Secondary Flow in Smooth and Rough Turbulent Circular Pipes: Turbulence Kinetic Energy Budgets

Direct Numerical Simulations have been performed for turbulent flow in circular pipes with smooth and corrugated walls. The numerical method, based on second-order finite discretization together with the immersed boundary technique, was validated and applied to various types of flows. The analysis is focused on the turbulence kinetic energy and its budget. Large differences have been found in the near-wall region at low Reynolds number. The change in the near-wall turbulent structures is responsible for increase of drag and turbulence kinetic energy. To investigatselinae the effects of wall corrugations, the velocity fields have been decomposed so as to isolate coherent and incoherent motions. For corrugated walls, we find that coherent motions are strongest for walls covered with square bars aligned with the flow direction. In particular, the coherent contribution is substantial when the bars are spaced apart by a distance larger than their height. Detailed analysis of the turbulence kinetic energy budget shows for this set-up a very different behavior than for the other types of corrugations.

Anisotropy of Unstably Stratified Near-Surface Turbulence

Classic Monin–Obukov similarity scaling states that in a stationary, horizontally homogeneous flow, in the absence of subsidence, turbulence is dictated by the balance between shear production and buoyancy production/destruction, whose ratio is characterized by a single universal scaling parameter. An evident breakdown in scaling is observed though, through large scatter in traditional scaling relations for the horizontal velocity variances under unstable stratification, or more generally in complex flow conditions. This breakdown suggests the existence of processes other than local shear and buoyancy that modulate near-surface turbulence. Recent studies on the role of anisotropy in similarity scaling have shown that anisotropy, even if calculated locally, may encode the information about these missing processes. We therefore examine the possible processes that govern the degree of anisotropy in convective conditions. We first use the reduced turbulence-kinetic-energy budget to show that anisotropy in convective conditions cannot be uniquely described by a balance of buoyancy and shear production and dissipation, but that other terms in the budget play an important role. Subsequently, we identify a ratio of local time scales that acts as a proxy for the anisotropic state of convective turbulence. This ratio can be used to formulate a new non-dimensional group. Results show that building on this approach the role of anisotropy in scaling relations over complex terrain can be placed into a more generalized framework.

Turbulent Flow Fields Over a 3D Hill Covered by Vegetation Canopy Through Large Eddy Simulations

The flow fields over a simplified 3D hill covered by vegetation have been examined by many researchers. However, there is scarce research giving the three-dimensional characteristics of the flow fields over a rough 3D hill. In this study, large eddy simulations were performed to examine the coherent turbulence structures of the flow fields over a vegetation-covered 3D hill. The numerical simulations were validated by the comparison with the wind-tunnel experiments. Besides, the flow fields were systematically investigated, including the examinations of the mean velocities and root means square of the fluctuating velocities. The distributions of the parameters are shown in a three-dimensional way, i.e., plotting the parameters on a series of spanwise slices. Some noteworthy three-dimensional features were found, and the mechanisms were further revealed by assessing the turbulence kinetic energy budget and the spectrum energy. Subsequently, the instantaneous flow fields were illustrated, from which the coherent turbulence structures were clearly identified. Ejection-sweep motion was intensified just behind the hill crest, leading to a spanwise rotation. A group of vertical rotations were generated by the shedding of the vortex from the lateral sides of the hill.