excitation can be directed to the frequencies of the large coherent structures (LCS) of the flow, as obtained via a hot-film anemometer, or to much higher frequencies present in the suction-side boundary layer, as given in the literature. It is found that pulsed frequencies much higher than that of LCS reduce losses and improve turning angles further than frequencies close to those of LCS. With the plasma actuator 50% on time, good loss abatement is obtained. Larger “on time” values yield improvements, but with decreasing returns. Continuous high-frequency activation results in the largest loss reduction, at increased power cost. The effectiveness of high frequencies may be due to separation abatement via boundary layer excitation into transition, or may simply be due to the creation of a favorable pressure gradient that averts separation as the actuator ejects fluid downstream. Both possibilities are discussed in light of the experimental evidence.

scholarly journals Instability and Transition of a Boundary Layer over a Backward-Facing Step

Fluids ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Ming Teng ◽  
Ugo Piomelli
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Velocity Distribution ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Recirculation Region ◽  
Backward Facing Step ◽  
Freestream Velocity ◽  
Displacement Thickness

The development of secondary instabilities in a boundary layer over a backward-facing step is investigated numerically. Two step heights are considered, h/δo*=0.5 and 1.0 (where δo* is the displacement thickness at the step location), in addition to a reference flat-plate case. A case with a realistic freestream-velocity distribution is also examined. A controlled K-type transition is initiated using a narrow ribbon upstream of the step, which generates small and monochromatic perturbations by periodic blowing and suction. A well-resolved direct numerical simulation is performed. The step height and the imposed freestream-velocity distribution exert a significant influence on the transition process. The results for the h/δo*=1.0 case exhibit a rapid transition primarily due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability downstream of step; non-linear interactions already occur within the recirculation region, and the initial symmetry and periodicity of the flow are lost by the middle stage of transition. In contrast, case h/δo*=0.5 presents a transition road map in which transition occurs far downstream of the step, and the flow remains spatially symmetric and temporally periodic until the late stage of transition. A realistic freestream-velocity distribution (which induces an adverse pressure gradient) advances the onset of transition to turbulence, but does not fundamentally modify the flow features observed in the zero-pressure gradient case. Considering the budgets of the perturbation kinetic energy, both the step and the induced pressure-gradient increase, rather than modify, the energy transfer.

On a Tollmien-Schlichting wave packet produced by a turbulent spot

1979 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Wygnanski ◽  
J. H. Haritonidis ◽  
R. E. Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wave Packet ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Wave Speed ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Turbulent Spot ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting ◽  
Ordered Motion ◽  
Intense Shear

Experimental investigations in the region following the passage of an isolated turbulent spot in a laminar boundary layer reveal the existence of a pair of oblique wave packets. These packets are swept at an angle of approximately 40°, and exhibit frequency and wave speed characteristics in agreement with predictions made for oblique Tollmien-Schlichting waves. No waves exist near the centreline of the spot.Several observations of the breakdown of this ordered motion into a new turbulent spot are shown. This breakdown is accompanied by the appearance of an intense shear layer inclined to the wall.

Transition Mechanisms in Separation Bubbles Under Low and Elevated Freestream Turbulence

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. McAuliffe ◽  
M. I. Yaras
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Freestream Turbulence ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
Separated Shear Layer ◽  
Separation Bubbles

Through numerical simulations, this paper examines the nature of instability mechanisms leading to transition in separation bubbles. The results of two direct numerical simulations are presented in which separation of a laminar boundary layer occurs over a flat surface in the presence of an adverse pressure gradient. The primary difference in the flow conditions between the two simulations is the level of freestream turbulence with intensities of 0.1% and 1.45% at separation. In the first part of the paper, transition under a low-disturbance environment is examined, and the development of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the separated shear layer is compared to the well-established instability characteristics of free shear layers. The study examines the role of the velocity-profile shape on the instability characteristics and the nature of the large-scale vortical structures shed downstream of the bubble. The second part of the paper examines transition in a high-disturbance environment, where the above-mentioned mechanism is bypassed as a result of elevated freestream turbulence. Filtering of the freestream turbulence into the laminar boundary layer results in streamwise streaks which provide conditions under which turbulent spots are produced in the separated shear layer, grow, and then merge to form a turbulent boundary layer. The results allow identification of the structure of the instability mechanism and the characteristic structure of the resultant turbulent spots. Recovery of the reattached turbulent boundary layer is then examined for both cases. The large-scale flow structures associated with transition are noted to remain coherent far downstream of reattachment, delaying recovery of the turbulent boundary layer to an equilibrium state.

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