We show that a rather simple, steady modification of the streamwise velocity profile in a pipe can lead to a complete collapse of turbulence and the flow fully relaminarizes. Two different devices, a stationary obstacle (inset) and a device to inject additional fluid through an annular gap close to the wall, are used to control the flow. Both devices modify the streamwise velocity profile such that the flow in the center of the pipe is decelerated and the flow in the near wall region is accelerated. We present measurements with stereoscopic particle image velocimetry to investigate and capture the development of the relaminarizing flow downstream these devices and the specific circumstances responsible for relaminarization. We find total relaminarization up to Reynolds numbers of 6000, where the pressure drop in the downstream distance is reduced by a factor of 3.4 due to relaminarization. In a smooth straight pipe the flow remains completely laminar downstream of the control. Furthermore, we show that transient (temporary) relaminarization in a spatially confined region right downstream the devices occurs also at much higher Reynolds numbers, accompanied by a significant drag reduction. The underlying physical mechanism of relaminarization is attributed to a weakening of the near-wall turbulence production cycle.
Based on a novel control scheme, where a steady modification of the streamwise velocity profile leads to complete relaminarization of initially fully turbulent pipe flow, we investigate the applicability and usefulness of custom-shaped honeycombs for such control. The custom-shaped honeycombs are used as stationary flow management devices which generate specific modifications of the streamwise velocity profile. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and pressure drop measurements are used to investigate and capture the development of the relaminarizing flow downstream these devices. We compar…
The dynamical behavior of propagating structures, determined from a Karhunen-Lo`eve decomposition, in turbulent pipe flow undergoing reverse transition to laminar flow is investigated. The turbulent flow data is generated by a direct numerical simulation started at a fully turbulent Reynolds number of Re_τ=150, which is slowly decreased until Re_τ=95. At this low Reynolds number the high frequency modes decay first, leaving only the decaying streamwise vortices. The flow undergoes a chugging phenomena, where it begins to relaminarize and the mean velocity increases. The remaining propagating m…
This is a comment on arXiv:physics/0608292, subsequently published in Phys Rev Lett, 98, 014501 (2007), in which Willis and Kerswell study in direct numerical simulations the statistics of turbulent lifetimes in pipe flow. They suggest that their data for six different Reynolds numbers support a divergence of the lifetime near a Reynolds number of about 1870. However, their conclusion is not compelling: a re-analysis of their data shows that it is also compatible with an exponentially increasing lifetime.
Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of turbulent pipe flow subjected to streamwise-varying wall rotation are performed. This control method is able to achieve drag reduction and even relaminarize the flow under certain control parameters at low Reynolds number. Two control parameters, which are velocity amplitude and wavelength, are considered. An annular boundary layer, called Spatial Stokes Layer (SSL), is formed by the wall rotation. Based on the thickness of SSL, two types of drag reduction scenarios are identified. When the thickness is low, the SSL acts as a spacer layer, obstructing the…
Drag penalty during relaminarization and Kelvin-Helmholtz-promoted retransition in an accelerating turbulent boundary layer over initially drag-reducing riblets
This is a Reply to Comment arXiv:0707.2642 by Hof et al. on Letter arXiv:physics/0608292 which was subsequently published in Phys Rev Lett, 98, 014501 (2007). In our letter it was reported that in pipe flow the median time $τ$ for relaminarisation of localised turbulent disturbances closely follows the scaling $τ\sim 1/(Re_c-Re)$. This conclusion was based on data from collections of 40 to 60 independent simulations at each of six different Reynolds numbers, Re. In the Comment, Hof et al. estimate $τ$ differently for the point at lowest Re. Although this point is the most uncertain, it forms t…
We extend the procedure outlined in [Basse, "Scaling of global properties of fluctuating and mean streamwise velocities in pipe flow: Characterization of a high Reynolds number transition region," Phys. Fluids Vol. 33, 065127 (2021)] to study global, i.e. radially averaged, scaling of streamwise velocity fluctuations. A viscous term is added to the log-law scaling which leads to the existence of a mathematical abstraction which we call the "global peak". The position and amplitude of this global peak are characterized and compared to the inner and outer peaks. A transition at a friction Reynol…
A study of the the main features of low- and high amplitude steady streamwise wall transpiration applied to pipe flow is presented. The effect of the two transpiration parameters, amplitude and wavenumber, on the flow have been investigated by means of direct numerical simulation at a moderate turbulent Reynolds number. The behaviour of the three identified mechanisms that act in the flow: modification of Reynolds shear stress, steady streaming and generation of non-zero mean streamwise gradients, have been linked to the transpiration parameters. The observed trends have permitted the identifi…
A streamwise-constant model is presented to investigate the basic mechanisms responsible for the change in mean flow occuring during pipe flow transition. Using a single forced momentum balance equation, we show that the shape of the velocity profile is robust to changes in the forcing profile and that both linear non-normal and nonlinear effects are required to capture the change in mean flow associated with transition to turbulence. The particularly simple form of the model allows for the study of the momentum transfer directly by inspection of the equations. The distribution of the high- an…
Although the equations governing fluid flow are well known, there are no analytical expressions that describe the complexity of turbulent motion. A recent proposition is that in analogy to low dimensional chaotic systems, turbulence is organized around unstable solutions of the governing equations which provide the building blocks of the disordered dynamics. We report the discovery of periodic solutions which just like intermittent turbulence are spatially localized and show that turbulence arises from one such solution branch.
We study the global, i.e. radially averaged, high Reynolds number (asymptotic) scaling of streamwise turbulence intensity squared defined as ${I^2=\overline{u^2}/U^2}$, where $u$ and $U$ are the fluctuating and mean velocities, respectively (overbar is time averaging). The investigation is based on the mathematical abstraction that the logarithmic region in wall turbulence extends across the entire inner and outer layers. Results are matched to spatially integrated Princeton Superpipe measurements [Hultmark M, Vallikivi M, Bailey SCC and Smits AJ. Logarithmic scaling of turbulence in smooth- a…
The aim in the dynamical systems approach to transitional turbulence is to construct a scaffold in phase space for the dynamics using simple invariant sets (exact solutions) and their stable and unstable manifolds. In large (realistic) domains where turbulence can co-exist with laminar flow, this requires identifying exact localized solutions. In wall-bounded shear flows the first of these has recently been found in pipe flow, but questions remain as to how they are connected to the many known streamwise-periodic solutions. Here we demonstrate the origin of the first localized solution in a mo…
We investigated the linear stability of pipe flow with anisotropic slip length at the wall by considering streamwise and azimuthal slip separately as the limiting cases. Our numerical analysis shows that streamwise slip renders the flow less stable but does not cause instability. The exponential decay rate of the least stable mode appears to be $\propto Re^{-1}$ when the Reynolds number is sufficiently large. Azimuthal slip can cause linear instability if the slip length is sufficiently large. The critical Reynolds number can be reduced to a few hundred given large slip lengths. Besides numeri…
Relaminarization of wall-bounded turbulent flows by means of external static magnetic fields is a long-known phenomenon in the physics of electrically conducting fluids at low magnetic Reynolds numbers. Despite the large literature on the subject, it is not yet completely clear what combination of the Hartmann ($M$) and the Reynolds number has to be used to predict the laminar-turbulent transition in channel or pipe flows fed by upstream turbulent flows free of magnetic perturbations. Relying upon standard phenomenological approaches related to mixing length and structural concepts, we put for…
A new, fully-localised, energy growth optimal is found over large times and in long pipe domains at a given mass flow rate. This optimal emerges at a threshold disturbance energy below which a nonlinear version of the known (streamwise-independent) linear optimal (Schmid \& Henningson 1994) is selected, and appears to remain the optimal up until the critical energy at which transition is triggered. The form of this optimal is similar to that found in short pipes (Pringle et al.\ 2012) albeit now with full localisation in the streamwise direction. This fully-localised optimal perturbation repre…
In pipes and channels, the onset of turbulence is initially dominated by localized transients, which lead to sustained turbulence through their collective dynamics. In the present work, we study the localized turbulence in pipe flow numerically and elucidate a state space structure that gives rise to transient chaos. Starting from the basin boundary separating laminar and turbulent flow, we identify transverse homoclinic orbits, the presence of which necessitates a homoclinic tangle and chaos. A direct consequence of the homoclinic tangle is the fractal nature of the laminar-turbulent boundary…
The spectral model of Perry, Henbest & Chong (1986) predicts that the integral length-scale varies very slowly with distance to the wall in the intermediate layer. The only way for the integral length scale's variation to be more realistic while keeping with the Townsend-Perry attached eddy spectrum is to add a new wavenumber range to the model at wavenumbers smaller than that spectrum. This necessary addition can also account for the high Reynolds number outer peak of the turbulent kinetic energy in the intermediate layer. An analytic expression is obtained for this outer peak in agreement wi…
Following the recent observation that turbulent pipe flow can be relaminarised by a relatively simple modification of the mean velocity profile, we here carry out a quantitative experimental investigation of this phenomenon. Our study confirms that a flat velocity profile leads to a collapse of turbulence and in order to achieve the blunted profile shape, we employ a moving pipe segment that is briefly and rapidly shifted in the streamwise direction. The relaminarisation threshold and the minimum shift length and speeds are determined as a function of Reynolds number. Although turbulence is st…
Turbulent pipe flows exhibit organizational states (OSs) that are labelled by discrete azimuthal wavenumber modes and are reminiscent of the traveling wave solutions of low Reynolds number regimes. The discretized time evolution of the OSs, obtained through stereoscopic particle image velocimetry, is shown to be non-Markovian for data acquisition carried out at a structure-resolved sampling rate. In particular, properly defined time-correlation functions for the OS transitions are observed to decay as intriguing power laws, up to a large-eddy time horizon, beyond which they decorrelate at much…
We experimentally assess the capabilities of an active, open-loop technique for drag reduction in turbulent wall flows recently introduced by Quadrio et al. [J. Fluid Mech., v.627, 161, (2009)]. The technique consists in generating streamwise-modulated waves of spanwise velocity at the wall, that travel in the streamwise direction. A proof-of-principle experiment has been devised to measure the reduction of turbulent friction in a pipe flow, in which the wall is subdivided into thin slabs that rotate independently in the azimuthal direction. Different speeds of nearby slabs provide, although i…
Pulsatile flows are common in nature and in applications, but their stability and transition to turbulence are still poorly understood. Even in the simple case of pipe flow subject to harmonic pulsation, there is no consensus among experimental studies on whether pulsation delays or enhances transition. We here report direct numerical simulations of pulsatile pipe flow at low pulsation amplitude A<0.4. We use a spatially localized impulsive disturbance to generate a single turbulent puff and track its dynamics as it travels downstream. The computed relaminarization statistics are in quantitati…
We show that the Fukagata et al. (2002)'s identity for free-stream boundary layers simplifies to the von Karman momentum integral equation relating the skin-friction coefficient and the momentum thickness when the upper bound in the integrals used to obtain the identity is taken to be asymptotically large. If a finite upper bound is used, the terms of the identity depend spuriously on the bound itself. Differently from channel and pipe flows, the impact of the Reynolds stresses on the wall-shear stress cannot be quantified in the case of free-stream boundary layers because the Reynolds stresse…
A multi-layer model of an energy length function is developed by employing recent results of the authors. The theory predicts the complete, mean streamwise turbulent kinetic-energy profile (MKP), in good agreement with empirical data for a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re). In particular, a critical $Re_τ$ is predicted, beyond which a scaling anomaly appears and MKP develops a second peak.
We study streamwise turbulence intensity definitions using smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow measurements made in the Princeton Superpipe. Scaling of turbulence intensity with the bulk (and friction) Reynolds number is provided for the definitions. The turbulence intensity scales with the friction factor for both smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow. Turbulence intensity definitions providing the best description of the measurements are identified. A procedure to calculate the turbulence intensity based on the bulk Reynolds number (and the sand-grain roughness for rough-wall pipe flow) is outlined.
To fully evaluate a turbulent flow, Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) is the most accurate method by far and requires considerable computational power and time; not optimum for industry standards. Developing an alternative model, providing results with reasonable accuracy would resolve this issue. Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling has proven its worth in addressing this phenomenon. In this study, we investigated the RANS turbulence models from COMSOL for fully developed single-phase flow in a two-dimensional axisymmetric pipe domain with constant heating at the wall and periodic …
Turbulent stripe, which would occur in turbulent channel flows at transitional Reynolds numbers, was studied experimentally by flow visualization using reflective flake particles. In a range of bulk mean Reynolds number Re = 1700-2000, the turbulent stripe was observed to be inclined at angles of 20-30 degree against the streamwise direction, and its streamwise wave length was about 60 times of the channel half width ($δ$). The longitudinal streaks with the spanwise spacing of 1.6$δ$ were found in the quasi-laminar regions. The critical Reynolds number was Re = 1300. Time traces of the streamw…
Using various techniques from dynamical systems theory, we rigorously study an experimentally validated model by [Barkley et al., Nature, 526:550-553, 2015], which describes the rise of turbulent pipe flow via a PDE system of reduced complexity. The fast evolution of turbulence is governed by reaction-diffusion dynamics coupled to the centerline velocity, which evolves with advection of Burgers' type and a slow relaminarization term. Applying to this model a spatial dynamics ansatz and geometric singular perturbation theory, we prove the existence of a heteroclinic loop between a turbulent and…
Drag reduction and subcritical turbulence in controlled pipe flows
Politecnico di Milano（米兰理工大学）；Univ. Lille, CNRS, ONERA, Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology, Centrale Lille（里尔大学、法国国家科学研究中心、法国航空发展局、巴黎国立高等工艺学院、里尔中央理工学院）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
Turbulence is the major cause of friction losses in transport processes and it is responsible for a drastic drag increase in flows over bounding surfaces. While much effort is invested into developing ways to control and reduce turbulence intensities, so far no methods exist to altogether eliminate turbulence if velocities are sufficiently large. We demonstrate for pipe flow that appropriate distortions to the velocity profile lead to a complete collapse of turbulence and subsequently friction losses are reduced by as much as 95%. Counterintuitively, the return to laminar motion is accomplishe…
A three-layer asymptotic structure for turbulent pipe flow is proposed, revealing in terms of intermediate variables, the existence of a Reynolds-number invariant logarithmic region. It provides a theoretical foundation for addressing important questions in the scaling of the streamwise mean velocity and variance. The key insight emerging from the analysis is that the scale separation between two adjacent layers is proportional to $\sqrt{Re_τ}$, rather than $Re_τ$. This suggests that, in order to realise Reynolds-number asymptotic invariance, much higher Reynolds numbers may be necessary to ac…
In this paper we solve the inviscid inertial wave solutions in a circular pipe or annulus rotating constantly about its axis with moderate angular speed. The solutions are constructed by the so-called helical wave functions. We reveal that the mean velocity profiles must satisfy certain conditions to accommodate the inertial waves at the bulk region away from boundary. These conditions require the axial and azimuthal components of the mean velocity take the shapes of the zeroth and first order Bessel functions of the first kind, respectively. The theory is then verified by data obtained from d…
The swirling secondary flow in curved pipes is studied in three-space dimensions using a weakly compressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (WCSPH) formulation coupled to new non-reflecting outflow boundary conditions. A large-eddy simulation (LES) model for turbulence is benchmarked with existing experimental data. After validation of the present model against experimental results for a 90 grades pipe bend, a detailed numerical study aimed at reproducing experimental flow measurements for a wide range of Reynolds numbers has been performed for different pipe geometries, including U pipe bend…
We propose a generalization of Hopf fibrations to quotient the streamwise translation symmetry of turbulent pipe flows viewed as dynamical systems. In particular, we exploit the geometric structure of the associate high dimensional state space, which is that of a principal fiber bundle. The relation between the comoving frame velocity $U_{d}$ associated with the dynamical phase of an orbit in the bundle and the Taylor's hypothesis is investigated. As an application, Laser-Induced-Fluorescence techniques are exploited to capture planar fluorescent dye concentration fields tracing a turbulent pi…
Considering structure functions of the streamwise velocity component in a framework akin to the extended self-similarity hypothesis (ESS), de Silva \textit{et al.} (\textit{J. Fluid Mech.}, vol. 823,2017, pp. 498-510) observed that remarkably the \textit{large-scale} (energy-containing range) statistics in canonical wall bounded flows exhibit universal behaviour. In the present study, we extend this universality, which was seen to encompass also flows at moderate Reynolds number, to Taylor-Couette flow. In doing so, we find that also the transversal structure function of the spanwise velocity …
Experiments have been conducted to assess the sizes and energy fractions of structure in fully developed turbulent pipe flow regime in two pipe facilities, ColaPipe at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, and CICLoPE at University of Bologna, for shear Reynolds number in the range $2.5\cdot{10^3}\le{\mathrm{Re_τ}}\le{3.7\cdot{10^4}}$, utilizing a single hot-wire probe. Considerations are given to the spectra of the streamwise velocity fluctuations, and to large scale motions and their energy contents from the pipe near-wall to centerline. The analysis of the velocity fluctuations revealed a Reynolds-numbe…
The flow instability and further transition to turbulence in a toroidal pipe (torus) with curvature (tube-to-coiling diameter) 0.049 is investigated experimentally. The flow inside the toroidal pipe is driven by a steel sphere fitted to the inner pipe diameter. The sphere is moved with constant azimuthal velocity from outside the torus by a moving magnet. The experiment is designed to investigate curved pipe flow by optical measurement techniques. Using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry, laser Doppler velocimetry and pressure drop measurements, the flow is measured for Reynolds numbers r…
We propose and apply a Fourier-based symmetry reduction scheme to remove, or quotient, the streamwise translation symmetry of Laser-Induced-Fluorescence measurements of turbulent pipe flows that are viewed as dynamical systems in a high-dimensional state space. We also explain the relation between Taylor's hypothesis and the comoving frame velocity $U_{d}$ of the turbulent orbit in state space. In particular, in physical space we observe flow structures that deform as they advect downstream at a speed that differs significantly from $U_{d}$. Indeed, the symmetry reduction analysis of planar dy…
The drag reduction induced by superhydrophobic surfaces is investigated in turbulent pipe flow. Wetted superhydrophobic surfaces are shown to trap gas bubbles in their asperities. This stops the liquid from coming in direct contact with the wall in that location, allowing the flow to slip over the air bubbles. We consider a well defined texture with streamwise grooves at the walls in which the gas is expected to be entrapped. This configuration is modelled with alternating no-slip and shear-free boundary conditions at the wall. With respect to classical turbulent pipe flow, a substantial drag …
A volume-filtered Euler-Lagrange large eddy simulation methodology is used to predict the physics of turbulent liquid-solid slurry flow through a horizontal pipe. A dynamic Smagorinsky model based on Lagrangian averaging is employed to account for the sub-filter scale effects in the liquid phase. A fully conservative immersed boundary method is used to account for the pipe geometry on a uniform cartesian grid. The liquid and solid phases are coupled through volume fraction and momentum exchange terms. Particle-particle and particle-wall collisions are modeled using a soft-sphere approach. A se…
Motivated by the results of recent experiments (Kühnen et al., Flow Turb. Combust., vol. 100, 2018, pp. 919-943), we consider the problem of designing a baffle (an obstacle to the flow) to relaminarise turbulence in pipe flows. Modelling the baffle as a spatial distribution of linear drag $\mathbf{f}(\mathbf{x},t)=-χ(\mathbf{x})\mathbf{u}_{tot}(\mathbf{x},t)$ within the flow ($\mathbf{u}_{tot}$ is the total velocity field and $χ\ge 0$ a scalar field), two different optimisation problems are considered to design $χ$ at a Reynolds number $Re=3000$. In the first, the smallest baffle defined in te…
