High-order compact schemes for incompressible flows: A simple and efficient method with quasi-spectral accuracy

This article reviews evidence concerning the cornerstone dissipation scaling of turbulence theory: � = CU 3 /L, with C� = const., � the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy U 2 ,a ndL an integral length scale characterizing the energy-containing turbulent eddies. This scaling is intimately linked to the Richardson-Kolmogorov equilibrium cascade. Accumulating evidence shows that a significant nonequilibrium region exists in various turbulent flows in which the energy spectrum has Kolmogorov's −5/3 wave-number scaling over a wide wave-number range, yet C� ∼ Re m /Re n ,w ithm ≈ 1 ≈ n, Re I a global/inlet Reynolds number, and ReL a local turbulence Reynolds number.

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Dissipation in Turbulent Flows

Cascades and transitions in turbulent flows

Space-filling fractal square grids fitted at the entrance of a wind tunnel’s test section generate unusually high Reynolds number homogeneous isotropic turbulence which decays locked into a single length-scale l. Specifically, during turbulence decay along the streamwise coordinate x, E11(k1,x)=u′2lf(k1l) over the entire range of wavenumbers, where l and the function f are about the same for all the grids tried here. As a result, this fractal-generated turbulence has the following properties which we have also observed in the decaying region: L∕λ is constant, independent of the x grid and Reλ; ϵ∼Reλ−1u′3∕Lu; and E11(k1)∼(u′3∕Lu)2∕3k1−5∕3 instead of E11(k1)∼ϵ2∕3k1−5∕3 in the observed range of wavenumbers where f(k1l)∼(k1l)−5∕3.

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Dissipation and decay of fractal-generated turbulence

We present an experimental investigation of intense turbulence generated by a class of low-blockage space-filling fractal square grids. We confirm the existence of a protacted production region followed by a decaying region, as first reported by Hurst & Vassilicos (Physics of Fluids, 2007). We show that the centerline streamwise variation of most of the statistical properties of the turbulent flow can be scaled by a wake interaction length-scale $x_*$. We also confirm the finding of Seoud and Vassilicos (Physics of Fluids, 2007) that the ratio of the integral length-scale $L_u$ to the Taylor micro-scale $\lambda$ remains constant in the decaying region whereas the Reynolds number $Re_\lambda$ strongly decreases. As a result the scaling $L_{u}/\lambda \sim Re_{\lambda}$ which follows from the $u'^{3}/L_u$ scaling of the dissipation rate in boundary-free shear flows and in usual grid-generated turbulence does not hold here. However, we show that the ratio $L_u/\lambda$ is an increasing function of the inlet Reynolds number $Re_0$. This extraordinary decoupling is consistent with a self-preserving single length-scale decaying homogeneous turbulence proposed by George & Wang (Physics of Fluids, 2009) with which our results are compared.

Turbulence without Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade

A total of 21 planar fractal grids pertaining to three different fractal families have been used in two different wind tunnels to generate turbulence. The resulting turbulent flows have been studied using hot wire anemometry. Irrespective of fractal family, the fractal-generated turbulent flows and their homogeneity, isotropy, and decay properties are strongly dependent on the fractal dimension Df≤2 of the grid, its effective mesh size Meff (which we introduce and define) and its ratio tr of largest to smallest bar thicknesses, tr=tmax∕tmin. With relatively small blockage ratios, as low as σ=25%, the fractal grids generate turbulent flows with higher turbulence intensities and Reynolds numbers than can be achieved with higher blockage ratio classical grids in similar wind tunnels and wind speeds U. The scalings and decay of the turbulence intensity u′∕U in the x direction along the tunnel’s center line are as follows (in terms of the normalized pressure drop CΔP and with similar results for v′∕U and w′∕U)...

Hurst

Papers

Scalings and decay of fractal-generated turbulence