Mechanical Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemSpanwise periodicity and the existence of very large scale coherence in turbulent boundary layers(Begellhouse, 2005-12-01)
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ItemDominant spanwise Fourier modes, and the existence of very large scale coherence in turbulent boundary layers( 2004)Multiple plane stereo PIV results and data from a rake often hot-wire probes are used to investigate the largest scalestructures in a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer.Instantaneous vector fields from stereo PIV in spanwise-streamwiseplanes reveal long low- and high-speed regions,with a length that often exceeds the viewing window (> 2d).Also evident is a remarkable degree of spanwise organisation,that manifests as a persistent spanwise stripiness in the u componentof the PIV vector field. Almost all trace of such spanwiseorganisation is lost in the mean statistics, presumably dueto the multitude of scales naturally present in wall-bounded turbulence.This can be overcome by ‘de-jittering’ the instantaneousvector fields. By sorting the data according to dominantspanwise fourier modes, and then applying simple statisticaltools to the sorted subsets, we are able to extract a clear viewof spanwise organisation. Results are confirmed in the variousPIV data-sets. Since the PIV fails to adequately capture the fullstreamwise extent of the low-speed regions, a rake of hot-wireprobes is also employed to capture a continuous view of thespanwise coherence. It is found that the low-speed regions arein fact extremely persistent in the streamwise direction, oftenexceeding 20 d in length. The fact that these long features meanderappreciably in the spanwise direction will limit the overallstreamwise length-scale as witnessed by a single probe or singlepoint statistic. For instance, premultiplied one-dimensionalspectra of the streamwise velocity (kxFuu) at this z/d show apeak contribution for characteristic lengthscales of 5-7d.
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ItemInclined cross-stream stereo particle image velocimetry measurements in turbulent boundary layers(Cambridge University Press, 2005)This work can be viewed as a reprise of Head & Bandyopadhyay’s (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 107, 1981, p. 297) original boundary-layer visualization study although in this instance we make use of stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV), techniques to obtain a quantitative view of the turbulent structure. By arranging the laser light-sheet and image plane of a stereo PIV system in inclined spanwise/wall-normal planes (inclined at both 45° and 135° to the streamwise axis) a unique quantitative view of the turbulent boundary layer is obtained. Experiments are repeated across a range of Reynolds numbers, Reτ ≈690–2800. Despite numerous experimental challenges (due to the large out-of-plane velocity components), mean flow and Reynolds stress profiles indicate that the salient features of the turbulent flow have been well resolved. The data are analysed with specific attention to a proposed hairpin eddy model. In-plane two-dimensional swirl is used to identify vortical eddy structures piercing the inclined planes. The vast majority of this activity occurs in the 135° plane, indicating an inclined eddy structure, and Biot-Savart law calculations are carried out to aid in the discussion. Conditional averaging and linear stochastic estimation results also support the presence of inclined eddies, arranged about low-speed regions. In the 135° plane, instantaneous swirl patterns exhibit a predisposition for counter-rotating vortex pairs (arranged with an ejection at their confluence). Such arrangements are consistent with the hairpin packet model. Correlation and scaling results show outer-scaling to be the correct way to quantify the characteristic spanwise length scale across the log and wake regions of the boundary layers (for the range of Reynolds numbers tested). A closer investigation of two-point velocity correlation contours indicates the occurrence of a distinct two-regime behaviour, in which contours (and hence streamwise velocity fluctuations) either appear to be ‘attached’ to the buffer region, or ‘detaching’ from it. The demarcation between these two regimes is found to scale well with outer variables. The results are consistent with a coherent structure that becomes increasingly uncoupled (or decorrelated) from the wall as it grows beyond the logarithmic region, providing additional support for a wall–wake description of turbulent boundary layers.
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ItemLarge-scale amplitude modulation of the small-scale structures in turbulent boundary layers(CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2009-06-10)In this paper we investigate the relationship between the large- and small-scale energy-containing motions in wall turbulence. Recent studies in a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer (Hutchins & Marusic, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 365, 2007a, pp. 647–664) have revealed a possible influence of the large-scale boundary-layer motions on the small-scale near-wall cycle, akin to a pure amplitude modulation. In the present study we build upon these observations, using the Hilbert transformation applied to the spectrally filtered small-scale component of fluctuating velocity signals, in order to quantify the interaction. In addition to the large-scale log-region structures superimposing a footprint (or mean shift) on the near-wall fluctuations (Townsend, The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow, 2nd edn., 1976, Cambridge University Press; Metzger & Klewicki, Phys. Fluids, vol. 13, 2001, pp. 692–701.), we find strong supporting evidence that the small-scale structures are subject to a high degree of amplitude modulation seemingly originating from the much larger scales that inhabit the log region. An analysis of the Reynolds number dependence reveals that the amplitude modulation effect becomes progressively stronger as the Reynolds number increases. This is demonstrated through three orders of magnitude in Reynolds number, from laboratory experiments at Reτ ~ 103–104 to atmospheric surface layer measurements at Reτ ~ 106.