Debate Concerning the Mean-Velocity Profile of a Turbulent Boundary Layer

AIAA Journal ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias H. Buschmann ◽  
Mohamed Gad-El-Hak
2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Bergstrom ◽  
Nathan A. Kotey ◽  
Mark F. Tachie

Experimental measurements of the mean velocity profile in a canonical turbulent boundary layer are obtained for four different surface roughness conditions, as well as a smooth wall, at moderate Reynolds numbers in a wind tunnel. The mean streamwise velocity component is fitted to a correlation which allows both the strength of the wake, Π, and friction velocity, Uτ, to vary. The results show that the type of surface roughness affects the mean defect profile in the outer region of the turbulent boundary layer, as well as determining the value of the skin friction. The defect profiles normalized by the friction velocity were approximately independent of Reynolds number, while those normalized using the free stream velocity were not. The fact that the outer flow is significantly affected by the specific roughness characteristics at the wall implies that rough wall boundary layers are more complex than the wall similarity hypothesis would allow.


1956 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Coles

After an extensive survey of mean-velocity profile measurements in various two-dimensional incompressible turbulent boundary-layer flows, it is proposed to represent the profile by a linear combination of two universal functions. One is the well-known law of the wall. The other, called the law of the wake, is characterized by the profile at a point of separation or reattachment. These functions are considered to be established empirically, by a study of the mean-velocity profile, without reference to any hypothetical mechanism of turbulence. Using the resulting complete analytic representation for the mean-velocity field, the shearing-stress field for several flows is computed from the boundary-layer equations and compared with experimental data.The development of a turbulent boundary layer is ultimately interpreted in terms of an equivalent wake profile, which supposedly represents the large-eddy structure and is a consequence of the constraint provided by inertia. This equivalent wake profile is modified by the presence of a wall, at which a further constraint is provided by viscosity. The wall constraint, although it penetrates the entire boundary layer, is manifested chiefly in the sublayer flow and in the logarithmic profile near the wall.Finally, it is suggested that yawed or three-dimensional flows may be usefully represented by the same two universal functions, considered as vector rather than scalar quantities. If the wall component is defined to be in the direction of the surface shearing stress, then the wake component, at least in the few cases studied, is found to be very nearly parallel to the gradient of the pressure.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang-Moon Koh

By introducing the equivalent roughness which is defined as the distance from the wall to where the velocity gets a certain value (u/uτ ≈ 8.5) and which can be represented by a simple function of the roughness, a simple formula to represent the mean-velocity distribution across the inner layer of a turbulent boundary layer is suggested. The suggested equation is general enough to be applicable to turbulent boundary layers over surfaces of any roughnesses covering from very smooth to completely rough surfaces. The suggested velocity profile is then used to get expressions for pipe-friction factors and skin friction coefficients. These equations are consistent with existing experimental observations and embrace well-known equations (e.g., Prandtl’s friction law for smooth pipes and Colebrook’s formula etc.) as special cases.


1970 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Long

An effort is made to understand turbulence in fluid systems like the oceans and atmosphere in which the Richardson number is generally large. Toward this end, a theory is developed for turbulent flow over a flat plate which is moved and cooled in such a way as to produce constant vertical fluxes of momentum and heat. The theory indicates that in a co-ordinate system fixed in the plate the mean velocity increases linearly with heightzabove a turbulent boundary layer and the mean density decreases asz3, so that the Richardson number is large far from the plate. Near the plate, the results reduce to those of Monin & Obukhov.Thecurvatureof the density profile is essential in the formulation of the theory. When the curvature is negative, a volume of fluid, thoroughly mixed by turbulence, will tend to flatten out at a new level well above the original centre of mass, thereby transporting heat downward. When the curvature is positive a mixed volume of fluid will tend to fall a similar distance, again transporting heat downward. A well-mixed volume of fluid will also tend to rise when the density profile is linear, but this rise is negligible on the basis of the Boussinesq approximation. The interchange of fluid of different, mean horizontal speeds in the formation of the turbulent patch transfers momentum. As the mixing in the patch destroys the mean velocity shear locally, kinetic energy is transferred from mean motion to disturbed motion. The turbulence can arise in spite of the high Richardson number because the precise variations of mean density and mean velocity mentioned above permit wave energy to propagate from the turbulent boundary layer to the whole region above the plate. At the levels of reflexion, where the amplitudes become large, wave-breaking and turbulence will tend to develop.The relationship between the curvature of the density profile and the transfer of heat suggests that the density gradient near the level of a point of inflexion of the density curve (in general cases of stratified, shearing flow) will increase locally as time goes on. There will also be a tendency to increase the shear through the action of local wave stresses. If this results in a progressive reduction in Richardson number, an ultimate outbreak of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability will occur. The resulting sporadic turbulence will transfer heat (and momentum) through the level of the inflexion point. This mechanism for the appearance of regions of low Richardson number is offered as a possible explanation for the formation of the surfaces of strong density and velocity differences observed in the oceans and atmosphere, and for the turbulence that appears on these surfaces.


2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Krope ◽  
J. Krope ◽  
L.C. Lipus

Abstract A new model for mean velocity profile of turbulent water flow with added drag-reducing surfactants is presented in this paper. The general problem of drag due to frictional resistance is reviewed and drag reduction by the addition of polymers or surfactants is introduced. The model bases on modified Prandtl's mixing length hypothesis and includes three parameters, which depend on additives and can be evaluated by numerical simulation from experimental datasets. The advantage of the model in comparison with previously reported models is that it gives uniform curve for whole pipe section and can be determined for a new surfactant with less necessary measurements. The use of the model is demonstrated for surfactant Habon-G as an example.


1974 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 867-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Boiko ◽  
L. N. Dymant ◽  
V. M. Eroshenko

1966 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Fiedler ◽  
M. R. Head

An improved version of Corrsin & Kistler's method has been used to measure intermittency in favourable and adverse pressure gradients, and the characteristic parameters of the intermittency have been related to the form parameterHof the mean velocity profiles.It is found that with adverse pressure gradients the centre of intermittency moves outward from the surface while the width of the intermittent zone decreases. The converse is true of favourable pressure gradients, and it seems likely that at sufficiently low values ofHthe flow over the full depth of the layer is only intermittently turbulent.A new method of intermittency measurement is presented which makes use of a photo-electric probe. Smoke is introduced into the boundary layer and illuminated by a narrow beam of parallel light normal to the surface. The photoelectric probe is focused on the illuminated region and a signal is generated when smoke passes through the focal point of the probe lens. Comparison of this signal with the output from a hot-wire at very nearly the same point shows the identity of smoke and turbulence distributions.


1965 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Perry ◽  
P. N. Joubert

The purpose of this paper is to provide some possible explantions for certain observed phenomena associated with the mean-velocity profile of a turbulent boundary layer which undergoes a rapid yawing. For the cases considered the yawing is caused by an obstruction attached to the wall upon which the boundary layer is developing. Only incompressible flow is considered.§1 of the paper is concerned with the outer region of the boundary layer and deals with a phenomenon observed by Johnston (1960) who described it with his triangular model for the polar plot of the velocity distribution. This was also observed by Hornung & Joubert (1963). It is shown here by a first-approximation analysis that such a behaviour is mainly a consequence of the geometry of the apparatus used. The analysis also indicates that, for these geometries, the outer part of the boundary-layer profile can be described by a single vector-similarity defect law rather than the vector ‘wall-wake’ model proposed by Coles (1956). The former model agrees well with the experimental results of Hornung & Joubert.In §2, the flow close to the wall is considered. Treating this region as an equilibrium layer and using similarity arguments, a three-dimensional version of the ‘law of the wall’ is derived. This relates the mean-velocity-vector distribution with the pressure-gradient vector and wall-shear-stress vector and explains how the profile skews near the wall. The theory is compared with Hornung & Joubert's experimental results. However at this stage the results are inconclusive because of the lack of a sufficient number of measured quantities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 116 (1180) ◽  
pp. 569-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rona ◽  
M. Monti ◽  
C. Airiau

AbstractThe generation of a fully turbulent boundary layer profile is investigated using analytical and numerical methods over the Reynolds number range 422 ≤ Reθ≤ 31,000. The numerical method uses a new mixing length blending function. The predictions are validated against reference wind tunnel measurements under zero streamwise pressure gradient. The methods are then tested for low and moderate adverse pressure gradients. Comparison against experiment and DNS data show a good predictive ability under zero pressure gradient and moderate adverse pressure gradient, with both methods providing a complete velocity profile through the viscous sub-layer down to the wall. These methods are useful computational fluid dynamic tools for generating an equilibrium thick turbulent boundary layer at the computational domain inflow.


2016 ◽  
Vol 801 ◽  
pp. 670-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hangjian Ling ◽  
Siddarth Srinivasan ◽  
Kevin Golovin ◽  
Gareth H. McKinley ◽  
Anish Tuteja ◽  
...  

Digital holographic microscopy is used for characterizing the profiles of mean velocity, viscous and Reynolds shear stresses, as well as turbulence level in the inner part of turbulent boundary layers over several super-hydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) with varying roughness/texture characteristics. The friction Reynolds numbers vary from 693 to 4496, and the normalized root mean square values of roughness $(k_{rms}^{+})$ vary from 0.43 to 3.28. The wall shear stress is estimated from the sum of the viscous and Reynolds shear stress at the top of roughness elements and the slip velocity is obtained from the mean profile at the same elevation. For flow over SHSs with $k_{rms}^{+}<1$, drag reduction and an upward shift of the mean velocity profile occur, along with a mild increase in turbulence in the inner part of the boundary layer. As the roughness increases above $k_{rms}^{+}\sim 1$, the flow over the SHSs transitions from drag reduction, where the viscous stress dominates, to drag increase where the Reynolds shear stress becomes the primary contributor. For the present maximum value of $k_{rms}^{+}=3.28$, the inner region exhibits the characteristics of a rough wall boundary layer, including elevated wall friction and turbulence as well as a downward shift in the mean velocity profile. Increasing the pressure in the test facility to a level that compresses the air layer on the SHSs and exposes the protruding roughness elements reduces the extent of drag reduction. Aligning the roughness elements in the streamwise direction increases the drag reduction. For SHSs where the roughness effect is not dominant ($k_{rms}^{+}<1$), the present measurements confirm previous theoretical predictions of the relationships between drag reduction and slip velocity, allowing for both spanwise and streamwise slip contributions.


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