Effects of Streamwise Aspect Ratio on Turbulent Flows Over Forward-Backward Facing Steps

Author(s):  
Heath Chalmers ◽  
Xingjun Fang ◽  
Mark F. Tachie

Abstract Separated and reattached turbulent flows induced by two-dimensional forward-backward-facing steps with different streamwise lengths submerged in a thick turbulent boundary layer are investigated using a time-resolved particle image velocimetry. The examined aspect ratios of the step range from 1 to 8, and the Reynolds number based on the free-stream velocity and step height is 13 200. The thickness of the oncoming turbulent boundary layer is 6.5 times the step height. The effects of varying aspect ratio of the steps on the mean flow, Reynolds stresses, triple correlations and unsteadiness of turbulent separation bubbles are studied. It was found that the mean flow reattaches over the step for forward-backward facing steps with aspect ratios of 2 and higher. The temporal variation of the first proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) mode and reverse flow area, which is used to examine the flapping motion of separation bubble, shows remarkable synchronization.

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Chalmers ◽  
Xingjun Fang ◽  
Mark F. Tachie

Abstract Separated and reattached turbulent flows induced by two-dimensional forward–backward-facing steps (FBFS) with different streamwise lengths submerged in a thick turbulent boundary layer (TBL) are investigated using time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV). The aspect ratios (AR) of the step range from 1 to 8, and the Reynolds number based on the freestream velocity and step height is 13 200. The thickness of the incoming turbulent boundary layer is 6.5 times the step height. The effects of varying aspect ratio of the steps on the mean flow, principal stretching, Reynolds stresses, triple velocity correlation, two-point autocorrelation, and unsteadiness of turbulent separation bubbles are studied. The results indicate that the mean flow reattaches over the step for FBFS with aspect ratios of 2 and higher. Two local peaks of Reynolds stresses occur irrespective of AR, and for a sufficiently large AR, a third local peak of Reynolds stresses appear in the shear layer emanating from the trailing edge of the bluff bodies. The streamwise decay of Reynolds stresses is slower for smaller AR cases. Incoming coherent structure is strongly disturbed near an inclined edge where principal stretching switches orientation abruptly. The temporal variation of the first proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) mode and reverse flow area over the bluff bodies shows remarkable correlation, which signifies the flapping motion of separation bubble.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Addai ◽  
Afua A. Mante ◽  
Sedem Kumahor ◽  
Xingjun Fang ◽  
Mark F. Tachie

Abstract In the present study, the effects of wall proximity on the wake dynamics behind a square cylinder subjected to a thick upstream turbulent boundary layer were experimentally investigated using particle image velocimetry. The Reynolds number based on the free-stream velocity and the cylinder height (h) was 12750 while the ratio of the turbulent boundary layer thickness to the cylinder height was 3.6. The gap distance (G) between the bottom face of the cylinder and the wall was varied, resulting in gap ratios (G/h) of 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 8.0. The flow topological differences among the various gap ratios were analyzed in terms of the mean flow and Reynolds stresses. The results show that as the cylinder approaches the wall, the mean flow becomes increasingly asymmetric about the horizontal centerline of the cylinder and the size of the mean separation bubbles in the cylinder wake increases. Also, the magnitudes of the Reynolds stresses decrease with decreasing gap ratio. For G/h > 0, the distributions of the streamwise Reynolds normal stress and Reynolds shear stress are concentrated along the upper and lower separated shear layers, resulting in characteristic double peaks. The distributions of the vertical Reynolds normal stress, however, are concentrated in the wake about the horizontal centerline of the cylinder and reveal only single peaks.


Author(s):  
D. Furey ◽  
P. Atsavapranee ◽  
K. Cipolla

Stereo Particle Image velocimetry data was collected over high aspect ratio flexible cylinders (L/a = 1.5 to 3 × 105) to evaluate the axial development of the turbulent boundary layer where the boundary layer thickness becomes significantly larger than the cylinder diameter (δ/a>>1). The flexible cylinders are approximately neutrally buoyant and have an initial length of 152 m and radii of 0.45 mm and 1.25 mm. The cylinders were towed at speeds ranging from 3.8 to 15.4 m/sec in the David Taylor Model Basin. The analysis of the SPIV data required a several step procedure to evaluate the cylinder boundary flow. First, the characterization of the flow field from the towing strut is required. This evaluation provides the residual mean velocities and turbulence levels caused by the towing hardware at each speed and axial location. These values, called tare values, are necessary for comparing to the cylinder flow results. Second, the cylinder flow fields are averaged together and the averaged tare fields are subtracted out to remove strut-induced ambient flow effects. Prior to averaging, the cylinder flow fields are shifted to collocate the cylinder within the field. Since the boundary layer develops slowly, all planes of data occurring within each 10 meter increment of the cylinder length are averaged together to produce the mean boundary layer flow. Corresponding fields from multiple runs executed using the same experimental parameters are also averaged. This flow is analyzed to evaluate the level of axisymmetry in the data and determine if small changes in cylinder angle affect the mean flow development. With axisymmetry verified, the boundary flow is further averaged azimuthally around the cylinder to produce mean boundary layer profiles. Finally, the fluctuating velocity levels are evaluated for the flow with the cylinder and compared to the fluctuating velocity levels in the tare data. This paper will first discuss the data analysis techniques for the tare data and the averaging methods implemented. Second, the data analysis considerations will be presented for the cylinder data and the averaging and cylinder tracking techniques. These results are used to extract relevant boundary layer parameters including δ, δ* and θ. Combining these results with wall shear and momentum thickness values extracted from averaged cylinder drag data, the boundary layer can be well characterized.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Singer

Models for the distribution of the wall-pressure under a turbulent boundary layer often estimate the coherence of the cross-spectral density in terms of a product of two coherence functions. One such function describes the coherence as a function of separation distance in the mean-flow direction, the other function describes the coherence in the cross-stream direction. Analysis of data from a large-eddy simulation of a turbulent boundary layer reveals that this approximation dramatically underpredicts the coherence for separation directions that are neither aligned with nor perpendicular to the mean-flow direction. These models fail even when the coherence functions in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the mean flow are known exactly. A new approach for combining the parallel and perpendicular coherence functions is presented. The new approach results in vastly improved approximations for the coherence.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Papadopoulos ◽  
M. V. O¨tu¨gen

The incompressible turbulent flow over a backward-facing step in a rectangular duct was investigated experimentally. The side wall effects on the core flow were determined by varying the aspect ratio (defined as the step span-to-height ratio) from 1 to 28. The Reynolds number, based on the step height and the oncoming free-stream velocity, was 26,500. Detailed velocity measurements were made, including the turbulent stresses, in a region which extended past the flow reattachment zone. Wall static pressure was also measured on both the step and flat walls. In addition, surface visualizations were obtained on all four walls surrounding the separated flow to supplement near-wall velocity measurements. The results show that the aspect ratio has an influence on both the velocity and wall pressure even for relatively large aspect ratios. For example, in the redevelopment region downstream of reattachment, the recovery pressure decreases with smaller aspect ratios. The three-dimensional side wall effects tend to slow down the relaxation downstream of reattachment for smaller aspect ratios as evidenced by the evolution of the velocity field. For the two smallest aspect ratios investigated, higher centerplane streamwise and transverse velocities were obtained which indicate a three-dimensional mean flow structure along the full span of the duct.


Author(s):  
Sedem Kumahor ◽  
Xingjun Fang ◽  
William Ediger ◽  
Mark F. Tachie

Abstract Separating and reattaching turbulent flows induced by a forward-facing step submerged in thick oncoming turbulent boundary layers developed over smooth and rough walls were investigated using time-resolved particle image velocimetry. Both smooth and fully rough upstream bottom wall conditions were examined and the resultant oncoming boundary layer thickness were 4.3 and 6.7 times the step height, respectively. The Reynolds number based on the step height and free-stream velocity was 7800. The mean velocities, Reynolds stresses analyzed in both Cartesian and curvilinear coordinate systems, eddy viscosity, correlation coefficient and third order moments are discussed. The results indicate that, due to the enhanced turbulence intensity and shear rate in the fully rough case, distinct elevated regions of vertical and shear Reynolds stresses are consistent upstream of the leading edge of the step while the magnitude of the Reynolds stresses are consistently higher than observed in the smooth case. The correlation coefficient, eddy viscosity and third order moments also show distinct elevated regions upstream of the leading edge of the step in the fully rough case. Above the step, distinct elevated regions of the Reynolds stresses, eddy viscosity and correlation coefficient are observed in both cases with the peak values at a vertical location corresponding to the maximum elevation of the mean separating streamline.


2019 ◽  
Vol 865 ◽  
pp. 1085-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaro Motoori ◽  
Susumu Goto

To understand the generation mechanism of a hierarchy of multiscale vortices in a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer, we conduct direct numerical simulations and educe the hierarchy of vortices by applying a coarse-graining method to the simulated turbulent velocity field. When the Reynolds number is high enough for the premultiplied energy spectrum of the streamwise velocity component to show the second peak and for the energy spectrum to obey the$-5/3$power law, small-scale vortices, that is, vortices sufficiently smaller than the height from the wall, in the log layer are generated predominantly by the stretching in strain-rate fields at larger scales rather than by the mean-flow stretching. In such a case, the twice-larger scale contributes most to the stretching of smaller-scale vortices. This generation mechanism of small-scale vortices is similar to the one observed in fully developed turbulence in a periodic cube and consistent with the picture of the energy cascade. On the other hand, large-scale vortices, that is, vortices as large as the height, are stretched and amplified directly by the mean flow. We show quantitative evidence of these scale-dependent generation mechanisms of vortices on the basis of numerical analyses of the scale-dependent enstrophy production rate. We also demonstrate concrete examples of the generation process of the hierarchy of multiscale vortices.


1979 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-375
Author(s):  
M. L. Agarwal ◽  
P. K. Pande ◽  
Rajendra Prakash

The mean flow past a fence submerged in a turbulent boundary layer is numerically simulated. The governing equations have been simplified by neglecting the convective effects of turbulence and solved numerically using experimental boundary conditions. The information obtained includes the shape and size of the upstream and downstream separation bubbles and the streamline pattern in the entire flow field. General agreement between the simulated and the experimental flow field was found.


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