Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T08:13:44.511Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The structure of turbulent boundary layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

S. J. Kline
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
W. C. Reynolds
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
F. A. Schraub
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
P. W. Runstadler
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University

Abstract

Extensive visual and quantitative studies of turbulent boundary layers are described. Visual studies reveal the presence of surprisingly well-organized spatially and temporally dependent motions within the so-called ‘laminar sublayer’. These motions lead to the formation of low-speed streaks in the region very near the wall. The streaks interact with the outer portions of the flow through a process of gradual ‘lift-up’, then sudden oscillation, bursting, and ejection. It is felt that these processes play a dominant role in the production of new turbulence and the transport of turbulence within the boundary layer on smooth walls.

Quantitative data are presented providing an association of the observed structure features with the accepted ‘regions’ of the boundary layer in non-dimensional co-ordinates; these data include zero, negative and positive pressure gradients on smooth walls. Instantaneous spanwise velocity profiles for the inner layers are given, and dimensionless correlations for mean streak-spacing and break-up frequency are presented.

Tentative mechanisms for formation and break-up of the low-speed streaks are proposed, and other evidence regarding the implications and importance of the streak structure in turbulent boundary layers is reviewed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1967 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

Bakewell, H. & Lumley, J. 1967 To appear in Phys. Fluids.Google Scholar
Betchov, R. & Criminale, W. 1964 Phys. Fluids 7, 1960.
Black, T. J. 1966 Proc. Heat Transfer and Fluid Mech. Institute, p. 336. Stanford University Press.
Blackman, R. B. & Tukey, J. W. 1959 The Measurement of Power Spectra. New York: Dover.
Cannon, J. 1965 Ph.D. Dissertation, Mech. Engrg Dept., Stanford University.
Clauser, F. H. 1956 Advances in Applied Mechanics, vol. IV, p. 2. New York: Academic Press.
Comte-Bellot, G. 1963 J. Mécanique, vol. II, no. 2.
Elder, J. W. 1960 J. Fluid Mech. 9, 235.
Favre, A., Gaviglio, J. & Dumas, R. 1957 J. Fluid Mech. 2, 313.
Favre, A., Gaviglio, J. & Dumas, R. 1958 J. Fluid Mech. 3, 344.
Gadd, G. 1965 Nature, Lond. 206, 463.
Halleen, R. M. & Johnston, J. P. 1967 Rept. M. D. 18, M. E. Dept., Stanford University.
Kays, W. M. & Moretti, P. M. 1965 Int. J. Heat and Mass Trans. 8, 1187.
Klebanoff, P. S. 1954 NACA TN 3178.
Klebanoff, P. S., Tidstrom, K. D. & Sargent, L. M. 1962 J. Fluid Mech. 12, 1.
Kline, S. J. 1964 Flow Visualization (16 mm motion picture), Educational Services, Inc., Newton, Mass.
Kline, S. J. 1965a Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. 180, part 3J.
Kline, S. J. 1965b Gen. Motors Symp. on Internal Flow. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Kline, S. J. & Runstadler, P. W. 1959 Trans. ASME (Ser. E), no. 2, 166.
Kovasnay, L. S., Komoda, H. & Vasuedva, B. R. 1962 Proc. Heat Transfer and Fluid Mech. Institute, p. 1. Stanford University Press.
Laufer, J. 1951 NACA Rept. 1053.
Laufer, J. 1954 NACA Rept. 1174.
Launder, B. E. 1964 M.I.T. Gas Turbine Lab. Rept. 77.
Lighthill, M. J. 1963 Laminar Boundary Layers, p. 99(ed. L. Rosenhead). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Liu, C. K. 1966 Mech. Engrg Dept. Rept. MD-15, Stanford University.
Meyer, K. A. & Kline, S. J. 1961 Mech. Engrg Dept. Rept. MD-7.
Meyer, K. A. & Kline, S. J. 1962 A Visual Study of the Flow Model in the Later Stages of Laminar—Turbulent Transition on a Flat Plate (16 mm motion picture), Cat. no. M-3, ASME Film Library.
Moore, C. & Kline, S. J. 1958 NACA TN 4080.
Reynolds, W. C. & Tiederman, W. G. 1967 J. Fluid Mech. 27, 253.
Runstadler, P. W., Kline, S. J. & Reynolds, W. C. 1963 Mech. Engrg Dept. Rept. MD-8, Stanford University.
Sabin, C. M. 1965 Trans. ASME (Ser. D), no. 2, p. 421.
Sandborn, V. 1953 NACA TN 3013.
Schraub, F. A. & Kline, S. J. 1965a Mech. Engrg Dept. Rept. MD-12, Stanford University.
Schraub, F. A., Kline, S. J., Henry, J., Runstadler, P. W. & Littell, A. 1965b Trans. ASME (Ser. D), 87, 429.
Stuart, J. T. 1965 NPL Aero. Rept. 1147.
Townsend, A. A. 1956 The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow. Cambridge University Press.
Uzkan, T. & Reynolds, W. C. 1967 J. Fluid Mech. 28, 803.