scholarly journals On the influence of outer large-scale structures on near-wall turbulence in channel flow

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 075107 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Agostini ◽  
M. A. Leschziner
2011 ◽  
Vol 667 ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIARONG HONG ◽  
JOSEPH KATZ ◽  
MICHAEL P. SCHULTZ

Utilizing an optically index-matched facility and high-resolution particle image velocimetry measurements, this paper examines flow structure and turbulence in a rough-wall channel flow for Reτ in the 3520–5360 range. The scales of pyramidal roughness elements satisfy the ‘well-characterized’ flow conditions, with h/k ≈ 50 and k+ = 60 ~ 100, where h is half height of the channel and k is the roughness height. The near-wall turbulence measurements are sensitive to spatial resolution, and vary with Reynolds number. Spatial variations in the mean flow, Reynolds stresses, as well as the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production and dissipation rates are confined to y < 2k. All the Reynolds stress components have local maxima at slightly higher elevations, but the streamwise-normal component increases rapidly at y < k, peaking at the top of the pyramids. The TKE production and dissipation rates along with turbulence transport also peak near the wall. The spatial energy and shear spectra show an increasing contribution of large-scale motions and a diminishing role of small motions with increasing distance from the wall. As the spectra steepen at low wavenumbers, they flatten and develop bumps in wavenumbers corresponding to k − 3k, which fall in the dissipation range. Instantaneous realizations show that roughness-scale eddies are generated near the wall, and lifted up rapidly by large-scale structures that populate the outer layer. A linear stochastic estimation-based analysis shows that the latter share common features with hairpin packets. This process floods the outer layer with roughness-scale eddies, in addition to those generated by the energy-cascading process. Consequently, although the imprints of roughness diminish in the outer-layer Reynolds stresses, consistent with the wall similarity hypothesis, the small-scale turbulence contains a clear roughness signature across the entire channel.


2016 ◽  
Vol 802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongyun Hwang ◽  
Ashley P. Willis ◽  
Carlo Cossu

Understanding the origin of large-scale structures in high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence has been a central issue over a number of years. Recently, Rawat et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 782, 2015, pp. 515–540) have computed invariant solutions for the large-scale structures in turbulent Couette flow at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}\simeq 128$ using an overdamped large-eddy simulation with the Smagorinsky model to account for the effect of the surrounding small-scale motions. Here, we extend this approach to Reynolds numbers an order of magnitude higher in turbulent channel flow, towards the regime where the large-scale structures in the form of very-large-scale motions (long streaky motions) and large-scale motions (short vortical structures) emerge energetically. We demonstrate that a set of invariant solutions can be computed from simulations of the self-sustaining large-scale structures in the minimal unit (domain of size $L_{x}=3.0h$ streamwise and $L_{z}=1.5h$ spanwise) with midplane reflection symmetry at least up to $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}\simeq 1000$. By approximating the surrounding small scales with an artificially elevated Smagorinsky constant, a set of equilibrium states are found, labelled upper- and lower-branch according to their associated drag. It is shown that the upper-branch equilibrium state is a reasonable proxy for the spatial structure and the turbulent statistics of the self-sustaining large-scale structures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 850 ◽  
pp. 733-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Abe ◽  
Robert Anthony Antonia ◽  
Sadayoshi Toh

Direct numerical simulations are used to examine large-scale motions with a streamwise length$2\sim 4h$($h$denotes the channel half-width) in the logarithmic and outer regions of a turbulent channel flow. We test a minimal ‘streamwise’ flow unit (Toh & Itano,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 524, 2005, pp. 249–262) (or MSU) for larger Kármán numbers ($h^{+}=395$and 1020) than in the original work. This flow unit consists of a sufficiently long (${L_{x}}^{+}\approx 400$) streamwise domain to maintain near-wall turbulence (Jiménez & Moin,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 225, 1991, pp. 213–240) and a spanwise domain which is large enough to represent the spanwise behaviour of inner and outer structures correctly; as$h^{+}$increases, the streamwise extent of the MSU domain decreases with respect to$h$. Particular attention is given to whether the spanwise organization of the large-scale structures may be represented properly in this simplified system at sufficiently large$h^{+}$and how these structures are associated with the mean streamwise velocity$\overline{U}$. It is shown that, in the MSU, the large-scale structures become approximately two-dimensional at$h^{+}=1020$. In this case, the streamwise velocity fluctuation$u$is energized, whereas the spanwise velocity fluctuation$w$is weakened significantly. Indeed, there is a reduced energy redistribution arising from the impaired global nature of the pressure, which is linked to the reduced linear–nonlinear interaction in the Poisson equation (i.e. the rapid pressure). The logarithmic dependence of$\overline{ww}$is also more evident due to the reduced large-scale spanwise meandering. On the other hand, the spanwise organization of the large-scale$u$structures is essentially identical for the MSU and large streamwise domain (LSD). One discernible difference, relative to the LSD, is that the large-scale structures in the MSU are more energized in the outer region due to a reduced turbulent diffusion. In this region, there is a tight coupling between neighbouring structures, which yields antisymmetric pairs (with respect to centreline) of large-scale structures with a spanwise spacing of approximately$3h$; this is intrinsically identical with the outer energetic mode in the optimal transient growth of perturbations (del Álamo & Jiménez,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 561, 2006, pp. 329–358).


2018 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 74-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Farano ◽  
S. Cherubini ◽  
P. De Palma ◽  
J.-C. Robinet

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