scholarly journals Experimental observation of frequency lock-in of roughness-induced instabilities in a laminar boundary layer

2019 ◽  
Vol 870 ◽  
pp. 680-697
Author(s):  
Dominik K. Puckert ◽  
Ulrich Rist
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Water Channel ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Boundary Layer Theory ◽  
Linear Stability Theory ◽  
Mode Decomposition ◽  
Lock In

The interaction of disturbance modes behind an isolated cylindrical roughness element in a laminar boundary layer is investigated by means of hot-film anemometry and particle image velocimetry in a low-turbulence laminar water channel. Both sinuous and varicose disturbance modes are found in the wake of a roughness with unit aspect ratio (diameter/height $=$ 1). Interestingly, the frequency of the varicose mode synchronizes with the first harmonic of the sinuous mode when the critical Reynolds number from three-dimensional global linear stability theory is exceeded. The coupled motion of sinuous and varicose modes is explained by frequency lock-in. This mechanism is of great importance in many aspects of nature, but has not yet received sufficient attention in the field of boundary-layer theory. A Fourier mode decomposition provides detailed analyses of sinuous and varicose modes. The observation is confirmed by a second experiment with the same aspect ratio at a different position in the laminar boundary layer. When the aspect ratio is increased, the flow is fully governed by the varicose mode. Thus, no frequency lock-in can be observed in this case. The significance of this work is to explain how sinuous and varicose modes can co-exist behind a roughness and to propose a mechanism which is well established in physics but not encountered often in boundary-layer theory.

scholarly journals Receptivity of a laminar boundary layer to the interaction of a three-dimensional roughness element with time-harmonic free-stream disturbances

1992 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 701-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tadjfar ◽  
R. J. Bodonyi
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Stokes Flow ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Unsteady Motion ◽  
Time Harmonic ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting

Receptivity of a laminar boundary layer to the interaction of time-harmonic free-stream disturbances with a three-dimensional roughness element is studied. The three-dimensional nonlinear triple–deck equations are solved numerically to provide the basic steady-state motion. At high Reynolds numbers, the governing equations for the unsteady motion are the unsteady linearized three-dimensional triple-deck equations. These equations can only be solved numerically. In the absence of any roughness element, the free-stream disturbances, to the first order, produce the classical Stokes flow, in the thin Stokes layer near the wall (on the order of our lower deck). However, with the introduction of a small three-dimensional roughness element, the interaction between the hump and the Stokes flow introduces a spectrum of all spatial disturbances inside the boundary layer. For supercritical values of the scaled Strouhal number, S0 > 2, these Tollmien–Schlichting waves are amplified in a wedge-shaped region, 15° to 18° to the basic-flow direction, extending downstream of the hump. The amplification rate approaches a value slightly higher than that of two-dimensional Tollmien–Schlichting waves, as calculated by the linearized analysis, far downstream of the roughness element.

On the growth of turbulent regions in laminar boundary layers

1981 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 73-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Gad-El-Hak ◽  
Ron F. Blackwelderf ◽  
James J. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Water Channel ◽  
Lateral Spreading ◽  
Lateral Growth ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
Salinity Stratification ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layers ◽  
Probe Measurements

Turbulent spots evolving in a laminar boundary layer on a nominally zero pressure gradient flat plate are investigated. The plate is towed through an 18 m water channel, using a carriage that rides on a continuously replenished oil film giving a vibrationless tow. Turbulent spots are initiated using a solenoid valve that ejects a small amount of fluid through a minute hole on the working surface. A novel visualization technique that utilizes fluorescent dye excited by a sheet of laser light is employed. Some new aspects of the growth and entrainment of turbulent spots, especially with regard to lateral growth, are inferred from the present experiments. To supplement the information on lateral spreading, a surbulent wedge created by placing a roughness element in the laminar boundary layer is also studied both visually and with probe measurements. The present results show that, in addition to entrainment, another mechanism is needed to explain the lateral growth characteristics of a turbulent region in a laminar boundary layer. This mechanism, termed growth by destabilization, appears to be a result of the turbulence destabilizing the unstable laminar boundary layer in its vicinity. To further understand the growth mechanisms, the turbulence in the spot is modulated using drag-reducing additives and salinity stratification.

On the evolution of a turbulent boundary layer induced by a three-dimensional roughness element

1992 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 101-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Klebanoff ◽  
W. G. Cleveland ◽  
K. D. Tidstrom
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Roughness Elements

An experimental investigation is described which has as its objectives the extension of the technical data base pertaining to roughness-induced transition and the advancement of the understanding of the physical processes by which three-dimensional roughness elements induce transition from laminar to turbulent flow in boundary layers. The investigation was carried out primarily with single hemispherical roughness elements surface mounted in a well-characterized zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer on a flat plate. The critical roughness Reynolds number at which turbulence is regarded as originating at the roughness was determined for the roughness elements herein considered and evaluated in the context of data existing in the literature. The effect of a steady and oscillatory free-stream velocity on eddy shedding was also investigated. The Strouhal behaviour of the ‘hairpin’ eddies shed by the roughness and role they play in the evolution of a fully developed turbulent boundary layer, as well as whether their generation is governed by an inflexional instability, are examined. Distributions of mean velocity and intensity of the u-fluctuation demonstrating the evolution toward such distributions for a fully developed turbulent boundary layer were measured on the centreline at Reynolds numbers below and above the critical Reynolds number of transition. A two-region model is postulated for the evolutionary change toward a fully developed turbulent boundary layer: an inner region where the turbulence is generated by the complex interaction of the hairpin eddies with the pre-existing stationary vortices that lie near the surface and are inherent to a flow about a three-dimensional obstacle in a laminar boundary layer; and an outer region where the hairpin eddies deform and generate turbulent vortex rings. The structure of the resulting fully developed turbulent boundary layer is discussed in the light of the proposed model for the evolutionary process.

The Effect of the Boundary Layer on the Lift of Finite Wings

1963 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-253
Author(s):  
L. C. Squire
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Present Method ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Boundary Layer Theory ◽  
Dimensional Boundary ◽  
Finite Wing

SummaryThe vorticity shed behind a finite wing has been studied and a condition found for steady circulation. This condition is then combined with three-dimensional boundary layer theory to find the lift of a finite wing. An example shows that on a thin ellipsoid of aspect ratio 6·37 the lift as found by the present method is 2 per cent lower than the lift obtained using a sectional boundary layer approach.

Roughness Element Geometry Required for Wind Tunnel Simulations of the Atmospheric Wind

1977 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. S. Gartshore ◽  
K. A. De Croos
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Roughness Element ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Wall Stress ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Drag Plate ◽  
Rough Boundaries ◽  
Single Figure

Using a data correlation for the wall stress associated with very rough boundaries and a semi-empirical calculation method, the shape of boundary layers in exact equilibrium with the roughness beneath them is calculated. A wide range of roughness geometries (two- and three-dimensional elements) is included by the use of equivalent surfaces of equal drag per unit area. Results can be summarized in a single figure which relates the shape factor of the boundary layer (its exponent if it has a power law velocity profile) to the height of the roughness elements and their spacing. New data for one turbulent boundary layer developing over a long fetch of uniform roughness is presented. Wall shear stress, measured directly from a drag plate is combined with boundary layer integral properties to show that the shear stress correlation adopted is reasonably accurate and that the boundary layer is close to equilibrium after passing over a streamwise roughness fetch equal to about 350 times the roughness element height. An example is given of the way in which roughness geometry may be chosen from calculated equilibrium results, for one particular boundary layer thickness and a shape useful for simulating strong atmospheric winds in a wind tunnel.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document