Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T11:25:44.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Coherent structures, uniform momentum zones and the streamwise energy spectrum in wall-bounded turbulent flows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2017

Theresa Saxton-Fox Open the ORCID record for Theresa Saxton-Fox [Opens in a new window]  and
Beverley J. McKeon
Theresa Saxton-Fox*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Beverley J. McKeon
Affiliation:
Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Large-scale motions (LSMs) in wall-bounded turbulent flows have well-characterised instantaneous structural features (Kovasznay et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 41 (2), 1970, pp. 283–325; Meinhart & Adrian, Phys. Fluids, vol. 7 (4), 1995, pp. 694–696) and a known spectral signature (Monty et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 632, 2009, pp. 431–442). This work aims to connect these previous observations through the development and analysis of a representative model for LSMs. The model is constructed to be consistent with the streamwise energy spectrum (Monty et al. 2009) and amplification characteristics of the Navier–Stokes equations (McKeon & Sharma, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 658, 2010, pp. 336–382), and is found to naturally recreate characteristics of instantaneous turbulent structures, including a bulge shape (Kovasznay et al. 1970) and the presence of uniform momentum zones (Meinhart & Adrian 1995) in the streamwise velocity field. The observed structural similarity between the LSM representative model and instantaneous experimental data supports the use of travelling wave models to connect statistical and instantaneous descriptions of coherent structures, and clarifies a simple general equivalency between symmetry in a Reynolds-decomposed velocity field and asymmetry in the laboratory frame.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Turbulent boundary layers Turbulent Flows: Turbulent Flows Turbulent Flows: Turbulence modelling
Type
Rapids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 826 , 10 September 2017 , R6
Check for updates
Copyright
© 2017 Cambridge University Press 

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

Adrian, R. J., Christensen, K. T. & Liu, Z.-C. 2000a Analysis and interpretation of instantaneous turbulent velocity fields. Exp. Fluids 29, 275–290.Google Scholar
Adrian, R. J., Meinhart, C. D. & Tomkins, C. D. 2000b Vortex organization in the outer region of the turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 422, 1–54.Google Scholar
Blackwelder, R. F. & Eckelmann, H. 1979 Streamwise vortices associated with the bursting phenomenon. J. Fluid Mech. 94 (3), 577–594.Google Scholar
Chauhan, K., Philip, J., de Silva, C. M., Hutchins, N. & Marusic, I. 2014 The turbulent/non-turbulent interface and entrainment in a boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 742, 119–151.Google Scholar
Chen, C. H. P. & Blackwelder, R. F. 1978 Large-scale motion in a turbulent boundary layer: a study using temperature contamination. J. Fluid Mech. 89 (1), 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, D. & McKeon, B. J. 2010 Large-eddy simulation of large-scale structures in long channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 661, 341–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisma, J., Westerweel, J., Ooms, G. & Elsinga, G. E. 2015 Interfaces and internal layers in a turbulent boundary layer. Phys. Fluids 27, 055103.Google Scholar
Hussain, A. K. M. F. & Reynolds, W. C. 1970 The mechanics of an organized wave in turbulent shear flow. J. Fluid Mech. 41 (2), 241–258.Google Scholar
Jacobi, I. & Mckeon, B. J. 2011 Dynamic roughness perturbation of a turbulent boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 688, 258–296.Google Scholar
Klewicki, J. C. 2013 A description of turbulent wall-flow vorticity consistent with mean dynamics. J. Fluid Mech. 737, 176–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kline, S. J., Reynolds, W. C., Schraub, F. A. & Runstadler, P. W. 1967 The structure of turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 30 (4), 741–773.Google 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 (2), 283–325.Google Scholar
Mckeon, B. J. 2017 The engine behind (wall) turbulence: perspectives on scale interactions. J. Fluid Mech. 817, P1.Google Scholar
Mckeon, B. J. & Sharma, A. S. 2010 A critical-layer framework for turbulent pipe flow. J. Fluid Mech. 658, 336–382.Google Scholar
Meinhart, C. D. & Adrian, R. J. 1995 On the existence of uniform momentum zones in a turbulent boundary layer. Phys. Fluids 7 (4), 694–696.Google Scholar
Moarref, R., Sharma, A. S., Tropp, J. A. & Mckeon, B. J. 2013 Model-based scaling of the streamwise energy density in high-Reynolds-number turbulent channels. J. Fluid Mech. 734, 275–316.Google Scholar
Monty, J. P., Hutchins, N., Ng, H. C. H., Marusic, I. & Chong, M. S. 2009 A comparison of turbulent pipe, channel and boundary layer flows. J. Fluid Mech. 632, 431–442.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, B. J., Hultmark, M., Vallikivi, M., Bailey, S. C. C. & Smits, A. J. 2013 Turbulence spectra in smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow at extreme Reynolds numbers. J. Fluid Mech. 731, 46–63.Google Scholar
Sharma, A. S. & Mckeon, B. J. 2013 On coherent structure in wall turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 728, 196–238.Google Scholar
de Silva, C. M., Hutchins, N. & Marusic, I. 2016 Uniform momentum zones in turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 786, 309–331.Google Scholar
Zaman, K. B. M. Q. & Hussain, A. K. M. F. 1981 Taylor hypothesis and large-scale coherent structures. J. Fluid Mech. 112, 379–396.Google Scholar