scholarly journals A self-sustaining process model of inertial layer dynamics in high Reynolds number turbulent wall flows

Author(s):  
G. P. Chini ◽  
B. Montemuro ◽  
C. M. White ◽  
J. Klewicki

Field observations and laboratory experiments suggest that at high Reynolds numbers Re the outer region of turbulent boundary layers self-organizes into quasi-uniform momentum zones (UMZs) separated by internal shear layers termed ‘vortical fissures’ (VFs). Motivated by this emergent structure, a conceptual model is proposed with dynamical components that collectively have the potential to generate a self-sustaining interaction between a single VF and adjacent UMZs. A large- Re asymptotic analysis of the governing incompressible Navier–Stokes equation is performed to derive reduced equation sets for the streamwise-averaged and streamwise-fluctuating flow within the VF and UMZs. The simplified equations reveal the dominant physics within—and isolate possible coupling mechanisms among—these different regions of the flow. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.

2016 ◽  
Vol 794 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Chini

Exact coherent structures (ECS), unstable three-dimensional solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations, play a fundamental role in transitional and turbulent wall flows. Dempsey et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 791, 2016, pp. 97–121) demonstrate that at large Reynolds number reduced equations can be derived that simplify the computation and facilitate mechanistic understanding of these solutions. Their analysis shows that ECS in plane Poiseuille flow can be sustained by a novel inner–outer interaction between oblique near-wall Tollmien–Schlichting waves and interior streamwise vortices.


Author(s):  
J. C. Klewicki ◽  
G. P. Chini ◽  
J. F. Gibson

Recent and on-going advances in mathematical methods and analysis techniques, coupled with the experimental and computational capacity to capture detailed flow structure at increasingly large Reynolds numbers, afford an unprecedented opportunity to develop realistic models of high Reynolds number turbulent wall-flow dynamics. A distinctive attribute of this new generation of models is their grounding in the Navier–Stokes equations. By adhering to this challenging constraint, high-fidelity models ultimately can be developed that not only predict flow properties at high Reynolds numbers, but that possess a mathematical structure that faithfully captures the underlying flow physics. These first-principles models are needed, for example, to reliably manipulate flow behaviours at extreme Reynolds numbers. This theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A provides a selection of contributions from the community of researchers who are working towards the development of such models. Broadly speaking, the research topics represented herein report on dynamical structure, mechanisms and transport; scale interactions and self-similarity; model reductions that restrict nonlinear interactions; and modern asymptotic theories. In this prospectus, the challenges associated with modelling turbulent wall-flows at large Reynolds numbers are briefly outlined, and the connections between the contributing papers are highlighted. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.


2013 ◽  
Vol 729 ◽  
pp. 285-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej J. Balajewicz ◽  
Earl H. Dowell ◽  
Bernd R. Noack

AbstractWe generalize the POD-based Galerkin method for post-transient flow data by incorporating Navier–Stokes equation constraints. In this method, the derived Galerkin expansion minimizes the residual like POD, but with the power balance equation for the resolved turbulent kinetic energy as an additional optimization constraint. Thus, the projection of the Navier–Stokes equation on to the expansion modes yields a Galerkin system that respects the power balance on the attractor. The resulting dynamical system requires no stabilizing eddy-viscosity term – contrary to other POD models of high-Reynolds-number flows. The proposed Galerkin method is illustrated with two test cases: two-dimensional flow inside a square lid-driven cavity and a two-dimensional mixing layer. Generalizations for more Navier–Stokes constraints, e.g. Reynolds equations, can be achieved in straightforward variation of the presented results.


Author(s):  
J. He ◽  
B. Q. Zhang

A new hyperbolic function discretization equation for two dimensional Navier-Stokes equation in the stream function vorticity from is derived. The basic idea of this method is to integrat the total flux of the general variable ϕ in the differential equations, then incorporate the local analytic solutions in hyperbolic function for the one-dimensional linearized transport equation. The hyperbolic discretization (HD) scheme can more accurately represent the conservation and transport properties of the governing equation. The method is tested in a range of Reynolds number (Re=100~2000) using the viscous incompressible flow in a square cavity. It is proved that the HD scheme is stable for moderately high Reynolds number and accurate even for coarse grids. After some proper extension, the method is applied to predict the flow field in a new type combustor with air blast double-vortex and obtained some useful results.


2012 ◽  
Vol 704 ◽  
pp. 137-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Brethouwer ◽  
Y. Duguet ◽  
P. Schlatter

AbstractDirect numerical simulations of subcritical rotating, stratified and magneto-hydrodynamic wall-bounded flows are performed in large computational domains, focusing on parameters where laminar and turbulent flow can stably coexist. In most cases, a regime of large-scale oblique laminar-turbulent patterns is identified at the onset of transition, as in the case of pure shear flows. The current study indicates that this oblique regime can be shifted up to large values of the Reynolds number $\mathit{Re}$ by increasing the damping by the Coriolis, buoyancy or Lorentz force. We show evidence for this phenomenon in three distinct flow cases: plane Couette flow with spanwise cyclonic rotation, plane magnetohydrodynamic channel flow with a spanwise or wall-normal magnetic field, and open channel flow under stable stratification. Near-wall turbulence structures inside the turbulent patterns are invariably found to scale in terms of viscous wall units as in the fully turbulent case, while the patterns themselves remain large-scale with a trend towards shorter wavelength for increasing $\mathit{Re}$. Two distinct regimes are identified: at low Reynolds numbers the patterns extend from one wall to the other, while at large Reynolds number they are confined to the near-wall regions and the patterns on both channel sides are uncorrelated, the core of the flow being highly turbulent without any dominant large-scale structure.


Author(s):  
A. S. Sharma ◽  
R. Moarref ◽  
B. J. McKeon

Previous work has established the usefulness of the resolvent operator that maps the terms nonlinear in the turbulent fluctuations to the fluctuations themselves. Further work has described the self-similarity of the resolvent arising from that of the mean velocity profile. The orthogonal modes provided by the resolvent analysis describe the wall-normal coherence of the motions and inherit that self-similarity. In this contribution, we present the implications of this similarity for the nonlinear interaction between modes with different scales and wall-normal locations. By considering the nonlinear interactions between modes, it is shown that much of the turbulence scaling behaviour in the logarithmic region can be determined from a single arbitrarily chosen reference plane. Thus, the geometric scaling of the modes is impressed upon the nonlinear interaction between modes. Implications of these observations on the self-sustaining mechanisms of wall turbulence, modelling and simulation are outlined. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.


1956 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Batchelor

This note advocates a model of the steady flow about a bluff body at large Reynolds number which is different from the classical free-streamline model of Helmholtz and Kirchhoff. It is suggested that, although the free-streamline model may be a proper solution of the Navier-Stokes equation with μ = 0, it is unlikely to be the limit, as μ → 0, of the solution describing the steady flow due to the presence of a bluff body in an otherwise uniform stream. The limit solution proposed here is one which gives a closed wake.A closed wake contains a standing eddy, or eddies, whose general features can be inferred from the results of an earlier investigation of steady flow in a closed region at large Reynolds number. In all cases, the drag (coefficient) on the body tends to zero as the Reynolds number tends to infinity. The proccedure for finding the details of the closed wake behind two-dimensional and axisymmetrical bodies is described, although no particular case has yet been worked out.


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