Generation of Coherent Structures in Turbulent Boundary Layers
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 123, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper presents the results of hydrogen-bubble flow visualization and hot-film velocity measurements of the turbulent flow structure along a flat wall. The objectives of the study were to examine the interaction of the vortices and the generation of new structures during this process. A new digital technique is introduced for analysis of visual records. An alternative view for the generation and evolution of the vortices is presented, and accounts for the generation of horseshoe and ring vortices through the interaction of lifted U-loop vortices with streamwise vortices. The interaction of near-wall horseshoe vortices with the sublayer plays an important role in forming U-loop vortices. The main mechanism appears to be spanwise vorticity concentration caused by the inflow associated with near-wall horseshoe vortices. Horseshoe and ring vortices are created by interacting streamwise and U-loop vortices. During this process the circulations of the two vortices are almost equal. Two modes are possible: one is vortex connection and detachment into a horseshoe vortex through a bridging-type mechanism; the other is deformation of the vortex contact zone into a ring vortex.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Acarlar, M. S., and Smith, C. R.(1987). “A study of hairpin vortices in a laminar boundary layer. 1: Hairpin vortices generated by a hemisphere protuberance.”J. Fluid Mech., 175, 1–41.
2.
Bakewell, H. P., and Lumley, J. L.(1967). “Viscous sublayer and adjacent wall region in turbulent pipe flow.”Phys. Fluids, 10(9), 1880–1889.
3.
Blackwelder, R. F., and Eckelmann, H.(1979). “Streamwise vortices associated with the bursting phenomenon.”J. Fluid Mech., 94(3), 577–594.
4.
Blackwelder, R. F., and Kaplan, R. E.(1976). “On the wall structure of the turbulent boundary layer.”J. Fluid Mech., 76(1), 89–112.
5.
Boratav, O. N., Pelz, R. B., and Zabusky, N. J.(1991). “Winding and reconnection mechanisms of closely interacting vortex tubes in three dimensions.”Lectures in applied mathematics, vortex dynamics and vortex methods, 28, 11–43.
6.
Cantwell, B. J.(1981). “Organized motion in turbulent flows.”Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., 13, 457–515.
7.
Clark, J. A., and Markland, E.(1971). “Flow visualization in turbulent boundary layers.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 97(1), 1653–1664.
8.
Corino, E. R., and Brodkey, R. S.(1969). “A visual investigation of the wall region in turbulent flow.”J. Fluid Mech., 37(1), 1–30.
9.
Dargahi, B.(1990). “Controlling mechanism of local scouring.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 116(10), 1197–1214.
10.
Falco, R. E.(1977). “Coherent motions in the outer region of turbulent boundary layers.”Phys. Fluids Supplement, 20(10), 5124–5132.
11.
Falco, R. E. (1983). “New results, a review and synthesis of the mechanism of turbulence production in boundary layers and its modification, AIAA Paper 83-0377, Am. Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
12.
Falco, R. E. (1991). “A coherent structure model of the turbulent boundary layer and its ability to predict Reynolds number dependence.”Philosophical Trans. Proc., Royal Soc., London, England, Ser. A, 336(131).
13.
Grass, A. J.(1971). “Structural features of turbulent flow over smooth and rough boundaries,”J. Fluid Mech., 50, 233–255.
14.
Hassan, A., and Zawadzki, I. (1989). “Comments on vortex ring connections.”Topological Fluid Dyn.; Proc., IOTAM Symp., Cambridge University Press, London, England, 535–539.
15.
Head, M. R., and Bandyopadhyay, P.(1981). “New aspects of turbulent boundary layer structure.”J. Fluid Mech., 107, 297–337.
16.
Hinze, J. O. (1975). Turbulence, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, N.Y.
17.
Hussain, F.(1983). “Coherent structures—reality and myth.”Phys. Fluids, 26(10), 2816–2850.
18.
Johansson, A., Alfredsson, P. H., and Kim, J.(1991). “Evolution and dynamics of shear-layer structures in near-wall turbulence.”J. Fluid Mech., 224, 579–599.
19.
Kida, S., Takaoka, M., and Hussain, F. (1989). “Reconnection of two vortex ring.”Topological Fluid Dyn.; Proc., IOTAM Symp., 525–534.
20.
Kim, H. T., Kline, S. J., and Reynolds, W. C.(1971). “The production of turbulence near a smooth wall in a turbulent boundary layer.”J. Fluid Mech., 50(1), 133–160.
21.
Kline, S. J., Reynolds, W. C., Schraub, F. A., and Runstadler, P. W.(1967). “The structure of turbulent boundary layers.”J. Fluid Mech., 30, 741–773.
22.
Levi, E.(1978). “Eddy production inside wall layers.”J. Hydr. Res., 16(2), 107–122.
23.
Lian, Q. X.(1990). “A visual study of the coherent structure of the turbulent boundary layer in flow with adverse pressure gradient.”J. Fluid Mech., 215, 101–124.
24.
Lighthill, M. J. (1963). Laminar boundary layers. L. R. Rosenhead, ed., Oxford University Press, 99–100.
25.
Moin, P., and Kim, J.(1985). “The structure of the vorticity field in turbulent channel flow. 1: Analysis of instantaneous fields and statistical correlations.”J. Fluid Mech., 155, 441–464.
26.
Moin, P., Leonard, A., and Kim, J.(1986). “Evolution of a curved filament into a vortex ring.”Phys. Fluids, 29(4), 955–963.
27.
Nakagawa, H., and Nezu, I.(1981). “Structure of space-time correlations of bursting phenomena in an open-channel flow.”J. Fluid Mech., 104, 1–43.
28.
Offen, G. R., and Kline, S. J.(1975). “A proposed model of the bursting process in turbulent boundary layer.”J. Fluid Mech., 70(2), 209–228.
29.
Perry, A. E., and Chong, M. S.(1982). “On the mechanism of wall turbulence.”J. Fluid Mech., 119, 173–217.
30.
Robinson, S. K. (1991). “The kinematics of turbulent boundary layer structure.”NASA Tech. Memo. 103859, Nat. Aeronautics and Space Admin. (NASA), Washington, D.C.
31.
Schraub, F. A., Kline, S. J., Henry, J., Runstadler, P. W., and Littel, A.(1965). “Use of hydrogen bubbles for quantitative determination of time-dependent velocity fields in low-speed water flows.”J. Basic Engrg., 87, 429–442.
32.
Shelley, M. J., and Meiron, D. I.(1991). “Vortex reconnection and smoothness of the Euler equations.”Lectures in Appl. Math., 28, 647–677.
33.
Smith, C. R., and Metzler, S. P.(1983). “The characteristics of low-speed streaks in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer.”J. Fluid Mech., 129, 27–54.
34.
Smith, C. R., and Schwartz, S. P.(1983). “Observation of streamwise rotation in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer.”Phys. Fluids, 26(3), 641–652.
35.
Swearingen, J. D., and Blackwelder, R. F.(1987). “The growth and breakdown of streamwise vortices in the presence of a wall.”J. Fluid Mech., 182, 255–290.
36.
Theodorsen, T. (1952). “Mechanism of turbulence.”Inc. Proc. of 2nd Midwestern Conf. on Fluid Mech., Engrg. Experiment Station Bull., Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 1–18.
37.
Utami, T., and Ueno, T.(1987). “Experimental study on the coherent structure of turbulent open channel flow using visualization and picture processing.”J. Fluid Mech., 28, 399–440.
38.
Willmarth, W. W., and Lu, S. S.(1972). “Structure of the Reynolds stress near the wall,”J. Fluid Mech., 55, 65–92.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 123 • Issue 7 • July 1997
Pages: 686 - 695
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Jul 1, 1997
Published in print: Jul 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.