Showing papers in "Journal of Fluid Mechanics in 1999"

Mechanisms for generating coherent packets of hairpin vortices in channel flow

Abstract: The evolution of a single hairpin vortex-like structure in the mean turbulent field of a low-Reynolds-number channel flow is studied by direct numerical simulation. The structure of the initial three-dimensional vortex is extracted from the two-point spatial correlation of the velocity field by linear stochastic estimation given a second-quadrant ejection event vector. Initial vortices having vorticity that is weak relative to the mean vorticity evolve gradually into omega-shaped vortices that persist for long times and decay slowly. As reported in Zhou, Adrian & Balachandar (1996), initial vortices that exceed a threshold strength relative to the mean flow generate new hairpin vortices upstream of the primary vortex. The detailed mechanisms for this upstream process are determined, and they are generally similar to the mechanisms proposed by Smith et al. (1991), with some notable differences in the details. It has also been found that new hairpins generate downstream of the primary hairpin, thereby forming, together with the upstream hairpins, a coherent packet of hairpins that propagate coherently. This is consistent with the experimental observations of Meinhart & Adrian (1995). The possibility of autogeneration above a critical threshold implies that hairpin vortices in fully turbulent fields may occur singly, but they more often occur in packets. The hairpins also generate quasi-streamwise vortices to the side of the primary hairpin legs. This mechanism bears many similarities to the mechanisms found by Brooke & Hanratty (1993) and Bernard, Thomas & Handler (1993). It provides a means by which new quasi-streamwise vortices, and, subsequently, new hairpin vortices can populate the near-wall layer.

Flow past a sphere up to a Reynolds number of 300

Abstract: The flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past a sphere is investigated numerically and experimentally over flow regimes including steady and unsteady laminar flow at Reynolds numbers of up to 300. Flow-visualization experiments are used to validate the numerical results and to provide additional insight into the behaviour of the flow. Near-wake visualizations are presented for both steady and unsteady flows. Calculations for Reynolds numbers of up to 200 show steady axisymmetric flow and compare well with previous experimental and numerical observations. For Reynolds numbers of 210 to 270, a steady non-axisymmetric regime is found, also in agreement with previous work. To advance the basic understanding of this transition, a symmetry breaking mechanism is proposed based on a detailed analysis of the calculated flow field.Unsteady flow is calculated at Reynolds numbers greater than 270. The results at a Reynolds number of 300 show a highly organized periodic flow dominated by vortex shedding. An analysis of the calculated vortical structure of the wake reveals a sequence of shed hairpin vortices in combination with a sequence of previously unidentified induced hairpin vortices. The numerical results compare favourably with experimental flow visualizations which, interestingly, fail to reveal the induced vortices. Based on the deduced symmetry-breaking mechanism, an analysis of the unsteady kinematics, and the experimental results, a mechanism driving the transition to unsteady flow is proposed.

The autonomous cycle of near-wall turbulence

Abstract: Numerical experiments on modified turbulent channels at moderate Reynolds numbers are used to differentiate between several possible regeneration cycles for the turbulent fluctuations in wall-bounded flows. It is shown that a cycle exists which is local to the near-wall region and does not depend on the outer flow. It involves the formation of velocity streaks from the advection of the mean profile by streamwise vortices, and the generation of the vortices from the instability of the streaks. Interrupting any of those processes leads to laminarization. The presence of the wall seems to be only necessary to maintain the mean shear. The generation of secondary vorticity at the wall is shown to be of little importance in turbulence generation under natural circumstances. Inhibiting its production increases turbulence intensity and drag.

The turbulent burning velocity for large-scale and small-scale turbulence

Abstract: The level-set approach is applied to a regime of premixed turbulent combustion where the Kolmogorov scale is smaller than the flame thickness. This regime is called the thin reaction zones regime. It is characterized by the condition that small eddies can penetrate into the preheat zone, but not into the reaction zone.By considering the iso-scalar surface of the deficient-species mass fraction Y immediately ahead of the reaction zone a field equation for the scalar quantity G(x, t) is derived, which describes the location of the thin reaction zone. It resembles the level-set equation used in the corrugated flamelet regime, but the resulting propagation velocity s*L normal to the front is a fluctuating quantity and the curvature term is multiplied by the diffusivity of the deficient species rather than the Markstein diffusivity. It is shown that in the thin reaction zones regime diffusive effects are dominant and the contribution of s*L to the solution of the level-set equation is small.In order to model turbulent premixed combustion an equation is used that contains only the leading-order terms of both regimes, the previously analysed corrugated flamelets regime and the thin reaction zones regime. That equation accounts for non-constant density but not for gas expansion effects within the flame front which are important in the corrugated flamelets regime. By splitting G into a mean and a fluctuation, equations for the Favre mean [Gtilde]and the variance [Gtilde]″2 are derived. These quantities describe the mean flame position and the turbulent flame brush thickness, respectively. The equation for [Gtilde]″2 is closed by considering two-point statistics. Scaling arguments are then used to derive a model equation for the flame surface area ratio [rhotilde]. The balance between production, kinematic restoration and dissipation in this equation leads to a quadratic equation for the turbulent burning velocity. Its solution shows the ‘bending’ behaviour of the turbulent to laminar burning velocity ratio sT/sL, plotted as a function of v′/sL. It is shown that the bending results from the transition from the corrugated amelets to the thin reaction zones regimes. This is equivalent to a transition from Damkohler's large-scale to his small-scale turbulence regime.

The inertial lift on a spherical particle in a plane Poiseuille flow at large channel Reynolds number

Abstract: The inertial migration of a small rigid sphere translating parallel to the walls within a channel flow at large channel Reynolds numbers is investigated. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to solve the equations governing the disturbance flow past a particle at small particle Reynolds number and to evaluate the lift. Both neutrally and non-neutrally buoyant particles are considered. The wall-induced inertia is significant in the thin layers near the walls where the lift is close to that calculated for linear shear flow, bounded by a single wall. In the major portion of the flow, excluding near-wall layers, the wall effect can be neglected, and the outer flow past a sphere can be treated as unbounded parabolic shear flow. The effect of the curvature of the unperturbed velocity profile is significant, and the lift differs from the values corresponding to a linear shear flow even at large Reynolds numbers.

Coalescence of liquid drops

Abstract: When two drops of radius R touch, surface tension drives an initially singular motion which joins them into a bigger drop with smaller surface area. This motion is always viscously dominated at early times. We focus on the early-time behaviour of the radius rm of the small bridge between the two drops. The flow is driven by a highly curved meniscus of length 2rm and width rm around the bridge, from which we conclude that the leading-order problem is asymptotically equivalent to its two-dimensional counterpart. For the case of inviscid surroundings, an exact two-dimensional solution (Hopper 1990) shows that / r 3 m and rm (t= )l n [t=(R)]; and thus the same is true in three dimensions. We also study the case of coalescence with an external viscous fluid analytically and, for the case of equal viscosities, in detail numerically. A signicantly dierent structure is found in which the outer-fluid forms a toroidal bubble of radius / r 3=2 m at the meniscus and rm (t=4 )l n [t=(R)]. This basic dierence is due to the presence of the outer-fluid viscosity, however small. With lengths scaled by R a full description of the asymptotic flow for rm(t) 1 involves matching of lengthscales of order r 2 m , r 3=2 m , rm, 1 and probably r 7=4 m .

Drag reduction in fish-like locomotion

Abstract: We present experimental force and power measurements demonstrating that the power required to propel an actively swimming, streamlined, fish-like body is significantly smaller than the power needed to tow the body straight and rigid at the same speed U. The data have been obtained through accurate force and motion measurements on a laboratory fish-like robotic mechanism, 1.2 m long, covered with a flexible skin and equipped with a tail fin, at Reynolds numbers up to 106, with turbulence stimulation. The lateral motion of the body is in the form of a travelling wave with wavelength λ and varying amplitude along the length, smoothly increasing from the front to the tail end. A parametric investigation shows sensitivity of drag reduction to the non-dimensional frequency (Strouhal number), amplitude of body oscillation and wavelength λ, and angle of attack and phase angle of the tail fin. A necessary condition for drag reduction is that the phase speed of the body wave be greater than the forward speed U. Power estimates using an inviscid numerical scheme compare favourably with the experimental data. The method employs a boundary-integral method for arbitrary flexible body geometry and motions, while the wake shed from the fish-like form is modelled by an evolving desingularized dipole sheet.

Drag reduction of Newtonian fluid in a circular pipe with a highly water-repellent wall

Abstract: Drag reduction phenomena, in which 14% drag reduction of tap water flowing in a 16 mm-diameter pipe occurs in the laminar flow range, have been clarified. Experiments were carried out to measure the pressure drop and the velocity profile of tap water and an aqueous solution of glycerin flowing in pipes with highly water-repellent walls, by using a pressure transducer and a hot-film anemometer, respectively. The same drag reduction phenomena also occurred in degassed tap water when using a vacuum tank. The velocity profile measured in this experiment gives the slip velocity at the pipe wall, and it was shown that the shear stress is directly proportional to the slip velocity.The friction factor formula for a pipe with fluid slip at the wall has been obtained analytically from the exact solution of the Navier–Stokes equation, and it agrees well qualitatively with the experimental data.The main reasons for the fluid slip are that the molecular attraction between the liquid and the solid surface is reduced because the free surface energy of the solid is very low and the contact area of the liquid is decreased compared with a conventional smooth surface because the solid surface has many fine grooves. Liquid cannot flow into the fine grooves owing to surface tension. These concepts are supported by the experimental result that drag reduction does not occur in the case of surfactant solutions.

On the breakup of an air bubble injected into a fully developed turbulent flow. Part 1. Breakup frequency

Abstract: The transient evolution of the bubble-size probability density functions resulting from the breakup of an air bubble injected into a fully developed turbulent water ow has been measured experimentally using phase Doppler particle sizing (PDPA) and image processing techniques. These measurements were used to determine the breakup frequency of the bubbles as a function of their size and of the critical diameter Dc defined as Dc = 1.26 ([sigma]/[rho])3/5[epsilon][minus sign]2/5, where [epsilon] is the rate of dissipation per unit mass and per unit time of the underlying turbulence. A phenomenological model is proposed showing the existence of two distinct bubble size regimes. For bubbles of sizes comparable to Dc, the breakup frequency is shown to increase as ([sigma]/[rho])[minus sign]2/5[epsilon][minus sign]3/5 [surd radical]D/Dc[minus sign]1, while for large bubbles whose sizes are greater than 1.63Dc, it decreases with the bubble size as [epsilon]1/3D[minus sign]2/3. The model is shown to be in good agreement with measurements performed over a wide range of bubble sizes and turbulence intensities

Large-eddy simulations of a round jet in crossflow

Abstract: This paper reports on a series of large-eddy simulations of a round jet issuing normally into a crossflow. Simulations were performed at two jet-to-crossflow velocity ratios, 2.0 and 3.3, and two Reynolds numbers, 1050 and 2100, based on crossflow velocity and jet diameter. Mean and turbulent statistics computed from the simulations match experimental measurements reasonably well. Large-scale coherent structures observed in experimental flow visualizations are reproduced by the simulations, and the mechanisms by which these structures form are described. The effects of coherent structures upon the evolution of mean velocities, resolved Reynolds stresses, and turbulent kinetic energy along the centreplane are discussed. In this paper, the ubiquitous far-field counter-rotating vortex pair is shown to originate from a pair of quasi-steady ‘hanging’ vortices. These vortices form in the skewed mixing layer that develops between jet and crossflow fluid on the lateral edges of the jet. Axial flow through the hanging vortex transports vortical fluid from the near-wall boundary layer of the incoming pipe flow to the back side of the jet. There, the hanging vortex encounters an adverse pressure gradient and breaks down. As this breakdown occurs, the vortex diameter expands dramatically, and a weak counter-rotating vortex pair is formed that is aligned with the jet trajectory.

A kinematic model of a ducted flame

Abstract: A premixed ducted flame, burning in the wake of a bluff-body flame-holder, is considered. For such a flame, interaction between acoustic waves and unsteady combustion can lead to self-excited oscillations. The concept of a time-invariant turbulent flame speed is used to develop a kinematic model of the response of the flame to flow disturbances. Variations in the oncoming flow velocity at the flame-holder drive perturbations in the flame initiation surface and hence in the instantaneous rate of heat release. For linear fluctuations, the transfer function between heat release and velocity can be determined analytically from the model and is in good agreement with experiment across a wide frequency range. For nonlinear fluctuations, the model reproduces the flame surface distortions seen in schlieren films.Coupling this kinematic flame model with an analysis of the acoustic waves generated in the duct by the unsteady combustion enables the time evolution of disturbances to be calculated. Self-excited oscillations occur above a critical fuel–air ratio. The frequency and amplitude of the resulting limit cycles are in satisfactory agreement with experiment. Flow reversal is predicted to occur during part of the limit-cycle oscillation and the flame then moves upstream of the flame-holder, just as in experimental visualizations. The main nonlinearity is identified in the rate of heat release, which essentially ‘saturates’ once the amplitude of the velocity fluctuation exceeds its mean. We show that, for this type of nonlinearity, describing function analysis can be used to give a good estimate of the limit-cycle frequency and amplitude from a quasi-nonlinear theory.

Can the atmospheric kinetic energy spectrum be explained by two-dimensional turbulence?

Abstract: The statistical features of turbulence can be studied either through spectral quantities, such as the kinetic energy spectrum, or through structure functions, which are statistical moments of the difference between velocities at two points separated by a variable distance. In this paper structure function relations for two-dimensional turbulence are derived and compared with calculations based on wind data from 5754 airplane flights, reported in the MOZAIC data set. For the third-order structure function two relations are derived, showing that this function is generally positive in the two-dimensional case, contrary to the three-dimensional case. In the energy inertial range the third-order structure function grows linearly with separation distance and in the enstrophy inertial range it grows cubically with separation distance. A Fourier analysis shows that the linear growth is a reflection of a constant negative spectral energy flux, and the cubic growth is a reflection of a constant positive spectral enstrophy flux. Various relations between second-order structure functions and spectral quantities are also derived. The measured second-order structure functions can be divided into two different types of terms, one of the form r2/3, giving a k−5/3-range and another, including a logarithmic dependence, giving a k−3-range in the energy spectrum. The structure functions agree better with the two-dimensional isotropic relation for larger separations than for smaller separations. The flatness factor is found to grow very fast for separations of the order of some kilometres. The third-order structure function is accurately measured in the interval [30, 300] km and is found to be positive. The average enstrophy flux is measured as Πω≈1.8×10−13 s−3 and the constant in the k−3-law is measured as [Kscr ]≈0.19. It is argued that the k−3-range can be explained by two-dimensional turbulence and can be interpreted as an enstrophy inertial range, while the k−5/3-range can probably not be explained by two-dimensional turbulence and should not be interpreted as a two-dimensional energy inertial range.

A uniformly valid analytic solution of two-dimensional viscous flow over a semi-infinite flat plate

Abstract: We apply a new kind of analytic technique, namely the homotopy analysis method (HAM), to give an explicit, totally analytic, uniformly valid solution of the two-dimensional laminar viscous flow over a semi-infinite flat plate governed by f‴(η)+αf(η)f″(η)+β[1−f′2(η)]=0 under the boundary conditions f(0)=f′(0)=0, f′(+∞)=1. This analytic solution is uniformly valid in the whole region 0[les ]η<+∞. For Blasius' (1908) flow (α=1/2, β=0), this solution converges to Howarth's (1938) numerical result and gives a purely analytic value f″(0)=0.332057. For the Falkner–Skan (1931) flow (α=1), it gives the same family of solutions as Hartree's (1937) numerical results and a related analytic formula for f″(0) when 2[ges ]β[ges ]0. Also, this analytic solution proves that when −0.1988[les ]β0 Hartree's (1937) family of solutions indeed possess the property that f′→1 exponentially as η→+∞. This verifies the validity of the homotopy analysis method and shows the potential possibility of applying it to some unsolved viscous flow problems in fluid mechanics.

Filtered mass density function for large-eddy simulation of turbulent reacting flows

Abstract: A methodology termed the ‘filtered mass density function’ (FMDF) is developed and implemented for large-eddy simulation (LES) of variable-density chemically reacting turbulent flows at low Mach numbers. This methodology is based on the extension of the ‘filtered density function’ (FDF) scheme recently proposed by Colucci et al. (1998) for LES of constant-density reacting flows. The FMDF represents the joint probability density function of the subgrid-scale (SGS) scalar quantities and is obtained by solution of its modelled transport equation. In this equation, the effect of chemical reactions appears in a closed form and the influences of SGS mixing and convection are modelled. The stochastic differential equations (SDEs) which yield statistically equivalent results to those of the FMDF transport equation are derived and are solved via a Lagrangian Monte Carlo scheme. The consistency, convergence, and accuracy of the FMDF and the Monte Carlo solution of its equivalent SDEs are assessed. In non-reacting flows, it is shown that the filtered results via the FMDF agree well with those obtained by the ‘conventional’ LES in which the finite difference solution of the transport equations of these filtered quantities is obtained. The advantage of the FMDF is demonstrated in LES of reacting shear flows with non-premixed reactants. The FMDF results are appraised by comparisons with data generated by direct numerical simulation (DNS) and with experimental measurements. In the absence of a closure for the SGS scalar correlations, the results based on the conventional LES are significantly different from those obtained by DNS. The FMDF results show a closer agreement with DNS. These results also agree favourably with laboratory data of exothermic reacting turbulent shear flows, and portray several of the features observed experimentally.

A study of two-dimensional flow past an oscillating cylinder

Abstract: In this paper we describe a detailed study of the wake structures and flow dynamics associated with simulated two-dimensional flows past a circular cylinder that is either stationary or in simple harmonic cross-flow oscillation. Results are examined for Re = 500 and a fixed motion amplitude of y(max)/D = 0.25. The study concentrates on a domain of oscillation frequencies near the natural shedding frequency of the fixed cylinder. In addition to the change in phase of vortex shedding with respect to cylinder motion observed in previous experimental studies, we note a central band of frequencies for which the wake exhibits long-time-scale relaxation oscillator behaviour. Time-periodic states with asymmetric wake structures and non-zero mean lift were also observed for oscillation frequencies near the lower edge of the relaxation oscillator band. In this regime we compute a number of bifurcations between different wake configurations and show that the flow state is not a unique function of the oscillation frequency. Results are interpreted using an analysis of vorticity generation and transport in the base region of the cylinder. We suggest that the dynamics of the change in phase of shedding arise from a competition between two different mechanisms of vorticity production.

Transition from dripping to jetting

Abstract: We consider the critical Weber number (Wec V 2 0D=) at which the transition from dripping to jetting occurs when a Newtonian liquid of density and surface tension is injected with a velocity V0 through a tube of diameter D downward into stagnant air, under gravity g. We extend Taylor’s (1959) model for the recession speed of a free edge, and obtain in the inviscid limit an exact solution which includes gravity and inertia eects. This solution provides a criterion for the transition which is shown to occur at a critical Weber number Wec =4 Boo Bo h 1+ KBooBo ((1 +KBooBo) 2 1) 1=2 i2 ; where Bo and Boo are the Bond numbers Bo [gD 2 =(2)] 1=2 , respectively based on the inside and outside diameter of the tube, and K is a constant equal to 0:37 for the case of water injected in air. This critical Weber number is shown to be in good agreement with existing experimental values as well as with new measurements performed over a wide range of Bond numbers.

Drag and lift forces on a rotating sphere in a linear shear flow

Abstract: The drag and lift forces acting on a rotating rigid sphere in a homogeneous linear shear flow are numerically studied by means of a three-dimensional numerical simulation. The effects of both the fluid shear and rotational speed of the sphere on the drag and lift forces are estimated for particle Reynolds numbers of 1[les ]Rep[les ]500.The results show that the drag forces both on a stationary sphere in a linear shear flow and on a rotating sphere in a uniform unsheared flow increase with increasing the fluid shear and rotational speed. The lift force on a stationary sphere in a linear shear flow acts from the low-fluid-velocity side to the high-fluid-velocity side for low particle Reynolds numbers of Rep 60. The change of the direction of the lift force can be explained well by considering the contributions of pressure and viscous forces to the total lift in terms of flow separation. The predicted direction of the lift force for high particle Reynolds numbers is also examined through a visualization experiment of an iron particle falling in a linear shear flow of a glycerin solution. On the other hand, the lift force on a rotating sphere in a uniform unsheared flow acts in the same direction independent of particle Reynolds numbers. Approximate expressions for the drag and lift coefficients for a rotating sphere in a linear shear flow are proposed over the wide range of 1[les ]Rep[les ]500.

Spreading characteristics of compressible jets from nozzles of various geometries

Abstract: The spreading characteristics of jets from several asymmetric nozzles, and a set of rectangular orifices are compared, covering a jet Mach number range of 0.3-2.0. The effect of 'tabs' for a rectangular and a round nozzle is also included in the comparison. Compared to a round jet, the jets from the asymmetric nozzles spread only slightly more at subsonic conditions whereas at supersonic conditions, when 'screech' occurs, they spread much more. The dynamics of the azimuthal vortical structures of the jet, organized and intensified under the screeching condition, are thought to be responsible for the observed effect at supersonic conditions. Curiously, the jet from a 'lobed' nozzle spreads much less at supersonic condition compared to all other cases; this is due to the absence of screech with this nozzle. Screech stages inducing flapping, rather than varicose or helical, flow oscillation cause a more pronounced jet spreading. At subsonic conditions, only a slight increase in jet spreading with the asymmetric nozzles contrasts previous observations by others. The present results show that the spreading of most asymmetric jets is not much different from that of a round jet. This inference is further supported by data from the rectangular orifices. In fact, jets from the orifices with small aspect ratio (AR) exhibit virtually no increase in the spreading. A noticeable increase commences only when AR is larger than about 10. Thus, 'shear layer perimeter stretching', achieved with a larger AR for a given cross-sectional area of the orifice, by itself, proves to be a relatively inefficient mechanism for increasing jet spreading. In contrast, the presence of streamwise vortices or 'natural excitation' can cause a significant increase - effects that might explain the observations in the previous investigations. Thus far, the biggest increase in jet spreading is observed with the tabs. This is true in the subsonic regime, as well as in the supersonic regime, in spite of the fact that screech is eliminated by the tabs. The characteristic spreading of the tabbed jets is explained by the induced motion of the tab-generated streamwise vortex pairs. The tabs, however, incur thrust loss; the flow blockage and loss in thrust coefficient, vis-a-vis the spreading increase, are evaluated for various configurations.

Flow field and noise characteristics of a supersonic impinging jet

Abstract: This paper describes the results of a study examining the flow and acoustic characteristics of an axisymmetric supersonic jet issuing from a Mach 1.5 converging-diverging (C-D) nozzle and impinging on a ground plane. A large diameter circular plate was attached at the nozzle exit to measure the forces generated on the plate due to jet impingement. The experimental results described in this paper include lift loss, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and acoustic measurements. Suckdown forces as high as 60% of the primary jet thrust were measured when the ground plane was very close to the jet exit. The PIV measurements were used to explain the increase in suckdown forces due to high entrainment velocities. The self-sustained oscillatory frequencies of the impinging jet were well-predicted using a feedback loop that utilizes the measured convection velocities of the large scale coherent vortical structures in the jet shear layer. Near field acoustic measurements indicate that the presence of the ground plane increases the OASPL by approximately 8 dB relative to a corresponding free jet. For moderately under expanded jets, the influence of the shock cells on the important flow features was found to be negligible except for close proximity of the ground plane.

One-dimensional turbulence: model formulation and application to homogeneous turbulence, shear flows, and buoyant stratified flows

Abstract: A stochastic model, implemented as a Monte Carlo simulation, is used to compute statistical properties of velocity and scalar fields in stationary and decaying homogeneous turbulence, shear flow, and various buoyant stratified flows. Turbulent advection is represented by a random sequence of maps applied to a one-dimensional computational domain. Profiles of advected scalars and of one velocity component evolve on this domain. The rate expression governing the mapping sequence reflects turbulence production mechanisms. Viscous effects are implemented concurrently. Various flows of interest are simulated by applying appropriate initial and boundary conditions to the velocity profile. Simulated flow microstructure reproduces the −5/3 power-law scaling of the inertial-range energy spectrum and the dissipation-range spectral collapse based on the Kolmogorov microscale. Diverse behaviours of constant-density shear flows and buoyant stratified flows are reproduced, in some instances suggesting new interpretations of observed phenomena. Collectively, the results demonstrate that a variety of turbulent flow phenomena can be captured in a concise representation of the interplay of advection, molecular transport, and buoyant forcing.

Direct numerical simulation of a confined three-dimensional gas mixing layer with one evaporating hydrocarbon-droplet-laden stream

Abstract: Direct numerical simulations are performed of a confined three-dimensional, temporally developing, initially isothermal gas mixing layer with one stream laden with as many as 7.3×105 evaporating hydrocarbon droplets, at moderate gas temperature and subsonic Mach number. Complete two-way phase couplings of mass, momentum and energy are incorporated which are based on a thermodynamically self-consistent specification of the vapour enthalpy, internal energy and latent heat of vaporization. Effects of the initial liquid mass loading ratio (ML), initial Stokes number (St0), initial droplet temperature and flow three-dimensionality on the mixing layer growth and development are discussed. The dominant parameter governing flow modulation is found to be the liquid mass loading ratio. Variations in the initial Stokes number over the range 0.5[les ]St0[les ]2.0 do not cause significant modulations of either first- or second-order gas phase statistics. The mixing layer growth rate and kinetic energy are increasingly attenuated for increasing liquid loadings in the range 0[les ]ML[les ]0.35. The laden stream becomes saturated before evaporation is completed for all but the smallest liquid loadings owing to: (i) latent heat effects which reduce the gas temperature, and (ii) build up of the evaporated vapour mass fraction. However, droplets continue to be entrained into the layer where they evaporate owing to contact with the relatively higher-temperature vapour-free gas stream. The droplets within the layer are observed to be centrifuged out of high-vorticity regions and to migrate towards high-strain regions of the flow. This results in the formation of concentration streaks in spanwise braid regions which are wrapped around the periphery of secondary streamwise vortices. Persistent regions of positive and negative slip velocity and slip temperature are identified. The velocity component variances in both the streamwise and spanwise directions are found to be larger for the droplets than for the gas phase on the unladen stream side of the layer; however, the cross-stream velocity and temperature variances are larger for the gas. Finally, both the mean streamwise gas velocity and droplet number density profiles are observed to coincide for all ML when the cross-stream coordinate is normalized by the instantaneous vorticity thickness; however, first-order thermodynamic profiles do not coincide.

Secondary instability of crossflow vortices and swept-wing boundary-layer transition

Abstract: Crossflow instability of a three-dimensional boundary layer is a common cause of transition in swept-wing flows. The boundary-layer flow modified by the presence of finite-amplitude crossflow modes is susceptible to high-frequency secondary instabilities, which are believed to harbinger the onset of transition. The role of secondary instability in transition prediction is theoretically examined for the recent swept-wing experimental data by Reibert et al. (1996). Exploiting the experimental observation that the underlying three-dimensional boundary layer is convectively unstable, non-linear parabolized stability equations are used to compute a new basic state for the secondary instability analysis based on a two-dimensional eigenvalue approach. The predicted evolution of stationary crossflow vortices is in close agreement with the experimental data. The suppression of naturally dominant crossflow modes by artificial roughness distribution at a subcritical spacing is also confirmed. The analysis reveals a number of secondary instability modes belonging to two basic families which, in some sense, are akin to the ‘horseshoe’ and ‘sinuous’ modes of the Gortler vortex problem. The frequency range of the secondary instability is consistent with that measured in earlier experiments by Kohama et al. (1991), as is the overall growth of the secondary instability mode prior to the onset of transition (e.g. Kohama et al. 1996). Results indicate that the N-factor correlation based on secondary instability growth rates may yield a more robust criterion for transition onset prediction in comparison with an absolute amplitude criterion that is based on primary instability alone.

Self-similarity and internal structure of turbulence induced by Rayleigh Taylor instability

Abstract: This paper describes an experimental investigation of mixing due to Rayleigh–Taylor instability between two miscible fluids. Attention is focused on the gravitationally driven instability between a layer of salt water and a layer of fresh water with particular emphasis on the internal structure within the mixing zone. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the same flow are used to give extra insight into the behaviour found in the experiments.The two layers are initially separated by a rigid barrier which is removed at the start of the experiment. The removal process injects vorticity into the flow and creates a small but significant initial disturbance. A novel aspect of the numerical investigation is that the measured velocity field for the start of the experiments has been used to initialize the simulations, achieving substantially improved agreement with experiment when compared with simulations using idealized initial conditions. It is shown that the spatial structure of these initial conditions is more important than their amplitude for the subsequent growth of the mixing region between the two layers. Simple measures of the growth of the instability are shown to be inappropriate due to the spatial structure of the initial conditions which continues to influence the flow throughout its evolution. As a result the mixing zone does not follow the classical quadratic time dependence predicted from similarity considerations. Direct comparison of external measures of the growth show the necessity to capture the gross features of the initial conditions while detailed measures of the internal structure show a rapid loss of memory of the finer details of the initial conditions.Image processing techniques are employed to provide a detailed study of the internal structure and statistics of the concentration field. These measurements demonstrate that, at scales small compared with the confining geometry, the flow rapidly adopts self-similar turbulent behaviour with the influence of the barrier-induced perturbation confined to the larger length scales. Concentration power spectra and the fractal dimension of iso-concentration contours are found to be representative of fully developed turbulence and there is close agreement between the experiments and simulations. Other statistics of the mixing zone show a reasonable level of agreement, the discrepancies mainly being due to experimental noise and the finite resolution of the simulations.

Single drop impact onto liquid films: Neck distortion, jetting, tiny bubble entrainment, and crown formation

Abstract: Single drop impact onto liquid films is simulated numerically. Surface tension and gravity are taken into account, whereas viscosity and compressibility are neglected. This permits recourse to a boundary-integral method, based on an integral equation for a scalar velocity potential. Calculations are performed for normal impacts resulting in axisymmetric flows.For times that are small compared to the characteristic time of impact 2R/w0 (R being the drop radius, w0 its initial velocity towards the liquid film), it is found that a disk-like jet forms at the neck between the drop and the pre-existing liquid film, if the impact Weber number is high enough. This jet can pinch off a torus-shaped liquid volume at its tip or reconnect with the pre-existing liquid film, thus entraining a torus- shaped bubble. In reality, both the torus-shaped bubble and liquid torus will decay according to Rayleigh's capillary instability, thus breaking the cylindrical symmetry. This mechanism of bubble entrainment differs from those described in literature.For times that are comparable to or larger than the characteristic time of impact, capillary waves on the film, or the well-known crowns, are obtained again according to whether the impact Weber number is low or high enough.

Evolution of a wave packet into vortex loops in a laminar separation bubble

Abstract: A laminar boundary layer develops in a favourable pressure gradient where the velocity profiles asymptote to the Falkner & Skan similarity solution. Flying-hot-wire measurements show that the layer separates just downstream of a subsequent region of adverse pressure gradient, leading to the formation of a thin separation bubble. In an effort to gain insight into the nature of the instability mechanisms, a small-magnitude impulsive disturbance is introduced through a hole in the test surface at the pressure minimum. The facility and all operating procedures are totally automated and phase-averaged data are acquired on unprecedently large and spatially dense measurement grids. The evolution of the disturbance is tracked all the way into the reattachment region and beyond into the fully turbulent boundary layer. The spatial resolution of the data provides a level of detail that is usually associated with computations.Initially, a wave packet develops which maintains the same bounded shape and form, while the amplitude decays exponentially with streamwise distance. Following separation, the rate of decay diminishes and a point of minimum amplitude is reached, where the wave packet begins to exhibit dispersive characteristics. The amplitude then grows exponentially and there is an increase in the number of waves within the packet. The region leading up to and including the reattachment has been measured with a cross-wire probe and contours of spanwise vorticity in the centreline plane clearly show that the wave packet is associated with the cat's eye pattern that is a characteristic of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Further streamwise development leads to the formation of roll-ups and contour surfaces of vorticity magnitude show that they are three-dimensional. Beyond this point, the behaviour is nonlinear and the roll-ups evolve into a group of large-scale vortex loops in the vicinity of the reattachment. Closely spaced cross-wire measurements are continued in the downstream turbulent boundary layer and Taylor's hypothesis is applied to data on spanwise planes to generate three-dimensional velocity fields. The derived vorticity magnitude distribution demonstrates that the second vortex loop, which emerges in the reattachment region, retains its identity in the turbulent boundary layer and it persists until the end of the test section.

Richtmyer–Meshkov instability growth: experiment, simulation and theory

Abstract: Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is investigated for negative Atwood number and two-dimensional sinusoidal perturbations by comparing experiments, numerical simulations and analytic theories. The experiments were conducted on the NOVA laser with strong radiatively driven shocks with Mach numbers greater than 10. Three different hydrodynamics codes (RAGE, PROMETHEUS and FronTier) reproduce the amplitude evolution and the gross features in the experiment while the fine-scale features differ in the different numerical techniques. Linearized theories correctly calculate the growth rates at small amplitude and early time, but fail at large amplitude and late time. A nonlinear theory using asymptotic matching between the linear theory and a potential flow model shows much better agreement with the late-time and large-amplitude growth rates found in the experiments and simulations. We vary the incident shock strength and initial perturbation amplitude to study the behaviour of the simulations and theory and to study the effects of compression and nonlinearity.

On the breakup of an air bubble injected into a fully developed turbulent flow. Part 2. Size PDF of the resulting daughter bubbles

Abstract: Based on energy principles, we propose a statistical model to describe the bubble size probability density function of the daughter bubbles resulting from the shattering of a mother bubble of size D0 immersed in a fully developed turbulent water flow. The model shows that the bubble size p.d.f. depends not only on D0, but also on the value of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy of the underlying turbulence of the water, e. The phenomenological model is simple, yet it predicts detailed experimental measurements of the transient bubble size p.d.f.s performed over a range of bubble sizes and dissipation rates e in a very consistent manner. The agreement between the model and the experiments is particularly good for low and moderate bubble turbulent Weber numbers, Wet = ρΔu2(D0)D0/σ where the assumption of the binary breakup is shown to be consistent with the experimental observations. At larger values of Wet, it was found that the most probable number of daughter bubbles increases and the assumption of tertiary breakup is shown to lead to a better fit of the experimental measurements.

A Study of the Evolution and Characteristics of the Invariants of the Velocity Gradient Tensor in Isotropic Turbulence

Abstract: Since the availability of data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulence, researchers have utilized the joint PDFs of invariants of the velocity gradient tensor to study the geometry of small-scale motions of turbulence. However, the joint PDFs only give an instantaneous static representation of the properties of fluid particles and dynamical Lagrangian information cannot be extracted. In this paper, the Lagrangian evolution of the invariants of the velocity gradient tensor is studied using conditional mean trajectories (CMT). These CMT are derived using the concept of the conditional mean time rate of change of invariants calculated from a numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence. The study of the CMT in the invariant space (RA, QA) of the velocity-gradient tensor, invariant space (RS, QS) of the rate-of-strain tensor, and invariant space (RW, QW) of the rate-of-rotation tensor show that the mean evolution in the (Σ, QW) phase plane, where Σ is the vortex stretching, is cyclic with a characteristic period similar to that found by Martin et al. (1998) in the cyclic mean evolution of the CMT in the (RA, QA) phase plane. Conditional mean trajectories in the (Σ, QW) phase plane suggest that the initial reduction of QW in regions of high QW is due to viscous diffusion and that vorticity contraction only plays a secondary role subsequent to this initial decay. It is also found that in regions of the flow with small values of QW, the local values of QW do not begin to increase, even in the presence of self-stretching, until a certain self-stretching rate threshold is reached, i.e. when Σ≈0.25 〈QW〉1/2. This study also shows that in regions where the kinematic vorticity number (as defined by Truesdell 1954) is low, the local value of dissipation tends to increase in the mean as observed from a Lagrangian frame of reference. However, in regions where the kinematic vorticity number is high, the local value of enstrophy tends to decrease. From the CMT in the (−QS, RS phase plane, it is also deduced that for large values of dissipation, there is a tendency for fluid particles to evolve towards having a positive local value of the intermediate principal rate of strain.

Particle pressure and marginal stability limits for a homogeneous monodisperse gas-fluidized bed: kinetic theory and numerical simulations

Abstract: A linear stability analysis is performed for the homogeneous state of a monodisperse gas-fluidized bed of spherical particles undergoing hydrodynamic interactions and solid-body collisions at small particle Reynolds number and finite Stokes number. A prerequisite for the stability analysis is the determination of the particle velocity variance which controls the particle-phase pressure. In the absence of an imposed shear, this velocity variance arises solely due to the hydrodynamic interactions among the particles. Since the uniform state of these suspensions is unstable over a wide range of values of particle volume fraction φ and Stokes number St, full dynamic simulations cannot be used in general to characterize the properties of the homogeneous state. Instead, we use an asymptotic analysis for large Stokes numbers together with numerical simulations of the hydrodynamic interactions among particles with specified velocities to determine the hydrodynamic sources and sinks of particle-phase energy. In this limit, the velocity distribution to leading order is Maxwellian and therefore standard kinetic theories for granular/hard-sphere molecular systems can be used to predict the particle-phase pressure and rheology of the bed once the velocity variance of the particles is determined. The analysis is then extended to moderately large Stokes numbers for which the anisotropy of the velocity distribution is considerable by using a kinetic theory which combines the theoretical analysis of Koch (1990) for dilute suspensions (φ [Lt ] 1) with numerical simulation results for non-dilute suspensions at large Stokes numbers. A linear stability analysis of the resulting equations of motion provides the first a priori predictions of the marginal stability limits for the homogeneous state of a gas-fluidized bed. Dynamical simulations following the detailed motions of the particles in small periodic unit cells confirm the theoretical predictions for the particle velocity variance. Simulations using larger unit cells exhibit an inhomogeneous structure consistent with the predicted instability of the homogeneous gas–solid suspension.

Evaporation of Acoustically Levitated Droplets

Abstract: The rate of heat and mass transfer at the surface of acoustically levitated pure liquid droplets is predicted theoretically for the case where an acoustic boundary layer appears near the droplet surface resulting in an acoustic streaming. The theory is based on the computation of the acoustic field and squeezed droplet shape by means of the boundary element method developed in Yarin, Pfaffenlehner & Tropea (1998). Given the acoustic field around the levitated droplet, the acoustic streaming near the droplet surface was calculated. This allowed calculation of the Sherwood and Nusselt number distributions over the droplet surface, as well as their average values. Then, the mass balance was used to calculate the evolution of the equivalent droplet radius in time. The theory is applicable to droplets of arbitrary size relative to the sound wavelength λ, including those of the order of λ, when the compressible character of the gas flow is important. Also, the deformation of the droplets by the acoustic field is accounted for, as well as a displacement of the droplet centre from the pressure node. The effect of the internal circulation of liquid in the droplet sustained by the acoustic streaming in the gas is estimated. The distribution of the time-average heat and mass transfer rate over the droplet surface is found to have a maximum at the droplet equator and minima at its poles. The time and surface average of the Sherwood number was shown to be described by the expression Sh = KB/√ω[Dscr ]0, where B = A0e/(ρ0c0) is a scale of the velocity in the sound wave (A0e is the amplitude of the incident sound wave, ρ0 is the unperturbed air density, c0 is the sound velocity in air, ω is the angular frequency in the ultrasonic range, [Dscr ]0 is the mass diffusion coefficient of liquid vapour in air, which should be replaced by the thermal diffusivity of air in the computation of the Nusselt number). The coefficient K depends on the governing parameters (the acoustic field, the liquid properties), as well as on the current equivalent droplet radius a.For small spherical droplets with a[Lt ]λ, K = (45/4π)1/2 = 1.89, if A0e is found from the sound pressure level (SPL) defined using A0e. On the other hand, if A0e is found from the same value of the SPL, but defined using the root-mean-square pressure amplitude (prms = A0e/√2), then Sh = KrmsBrms/ √ω[Dscr ]0, with Brms = √2B and Krms = K/√2 = 1.336. For large droplets squeezed significantly by the acoustic field, K appears always to be greater than 1.89. The evolution of an evaporating droplet in time is predicted and compared with the present experiments and existing data from the literature. The agreement is found to be rather good.We also study and discuss the effect of an additional blowing (a gas jet impinging on a droplet) on the evaporation rate, as well as the enrichment of gas at the outer boundary of the acoustic bondary layer by liquid vapour. We show that, even at relatively high rates of blowing, the droplet evaporation is still governed by the acoustic streaming in the relatively strong acoustic fields we use. This makes it impossible to study forced convective heat and mass transfer under the present conditions using droplets levitated in strong acoustic fields.