scholarly journals A framework for studying the effect of compliant surfaces on wall turbulence

2015 ◽  
Vol 768 ◽  
pp. 415-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Luhar ◽  
A. S. Sharma ◽  
B. J. McKeon

This paper extends the resolvent formulation proposed by McKeon & Sharma (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 658, 2010, pp. 336–382) to consider turbulence–compliant wall interactions. Under this formulation, the turbulent velocity field is expressed as a linear superposition of propagating modes, identified via a gain-based decomposition of the Navier–Stokes equations. Compliant surfaces, modelled as a complex wall admittance linking pressure and velocity, affect the gain and structure of these modes. With minimal computation, this framework accurately predicts the emergence of the quasi-two-dimensional propagating waves observed in recent direct numerical simulations. Further, the analysis also enables the rational design of compliant surfaces, with properties optimized to suppress flow structures energetic in wall turbulence. It is shown that walls with unphysical negative damping are required to interact favourably with modes resembling the energetic near-wall cycle, which could explain why previous studies have met with limited success. Positive-damping walls are effective for modes resembling the so-called very-large-scale motions, indicating that compliant surfaces may be better suited for application at higher Reynolds number. Unfortunately, walls that suppress structures energetic in natural turbulence are also predicted to have detrimental effects elsewhere in spectral space. Consistent with previous experiments and simulations, slow-moving spanwise-constant structures are particularly susceptible to further amplification. Mitigating these adverse effects will be central to the development of compliant coatings that have a net positive influence on the flow.

2017 ◽  
Vol 828 ◽  
pp. 496-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Nakashima ◽  
Koji Fukagata ◽  
Mitul Luhar

This paper extends the resolvent analysis of McKeon & Sharma (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 658, 2010, pp. 336–382) to elucidate the drag reduction mechanisms for the suboptimal control laws proposed by Lee, Kim & Choi (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 358, 1998, pp. 245–258). Under the resolvent formulation, the turbulent velocity field is expressed as a linear superposition of propagating modes identified via a gain-based decomposition of the Navier–Stokes equations. This decomposition enables targeted analyses of the effects of suboptimal control on high-gain modes that serve as useful low-order models for dynamically important coherent structures such as the near-wall (NW) cycle or very-large-scale motions. The control laws generate blowing and suction at the wall that is proportional to the fluctuating streamwise (Case ST) or spanwise (Case SP) wall shear stress, with the magnitude of blowing and suction being a design parameter. It is shown that both Case ST and SP can suppress resolvent modes resembling the NW cycle. However, for Case ST, the analysis reveals that control leads to substantial amplification of flow structures that are long in the spanwise direction. Quantitative comparisons show that these predictions are broadly consistent with results obtained in previous direct numerical simulations. Further, the predicted changes in mode structure suggest that suboptimal control can be considered a modified version of opposition control. In addition to the study of modes resembling the NW cycle, this paper also considers modes of varying speed and wavelength to provide insight into the effects of suboptimal control across spectral space.


2018 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Borgnino ◽  
G. Boffetta ◽  
F. De Lillo ◽  
M. Cencini

We study the dynamics and the statistics of dilute suspensions of gyrotactic swimmers, a model for many aquatic motile microorganisms. By means of extensive numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations at different Reynolds numbers, we investigate preferential sampling and small-scale clustering as a function of the swimming (stability and speed) and shape parameters, considering in particular the limits of spherical and rod-like particles. While spherical swimmers preferentially sample local downwelling flow, for elongated swimmers we observe a transition from downwelling to upwelling regions at sufficiently high swimming speed. The spatial distribution of both spherical and elongated swimmers is found to be fractal at small scales in a wide range of swimming parameters. The direct comparison between the different shapes shows that spherical swimmers are more clusterized at small stability and speed numbers, while for large values of the parameters elongated cells concentrate more. The relevance of our results for phytoplankton swimming in the ocean is briefly discussed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 310 ◽  
pp. 139-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Kerr

Using direct simulations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with rigid upper and lower boundaries at fixed temperature and periodic sidewalls, scaling with respect to Rayleigh number is determined. At large aspect ratio (6:6:1) on meshes up to 288 × 288 × 96, a single scaling regime consistent with the properties of ‘hard’ convective turbulence is found for Pr = 0.7 between Ra = 5 × 104 and Ra = 2 × 107. The properties of this regime include Nu ∼ RaβT with βT = 0.28 ≈ 2/7, exponential temperature distributions in the centre of the cell, and velocity and temperature scales consistent with experimental measurements. Two velocity boundary-layer thicknesses are identified, one outside the thermal boundary layer that scales as Ra−1/7 and the other within it that scales as Ra−3/7. Large-scale shears are not observed; instead, strong local boundary-layer shears are observed in regions between incoming plumes and an outgoing network of buoyant sheets. At the highest Rayleigh number, there is a decade where the energy spectra are close to k−5/3 and temperature variance spectra are noticeably less steep. It is argued that taken together this is good evidence for ‘hard’ turbulence, even if individually each of these properties might have alternative explanations.


1991 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 326-326
Author(s):  
James A. Hughes ◽  
Calvin A. Kodres

ABSTRACTRecent, large scale, real estate development near the U.S. Naval Observatory has led to an investigation of the systematic atmospheric effects which heat from large buildings can cause. Results show that non-negligible slopes of the atmospheric layers can be induced which cause a surprisingly large anomalous refraction. The Navier-Stokes equations were numerically integrated using the appropriate boundary conditions and the resulting isopycnic tilts using the appropriate boundary conditions and the resulting isopycnic tilts charted. Rays were then essentially traced through the perturbed atmosphere to determine the magnitude of the anomalous refraction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 817 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. McKeon

Known structures and self-sustaining mechanisms of wall turbulence are reviewed and explored in the context of the scale interactions implied by the nonlinear advective term in the Navier–Stokes equations. The viewpoint is shaped by the systems approach provided by the resolvent framework for wall turbulence proposed by McKeon & Sharma (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 658, 2010, pp. 336–382), in which the nonlinearity is interpreted as providing the forcing to the linear Navier–Stokes operator (the resolvent). Elements of the structure of wall turbulence that can be uncovered as the treatment of the nonlinearity ranges from data-informed approximation to analysis of exact solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations (so-called exact coherent states) are discussed. The article concludes with an outline of the feasibility of extending this kind of approach to high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence in canonical flows and beyond.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1402-1419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nejmeddine Chorfi ◽  
Mohamed Abdelwahed ◽  
Luigi C. Berselli

Abstract In this paper we propose some new non-uniformly-elliptic/damping regularizations of the Navier-Stokes equations, with particular emphasis on the behavior of the vorticity. We consider regularized systems which are inspired by the Baldwin-Lomax and by the selective Smagorinsky model based on vorticity angles, and which can be interpreted as Large Scale methods for turbulent flows. We consider damping terms which are active at the level of the vorticity. We prove the main a priori estimates and compactness results which are needed to show existence of weak and/or strong solutions, both in velocity/pressure and velocity/vorticity formulation for various systems. We start with variants of the known ones, going later on to analyze the new proposed models.


2002 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
pp. 99-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. OBABKO ◽  
K. W. CASSEL

Numerical solutions of the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations are considered for the flow induced by a thick-core vortex convecting along a surface in a two-dimensional incompressible flow. The presence of the vortex induces an adverse streamwise pressure gradient along the surface that leads to the formation of a secondary recirculation region followed by a narrow eruption of near-wall fluid in solutions of the unsteady boundary-layer equations. The locally thickening boundary layer in the vicinity of the eruption provokes an interaction between the viscous boundary layer and the outer inviscid flow. Numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations show that the interaction occurs on two distinct streamwise length scales depending upon which of three Reynolds-number regimes is being considered. At high Reynolds numbers, the spike leads to a small-scale interaction; at moderate Reynolds numbers, the flow experiences a large-scale interaction followed by the small-scale interaction due to the spike; at low Reynolds numbers, large-scale interaction occurs, but there is no spike or subsequent small-scale interaction. The large-scale interaction is found to play an essential role in determining the overall evolution of unsteady separation in the moderate-Reynolds-number regime; it accelerates the spike formation process and leads to formation of secondary recirculation regions, splitting of the primary recirculation region into multiple corotating eddies and ejections of near-wall vorticity. These eddies later merge prior to being lifted away from the surface and causing detachment of the thick-core vortex.


2017 ◽  
Vol 822 ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Mazzuoli ◽  
Paolo Blondeaux ◽  
Julian Simeonov ◽  
Joseph Calantoni

The oscillatory flow around a spherical object lying on a rough bottom is investigated by means of direct numerical simulations of the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations. The rough bottom is simulated by a layer/multiple layers of spherical particles, the size of which is much smaller that the size of the object. The period and amplitude of the velocity oscillations of the free stream are chosen to mimic the flow at the bottom of sea waves and the size of the small spherical particles falls in the range of coarse sand/very fine gravel. Even though the computational costs allow only the simulation of moderate values of the Reynolds number characterizing the bottom boundary layer, the results show that the coherent vortex structures, shed by the spherical object, can break up and generate turbulence, if the Reynolds number of the object is sufficiently large. The knowledge of the velocity field allows the dynamics of the large-scale coherent vortices shed by the object to be determined and turbulence characteristics to be evaluated. Moreover, the forces and torques acting on both the large spherical object and the small particles, simulating sediment grains, can be determined and analysed, thus laying the groundwork for the investigation of sediment dynamics and scour developments.


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