scholarly journals Direct numerical simulations of Taylor–Couette turbulence: the effects of sand grain roughness

2019 ◽  
Vol 873 ◽  
pp. 260-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Berghout ◽  
Xiaojue Zhu ◽  
Daniel Chung ◽  
Roberto Verzicco ◽  
Richard J. A. M. Stevens ◽  
...  

Progress in roughness research, mapping any given roughness geometry to its fluid dynamic behaviour, has been hampered by the lack of accurate and direct measurements of skin-friction drag, especially in open systems. The Taylor–Couette (TC) system has the benefit of being a closed system, but its potential for characterizing irregular, realistic, three-dimensional (3-D) roughness has not been previously considered in depth. Here, we present direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of TC turbulence with sand grain roughness mounted on the inner cylinder. The model proposed by Scotti (Phys. Fluids, vol. 18, 031701, 2006) has been modified to simulate a random rough surface of monodisperse sand grains. Taylor numbers range from $Ta=1.0\times 10^{7}$(corresponding to $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=82$) to $Ta=1.0\times 10^{9}$ ($Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=635$). We focus on the influence of the roughness height $k_{s}^{+}$ in the transitionally rough regime, through simulations of TC with rough surfaces, ranging from $k_{s}^{+}=5$ up to $k_{s}^{+}=92$. We analyse the global response of the system, expressed both by the dimensionless angular velocity transport $Nu_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}}$ and by the friction factor $C_{f}$. An increase in friction with increasing roughness height is accompanied with enhanced plume ejection from the inner cylinder. Subsequently, we investigate the local response of the fluid flow over the rough surface. The equivalent sand grain roughness $k_{s}^{+}$ is calculated to be $1.33k$, where $k$ is the size of the sand grains. We find that the downwards shift of the logarithmic layer, due to transitionally rough sand grains exhibits remarkably similar behaviour to that of the Nikuradse (VDI-Forsch., vol. 361, 1933) data of sand grain roughness in pipe flow, regardless of the Taylor number dependent constants of the logarithmic layer. Furthermore, we find that the dynamical effects of the sand grains are contained to the roughness sublayer $h_{r}$ with $h_{r}=2.78k_{s}$.

2008 ◽  
Vol 602 ◽  
pp. 175-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. E. JONES ◽  
R. D. SANDBERG ◽  
N. D. SANDHAM

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of laminar separation bubbles on a NACA-0012 airfoil at Rec=5×104 and incidence 5° are presented. Initially volume forcing is introduced in order to promote transition to turbulence. After obtaining sufficient data from this forced case, the explicitly added disturbances are removed and the simulation run further. With no forcing the turbulence is observed to self-sustain, with increased turbulence intensity in the reattachment region. A comparison of the forced and unforced cases shows that the forcing improves the aerodynamic performance whilst requiring little energy input. Classical linear stability analysis is performed upon the time-averaged flow field; however no absolute instability is observed that could explain the presence of self-sustaining turbulence. Finally, a series of simplified DNS are presented that illustrate a three-dimensional absolute instability of the two-dimensional vortex shedding that occurs naturally. Three-dimensional perturbations are amplified in the braid region of developing vortices, and subsequently convected upstream by local regions of reverse flow, within which the upstream velocity magnitude greatly exceeds that of the time-average. The perturbations are convected into the braid region of the next developing vortex, where they are amplified further, hence the cycle repeats with increasing amplitude. The fact that this transition process is independent of upstream disturbances has implications for modelling separation bubbles.


Author(s):  
Joshua R. Brinkerhoff ◽  
Metin I. Yaras

This paper describes numerical simulations of the instability mechanisms in a separation bubble subjected to a three-dimensional freestream pressure distribution. Two direct numerical simulations are performed of a separation bubble with laminar separation and turbulent reattachment under low freestream turbulence at flow Reynolds numbers and streamwise pressure distributions that approximate the conditions encountered on the suction side of typical low-pressure gas-turbine blades with blade sweep angles of 0° and 45°. The three-dimensional pressure field in the swept configuration produces a crossflow-velocity component in the laminar boundary layer upstream of the separation point that is unstable to a crossflow instability mode. The simulation results show that crossflow instability does not play a role in the development of the boundary layer upstream of separation. An increase in the amplification rate and most amplified disturbance frequency is observed in the separated-flow region of the swept configuration, and is attributed to boundary-layer conditions at the point of separation that are modified by the spanwise pressure gradient. This results in a slight upstream movement of the location where the shear layer breaks down to small-scale turbulence and modifies the turbulent mixing of the separated shear layer to yield a downstream shift in the time-averaged reattachment location. The results demonstrate that although crossflow instability does not appear to have a noticeable effect on the development of the transitional separation bubble, the 3D pressure field does indirectly alter the separation-bubble development by modifying the flow conditions at separation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 594 ◽  
pp. 399-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. GAMRAT ◽  
M. FAVRE-MARINET ◽  
S. LE PERSON ◽  
R. BAVIÈRE ◽  
F. AYELA

Three different approaches were used in the present study to predict the influence of roughness on laminar flow in microchannels. Experimental investigations were conducted with rough microchannels 100 to 300μm in height (H). The pressure drop was measured in test-sections prepared with well-controlled wall roughness (periodically distributed blocks, relative roughness k* =k/0.5H≈0.15) and in test-sections with randomly distributed particles anchored on the channel walls (k* ≈0.04–0.13). Three-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted with the same geometry as in the test-section with periodical roughness (wavelength L). A one-dimensional model (RLM model) was also developed on the basis of a discrete-element approach and the volume-averaging technique. The numerical simulations, the rough layer model and the experiments agree to show that the Poiseuille number Po increases with the relative roughness and is independent of Re in the laminar regime (Re<2000). The increase in Po observed during the experiments is predicted well both by the three-dimensional simulations and the rough layer model. The RLM model shows that the roughness effect may be interpreted by using an effective roughness height keff. keff/k depends on two dimensionless local parameters: the porosity at the bottom wall; and the roughness height normalized with the distance between the rough elements. The RLM model shows that keff/k is independent of the relative roughness k* at given k/L and may be simply approximated by the law: keff/k = 1 − (c(ϵ)/2π)(L/k) for keff/k>0.2, where c decreases with the porosity ϵ.


2020 ◽  
Vol 887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Berghout ◽  
Rick J. Dingemans ◽  
Xiaojue Zhu ◽  
Roberto Verzicco ◽  
Richard J. A. M. Stevens ◽  
...  


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5548
Author(s):  
Felix Benjamin Keil ◽  
Marvin Amzehnhoff ◽  
Umair Ahmed ◽  
Nilanjan Chakraborty ◽  
Markus Klein

In the present study, flame propagation statistics from turbulent statistically planar premixed flames obtained from simple and detailed chemistry, three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulations, were evaluated and compared to each other. To this end, a new database was established encompassing five different conditions on the turbulent premixed combustion regime diagram, using nearly identical numerical methods and the same initial and boundary conditions. A detailed discussion of the advantages and limitations of both approaches is provided, including the difference in carbon footprint for establishing the database. It is shown that displacement speed statistics and their interrelation with curvature and tangential strain rate are in very good qualitative and reasonably good quantitative agreement between simple and detailed chemistry Direct Numerical Simulations. Hence, it is concluded that simple chemistry simulations should retain their importance for future combustion research, and the environmental impact of high-performance computing methods should be carefully chosen in relation to the goals to be achieved.


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