Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T09:11:34.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence of very long meandering features in the logarithmic region of turbulent boundary layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2007

N. HUTCHINS  and
IVAN MARUSIC
N. HUTCHINS
Affiliation:
Walter Bassett Aerodynamics Laboratory, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
IVAN MARUSIC
Affiliation:
Walter Bassett Aerodynamics Laboratory, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A regime of very long meandering positive and negative streamwise velocity fluctuations, that we term ‘superstructures’, are found to exist in the log and lower wake regions of turbulent boundary layers. Measurements are made with a spanwise rake of 10 hot-wires in two separate facilities (spanning more than a decade of Reτ) and are compared with existing PIV and DNS results. In all cases, we note evidence of a large-scale stripiness in the streamwise velocity fluctuations. The length of these regions can commonly exceed 20δ. Similar length scales have been previously reported for pipes and DNS channel flows. It is suggested that the true length of these features is masked from single-point statistics (such as autocorrelations and spectra) by a spanwise meandering tendency. Support for this conjecture is offered through the study of a synthetic flow composed only of sinusoidally meandering elongated low- and high-speed regions. From detailed maps of one-dimensional spectra, it is found that the contribution to the streamwise turbulence intensities associated with the superstructures appears to be increasingly significant with Reynolds number, and scales with outer length variables (δ). Importantly, the superstructure maintains a presence or footprint in the near-wall region, seeming to modulate or influence the near-wall cycle. This input of low-wavenumber outer-scaled energy into the near-wall region is consistent with the rise in near-wall streamwise intensities, when scaled with inner variables, that has been noted to occur with increasing Reynolds number. In an attempt to investigate these structures at very high Reynolds numbers, we also report on recent large-scale sonic anemometer rake measurements, made in the neutrally stable atmospheric surface layer. Preliminary results indicate that the superstructure is present in the log region of this atmospheric flow at Reτ = 6.6×105, and has a size consistent with outer scaling.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 579 , 25 May 2007 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abe, H., Kawamura, H. & Choi, H. 2004 Very large-scale structures and their effects on the wall shear-stress fluctuations in a turbulent channel flow up to Re τ = 640. Trans. ASME: J. Fluids Engng 126, 835–843.Google Scholar
Adrian, R. J., Meinhart, C. D. & Tomkins, C. D. 2000 Vortex organization in the outer region of the turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 422, 1–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
del Álamo, J. C. & Jiménez, J. 2003 Spectra of the very large anisotropic scales in turbulent channels. Phys. Fluids 15, 41–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
del Álamo, J. C., Jiménez, J., Zandonade, P. & Moser, R. D. 2004 Scaling of the energy spectra of turbulent channels. J. Fluid Mech. 500, 135–144.Google Scholar
Balint, J.-L., Wallace, J. M. & Vukoslavcevic, P. 1991 The velocity and vorticity vector fields of a turbulent boundary layer. Part 2. Statistical properties. J. Fluid Mech. 228, 53–86.Google Scholar
Blackwelder, R. F. & Kovasznay, L. S. G. 1972 Time scales and correlations in a turbulent boundary layer. Phys. Fluids 15, 1545–1554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ching, C., Djenidi, L. & Antonia, R. 1995 Low-Reynolds-effects in a turbulent boundary layer. Exps. Fluids 19, 61–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeGraaff, D. B. & Eaton, J. K. 2000 Reynolds number scaling of the flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 422, 319–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drobinski, P., Carlotti, P., Newsom, R. K., Banta, R. M., Foster, R. C. & Redelsperger, J.-L. 2004 The structure of the near-neutral atmospheric surface layer. J. Atmos. Sci. 61, 699–714.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganapathisubramani, B., Hutchins, N., Hambleton, W. T., Longmire, E. K. & Marusic, I. 2005 Investigation of large-scale coherence in a turbulent boundary layer using two-point correlations. J. Fluid Mech. 524, 57–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganapathisubramani, B., Longmire, E. K. & Marusic, I. 2003 Characteristics of vortex packets in turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 478, 35–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guala, M., Hommema, S. E. & Adrian, R. J. 2006 Large-scale and very-large-scale motions in turbulent pipe flow. J. Fluid Mech. 554, 521–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafez, S., Chong, M. S., Marusic, I. & Jones, M. B. 2004 Observations on high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer measurements. In Proc. 15th Australasian Fluid Mech. Conf (ed. Behnia, M., Lin, W., McBain, G. D.), Paper AFMC 00200. University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Hambleton, W. T., Hutchins, N. & Marusic, I. 2006 Multiple plane PIV measurements in a turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 560, 53–64, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyas, S. & Jiménez, J. 2006 Scaling of the velocity fluctuations in turbulent channels up to Re τ = 2003. Phys. Fluids 18, 011702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, J. C. R. & Morrison, J. F. 2000 Eddy structure in turbulent boundary layers. Eur. J. Mech. B-Fluids 19, 673–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchins, N., Ganapathisubramani, B. & Marusic, I. 2004 Dominant spanwise Fourier modes, and the existence of very large scale coherence in turbulent boundary layers. In Proc. 15th Australasian Fluid Mech. Conf. (ed. Behnia, M., Lin, W., McBain, G. D.), Paper AFMC 00127. University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Hutchins, N., Ganapathisubramani, B. & Marusic, I. 2005 a Spanwise periodicity and the existence of very large scale coherence in turbulent boundary layers. In Proc. Fourth Intl Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena, pp. 39–44. (TSFP4, Willamsburg, Virginia).Google Scholar
Hutchins, N., Hambleton, W. T. & Marusic, I. 2005 b Inclined cross-stream stereo particle image velocimetry measurements in turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 541, 21–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iwamoto, K., Suzuki, Y. & Kasagi, N. 2002 Reynolds number effect on wall turbulence: Toward effective feedback control. Intl J. Heat Fluid Flow 23, 678–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiménez, J. 1998 The largest scales of turbulent wall flows. In CTR Annual Research Briefs, pp. 943–945. Stanford University.Google Scholar
Jiménez, J. & del Álamo, J. C. 2004 Computing turbulent channels at experimental Reynolds numbers. In Proc. 15th Australasian Fluid Mech. Conf. (ed. Behnia, M., Lin, W. McBain, G. D.), Paper AFMC 00038. University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Jiménez, J., del Álamo, J. C. & Flores, O. 2004 The large-scale dynamics of near-wall turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 505, 179–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiménez, J. & Pinelli, A. 1999 The autonomous cycle of near-wall turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 389, 335–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansson, A., Her, J.-Y. & Haritonidis, J. 1987 On the generation of high-amplitude wall-pressure peaks in turbulent boundary layers and spots. J. Fluid Mech. 175, 119–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansson, T. & Karlsson, R. 1989 The energy budget in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. In Applications of Laser Anemometry to Fluid Mechanics (ed. Adrian, R., Asanuma, T., Durao, D., Durst, F., Whitelaw, J.), pp. 3–22. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, K. C. & Adrian, R. 1999 Very large-scale motion in the outer layer. Phys. Fluids 11, 417–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klewicki, J. C. & Falco, R. E. 1990 On accurately measuring statistics associated with small scales in turbulent boundary layers using hot-wire probes. J. Fluid Mech. 219, 119–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klewicki, J. C., Metzger, M. M., Kelner, E. & Thurlow, E. M. 1995 Viscous sublayer flow visualizations at R θ ≅ 1500000. Phys. Fluids 7, 857–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kline, S. J., Reynolds, W. C., Schraub, F. A. & Rundstadler, P. W. 1967 The structure of turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 30, 741–773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovasznay, L. S. G. 1970 The turbulent boundary layer. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 2, 95–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovasznay, L. S. G., Kibens, V. & Blackwelder, R. F. 1970 Large-scale motion in the intermittent region of a turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 41, 283–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunkel, G. J. & Marusic, I. 2006 Study of the near-wall-turbulent region of the high-Reynolds-number boundary layer using an atmospheric flow. J. Fluid Mech. 548, 375–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ligrani, P. M. & Bradshaw, P. 1987 Spatial resolution and measurement of turbulence in the viscous sublayer using subminiature hot-wire probes. Exps. Fluids 5, 407–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marusic, I. 2001 On the role of large-scale structures in wall turbulence. Phys. Fluids 13, 735–743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marusic, I. & Hutchins, N. 2006 Experimental study of wall turbulence: Implications for control. In Transition and Turbulence Control (ed. Gad-el-Hak, M., Tsai, H. M.. World Scientific.Google Scholar
Marusic, I. & Kunkel, G. J. 2003 Streamwise turbulence intensity formulation for flat-plate boundary layers. Phys. Fluids 15, 2461–2464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marusic, I. & Perry, A. E. 1995 A wall wake model for the turbulent structure of boundary layers. Part 2. Further experimental support. J. Fluid Mech. 298, 389–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLean, I. R. 1990 The near-wall eddy structure in an equilibrium turbulent boundary layer. PhD thesis, University of Southern California, USA.Google Scholar
Metzger, M. M. & Klewicki, J. C. 2001 A comparative study of near-wall turbulence in high and low Reynolds number boundary layers. Phys. Fluids 13, pp. 692–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metzger, M. M., Klewicki, J. C., Bradshaw, K. L. & Sadr, R. 2001 Scaling the near-wall axial turbulent stress in the zero pressure gradient boundary layer. Phys. Fluids 13, 1819–1821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moser, R. D., Kim, J. & Mansour, N. N. 1999 Direct numerical simulation of turbulent channel flow up to Re τ = 590. Phys. Fluids 11, 943–945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakagawa, H. & Nezu, I. 1981 Structure of space-time correlations of bursting phenomena in an open-channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 104, 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickels, T. B., Marusic, I., Hafez, S. & Chong, M. S. 2005 Evidence of the k 1−1 law in a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 074501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, A. E., Henbest, S. & Chong, M. S. 1986 A theoretical and experimental study of wall turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 165, 163–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, A. E. & Marusic, I. 1995 A wall wake model for the turbulenstructure of boundary layers. Part 1. Extension of the attached eddy hypothesis. J. Fluid Mech. 298, 361–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, W. R. C. 2003 Langmuir circulations. In Wind over Waves II: Forecasting and Fundamentals of Applications (ed. Sajjadi, S. G., Hunt, J. C. R.), pp. 157–167. Horwood.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purtell, P., Klebanoff, P. & Buckley, F. 1981 Turbulent boundary layer at low Reynolds number. Phys. Fluids 24, 802–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, K. N., Narasimha, R. & Badri Narayanan, M. A. 1971 The ‘bursting’ phenomena in a turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 48, 339–352.Google Scholar
Schoppa, W. & Hussain, F. 2002 Coherent structure generation in near-wall turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 453, 57–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spalart, P. R. 1988 Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent boundary layer upto R θ = 1410. J. Fluid Mech. 187, 61–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanahashi, M., Kang, S.-J., Miyamoto, T., Shiokawa, S. & Miyauchi, T. 2004 Scaling law of fine scale eddies in turbulent channel flows up to Re τ = 800. Intl J. Heat Fluid Flow 25, 331–340.Google Scholar
Toh, S. & Itano, T. 2005 Interaction between a large-scale structure and near-wall structures in channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 524, 249–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomkins, C. D. & Adrian, R. J. 2003 Spanwise structure and scale growth in turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 490, 37–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Townsend, A. A. 1956 The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tsubokura, M. 2005 LES study on the large-scale motions of wall turbulence and their structural difference between plane channel and pipe flows. In Proc. Fourth Intl Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena, pp. 1037–1042. TSFP4, Willamsburg, Virginia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ueda, H. & Hinze, J. O. 1975 Fine-structure turbulence in the wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 67, 125–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wark, C. E., Naguib, A. M. & Robinson, S. K. 1991 Scaling of spanwise length scales in a turbulent boundary layer. AIAA Paper 91-0235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, T. & Willmarth, W. W. 1989 Reynolds-number effects on the structure of a turbulent channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 204, 57–95.Google Scholar
Young, G. S., Kristovich, D. A. R., Hjelmfelt, M. R. & Foster, R. C. 2002 Rolls, streets, waves and more: A review of quasi-two-dimensional structures in the atmospheric boundary layer. Bull: Am. Met. Soc. 83, 997–1001.Google Scholar