Application of Turbulence Models to Bypass Transition

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 859-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. A. Westin ◽  
R. A. W. M. Henkes
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Transition Prediction ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Layer Flow

The present study considers the use of low-Reynolds number, single-point closures for transition prediction at high levels of free-stream turbulence. The work is focused on two differential Reynolds Stress Transport models, which are compared with the k – ε model of Launder and Sharma. Calculations are carried out for attached boundary layer flow on a flat plate equipped with a sharp leading edge at zero-pressure gradient and for various free-stream turbulence levels. Comparisons with results from a large eddy simulation reveal significant shortcomings in the modeling of the dissipation, with a large overprediction in the pretransitional boundary layer. The present results are in some cases in conflict with other results reported in the literature, and it is shown that the discrepancies can be ascribed to the implementation of the free-stream boundary conditions.

scholarly journals An Extended Version of an Algebraic Intermittency Model for Prediction of Separation-Induced Transition at Elevated Free-Stream Turbulence Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Slawomir Kubacki ◽  
Daniele Simoni ◽  
Davide Lengani ◽  
Erik Dick
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Turbulence Level ◽  
Boundary Layer Flows ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Layer Flow

An algebraic intermittency model for boundary layer flow transition from laminar to turbulent state, is extended using an experimental data base on boundary layer flows with various transition types and results by large eddy simulation of transition in a separated boundary layer. The originating algebraic transition model functions well for bypass transition in an attached boundary layer under a moderately high or elevated free-stream turbulence level, and for transition by Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in a separated boundary layer under a low free-stream turbulence level. It also functions well for transition in a separated layer, caused by a very strong adverse pressure gradient under a moderately high or elevated free-stream turbulence level. It is not accurate for transition in a separated layer under a moderately strong adverse pressure gradient, in the presence of a moderately high or elevated free-stream turbulence level. The extension repairs this deficiency. Therefore, a sensor function for detection of the front part of a separated boundary layer activates two terms that express the effect of free-stream turbulence on the breakdown of a separated layer, without changing the functioning of the model in other flow regions. The sensor and the breakdown terms use only local variables.

Effects of Weak Free Stream Nonuniformity on Boundary Layer Transition

2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan H. Watmuff
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Boundary Layer Transition ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Thickness Variations

Experiments are described in which well-defined weak Free Stream Nonuniformity (FSN) is introduced by placing fine wires upstream of the leading edge of a flat plate. Large amplitude spanwise thickness variations form in the boundary layer as a result of the interaction between the steady laminar wakes from the wires and the leading edge. The centerline of a region of elevated layer thickness is aligned with the centerline of the wake in the freestream and the response is shown to be remarkably sensitive to the spanwise length-scale of the wakes. The region of elevated thickness is equivalent to a long narrow low speed streak in the layer. Elevated Free Stream Turbulence (FST) levels are known to produce randomly forming arrays of long narrow low speed streaks in laminar boundary layers. Therefore the characteristics of the streaks resulting from the FSN are studied in detail in an effort to gain some insight into bypass transition that occurs at elevated FST levels. The shape factors of the profiles in the vicinity of the streak appear to be unaltered from the Blasius value, even though the magnitude of the local thickness variations are as large as 60% of that of the undisturbed layer. Regions of elevated background unsteadiness appear on either side of the streak and it is shown that they are most likely the result of small amplitude spanwise modulation of the layer thickness. The background unsteadiness shares many of the characteristics of Klebanoff modes observed at elevated FST levels. However, the layer remains laminar to the end of the test section (Rx≈1.4×106) and there is no evidence of bursting or other phenomena associated with breakdown to turbulence. A vibrating ribbon apparatus is used to examine interactions between the streak and Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) waves. The deformation of the mean flow introduced by the streak is responsible for substantial phase and amplitude distortion of the waves and the breakdown of the distorted waves is more complex and it occurs at a lower Reynolds number than the breakdown of the K-type secondary instability that is observed when the FSN is not present.

Boundary layer development after a separated region

1998 ◽  
Vol 374 ◽  
pp. 91-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN P. CASTRO ◽  
ELEANORA EPIK
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Separated Flow ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Outer Flow ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Layer Region

Measurements obtained in boundary layers developing downstream of the highly turbulent, separated flow generated at the leading edge of a blunt flat plate are presented. Two cases are considered: first, when there is only very low (wind tunnel) turbulence present in the free-stream flow and, second, when roughly isotropic, homogeneous turbulence is introduced. With conditions adjusted to ensure that the separated region was of the same length in both cases, the flow around reattachment was significantly different and subsequent differences in the development rate of the two boundary layers are identified. The paper complements, but is much more extensive than, the earlier presentation of some of the basic data (Castro & Epik 1996), confirming not only that the development process is very slow, but also that it is non-monotonic. Turbulence stress levels fall below those typical of zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers and, in many ways, the boundary layer has features similar to those found in standard boundary layers perturbed by free-stream turbulence. It is argued that, at least as far as the turbulence structure is concerned, the inner layer region develops no more quickly than does the outer flow and it is the latter which essentially determines the overall rate of development of the whole flow. Some numerical computations are used to assess the extent to which current turbulence models are adequate for such flows.

Receptivity mechanisms in three-dimensional boundary-layer flows

2009 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. 209-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
LARS-UVE SCHRADER ◽  
LUCA BRANDT ◽  
DAN S. HENNINGSON
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Nonlinear Process ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Boundary Layer Flows ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Dimensional Boundary ◽  
Layer Flow

Receptivity in three-dimensional boundary-layer flow to localized surface roughness and free-stream vorticity is studied. A boundary layer of Falkner–Skan–Cooke type with favourable pressure gradient is considered to model the flow slightly downstream of a swept-wing leading edge. In this region, stationary and travelling crossflow instability dominates over other instability types. Three scenarios are investigated: the presence of low-amplitude chordwise localized, spanwise periodic roughness elements on the plate, the impingement of a weak vortical free-stream mode on the boundary layer and the combination of both disturbance sources. Three receptivity mechanisms are identified: steady receptivity to roughness, unsteady receptivity to free-stream vorticity and unsteady receptivity to vortical modes scattered at the roughness. Both roughness and vortical modes provide efficient direct receptivity mechanisms for stationary and travelling crossflow instabilities. We find that stationary crossflow modes dominate for free-stream turbulence below a level of about 0.5%, whereas higher turbulence levels will promote the unsteady receptivity mechanism. Under the assumption of small amplitudes of the roughness and the free-stream disturbance, the unsteady receptivity process due to scattering of free-stream vorticity at the roughness has been found to give small initial disturbance amplitudes in comparison to the direct mechanism for free-stream modes. However, in many environments free-stream vorticity and roughness may excite interacting unstable stationary and travelling crossflow waves. This nonlinear process may rapidly lead to large disturbance amplitudes and promote transition to turbulence.

Evolution of the Laminar Boundary Layer Over a Flat Plate Under a Free Stream Turbulence Intensity of 1.3%

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Walsh ◽  
F. Brighenti ◽  
D. M. McEligot
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence

The evolution of the laminar boundary layer over a flat plate under a free stream turbulence intensity of 1.3% is analysed. The effect of free stream turbulence on the onset of transition is one of the important sources leading to bypass transition. Such disturbances are of great interest in engineering for the prediction of transition on turbine blades. The study concentrates on the early part of the boundary layer, starting from the leading edge, and is characterised by the presence of streamwise elongated regions of high and low streamwise velocity. It is demonstrated that the so called “Klebanoff modes” are not entirely representative of the flow structures, due to the time-averaged representations used in most studies. For the conditions of this investigation it is found that the urms and the peak disturbances remain constant in the early stages of the transition development. This region, in which the streaks strength is constant, is problematic for many theories as it is not known where on a surface to initiate a growth theory calculation, and hence the prediction of transition onset is difficult. The observation that a constant urms region exists within the boundary layer under these conditions may be the source of great difficulty in predicting transition onset under turbulence levels around 1%. This region suggests that the streaks are either continuously generated and damped, or do not grow during the early stage of transition, and highlights the importance of continuous influence of the free stream turbulence along the boundary layer edge. This work concludes that the first is more likely, and furthermore the measurements are shown to agree with recent direct numerical simulations.

Numerical simulations of boundary-layer bypass transition due to high-amplitude free-stream turbulence

2008 ◽  
Vol 613 ◽  
pp. 135-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTOR OVCHINNIKOV ◽  
MEELAN M. CHOUDHARI ◽  
UGO PIOMELLI
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Length Scale ◽  
Normal Velocity ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Turbulent Spots ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of bypass transition due to high-amplitude free-stream turbulence (FST) are carried out for a flat-plate boundary layer. The computational domain begins upstream of the plate leading edge and extends into the fully turbulent region. Thus, there is noad hoctreatment to account for the initial ingestion of FST into the laminar boundary layer. We study the effects of both the FST length scale and the disturbance behaviour near the plate leading edge on the details of bypass transition farther downstream. In one set of simulations, the FST parameters are chosen to match the ERCOFTAC benchmark case T3B. The inferred FST integral length scaleL11is significantly larger (RL=UL11/ν = 6580) than that employed in previous simulations of bypass transition (RL≃ 1000). An additional set of simulations was performed atRL= 1081 to compare the transition behaviour in the T3B case with that of a smaller value of FST length scale. The FST length scale is found to have a profound impact on the mechanism of transition. While streamwise streaks (Klebanoff modes) are observed at both values of the FST length scale, they appear to have clear dynamical significance only at the smaller value ofRL, where transition is concomitant with streak breakdown. For the T3B case, turbulent spots form upstream of the region where streaks could be detected. Spot precursors are traced to quasi-periodic spanwise structures, first observed as short wavepackets in the wall-normal velocity component inside the boundary layer. These structures are reoriented to become horseshoe vortices, which break down into young turbulent spots. Two of the four spots examined for this case had a downstream-pointing shape, similar to those found in experimental studies of transitional boundary layers. Additionally, our simulations indicate the importance of leading-edge receptivity for the onset of transition. Specifically, higher fluctuations of the vertical velocity at the leading edge of the plate result in higher levels of streamwise Reynolds stress inside the developing boundary layer, facilitating breakdown to turbulence.

Periodic Transition on an Axial Compressor Stator: Incidence and Clocking Effects: Part II—Transition Onset Predictions

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Solomon ◽  
G. J. Walker ◽  
J. D. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Simple Procedure ◽  
Axial Compressor ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Flow Interactions ◽  
Transition Modes

Transition onset observations from a 1.5-stage axial compressor outlet stator presented in Part I of this paper are compared with the predictions of conventional transition correlations applied in a quasi-steady manner. The viscous/inviscid interaction code MISES is used to predict the blade surface pressure distributions and boundary layer development. The temporal variation in transition onset is then predicted using ensemble-averaged free-stream turbulence data from the compressor measurements. This simple procedure captures most significant features of the complex transition process on the compressor, and is clearly superior to fixed transition models based on long-term average free-stream turbulence levels. Parallel computations for both natural and bypass transition modes indicate that the natural transition mode tends to dominate on the compressor. This is at variance with turbine airfoil experience, where bypass transition is clearly more important. Comparison of prediction and experiment highlights the significance of leading edge potential flow interactions in promoting periodic wake-induced transition. Viscous/inviscid interactions in the neighborhood of transition can also have an important influence on boundary layer stability and separation phenomena.

Effects of Reynolds Number and Free-Stream Turbulence on Boundary Layer Transition in a Compressor Cascade

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz-Adolf Schreiber ◽  
Wolfgang Steinert ◽  
Bernhard Küsters
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Boundary Layer Transition ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Layer Transition ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
High Reynolds Numbers ◽  
High Turbulence ◽  
High Reynolds

An experimental and analytical study has been performed on the effect of Reynolds number and free-stream turbulence on boundary layer transition location on the suction surface of a controlled diffusion airfoil (CDA). The experiments were conducted in a rectilinear cascade facility at Reynolds numbers between 0.7 and 3.0×106 and turbulence intensities from about 0.7 to 4%. An oil streak technique and liquid crystal coatings were used to visualize the boundary layer state. For small turbulence levels and all Reynolds numbers tested the accelerated front portion of the blade is laminar and transition occurs within a laminar separation bubble shortly after the maximum velocity near 35–40% of chord. For high turbulence levels (Tu > 3%) and high Reynolds numbers transition propagates upstream into the accelerated front portion of the CDA blade. For those conditions, the sensitivity to surface roughness increases considerably and at Tu = 4% bypass transition is observed near 7–10% of chord. Experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions using the transition model which is implemented in the MISES code of Youngren and Drela. Overall the results indicate that early bypass transition at high turbulence levels must alter the profile velocity distribution for compressor blades that are designed and optimized for high Reynolds numbers.

Heat Transfer Committee and Turbomachinery Committee Best Paper of 1996 Award: The Path to Predicting Bypass Transition

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Mayle ◽  
A. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Energy Equation ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Turbulence Level ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Energy Profiles ◽  
Computer Codes ◽  
Good Agreement

A theory is presented for calculating the fluctuations in a laminar boundary layer when the free stream is turbulent. The kinetic energy equation for these fluctuations is derived and a new mechanism is revealed for their production. A methodology is presented for solving the equation using standard boundary layer computer codes. Solutions of the equation show that the fluctuations grow at first almost linearly with distance and then more slowly as viscous dissipation becomes important. Comparisons of calculated growth rates and kinetic energy profiles with data show good agreement. In addition, a hypothesis is advanced for the effective forcing frequency and free-stream turbulence level that produce these fluctuations. Finally, a method to calculate the onset of transition is examined and the results compared to data.

The Path to Predicting Bypass Transition

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Mayle ◽  
A. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Energy Equation ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Bypass Transition ◽  
Turbulence Level ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Energy Profiles ◽  
Computer Codes ◽  
Good Agreement

A theory is presented for calculating the fluctuations in a laminar boundary layer when the free stream is turbulent. The kinetic energy equation for these fluctuations is derived and a new mechanism is revealed for their production. A methodology is presented for solving the equation using standard boundary layer computer codes. Solutions of the equation show that the fluctuations grow at first almost linearly with distance and then more slowly as viscous dissipation becomes important. Comparisons of calculated growth rates and kinetic energy profiles with data show good agreement. In addition, a hypothesis is advanced for the effective forcing frequency and free-stream turbulence level which produce these fluctuations. Finally, a method to calculate the onset of transition is examined and the results compared to data.

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