A large eddy simulation (LES) with an extended Smagorinsky model has been carried to investigate numerically the fully developed turbulent flow of a shear thinning fluid (n=0.75) in a stationary pipe at a simulation's Reynolds number equals to 4000 with a grid resolution of 65 3 gridpoints in axial, radial and circumferential directions and a domain length of 20R. The present study set out to critically evaluate the influence of the Non-Newtonian rheological and hydrodynamic behaviour on the turbulence main features, as well as to ascertain the accuracy and reliability of the laboratory code predicted results. The turbulent flow statistics obtained compared reasonably well with the experimental data and DNS results. A reasonably good agreement has been obtained between the predicted results and available results of literature. The main findings suggest that the mean axial velocity fluctuations were generated in the wall vicinity and transferred to the radial and spanwise components, which resulted in to an enhancement in the kinetic energy of turbulent fluctuations along the radial direction. The energy transport from the axial fluctuations to the other fluctuations components between the flow layers was suppressed compared to that of the Newtonian fluid.
This paper presents a method for calculating the wall shear rate in pipe turbulent flow. It collapses adequately the data measured in laminar flow and turbulent flow into a single flow curve and gives the basis for the design of turbulent flow viscometers. Key words: non-Newtonian, wall shear rate, turbulent, rheometer
This paper presents a new theory of turbulence in time-independent non-Newtonian fluids. The wall layer is modelled in terms of unsteady exchange of viscous momentum between the wall and the main stream, following the classic visualisation of inrush-sweep-ejection/burst. The thickness of the wall layer is found to be the same for Newtonian and purely viscous non-Newtonian fluids, when normalised with the instantaneous wall parameters at the onset of bursting. The results indicate that the mechanisms of turbulence in Newtonian and time-independent fluids are identical when structural similarity…
Turbulent channel flow of drag-reducing polymer solutions is simulated in minimal flow geometries. Even in the Newtonian limit, we find intervals of "hibernating" turbulence that display many features of the universal maximum drag reduction (MDR) asymptote observed in polymer solutions: weak streamwise vortices, nearly nonexistent streamwise variations and a mean velocity gradient that quantitatively matches experiments. As viscoelasticity increases, the frequency of these intervals also increases, while the intervals themselves are unchanged, leading to flows that increasingly resemble MDR.
We investigate three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics turbulence in the presence of both a large-scale velocity and non-uniform magnetic field. By assuming a turbulence driven by an external forcing with both helical and non-helical spectra, we investigate the combined effect of these two shears on turbulence intensity and turbulent transport represented by turbulent diffusivities (turbulent viscosity, $α$ and $β$ effect) in analogy with Reynolds. We show that turbulence viscosity and diffusivity are quenched for strong flow shear and magnetic field in the limits of weak and strong magnetic fi…
Correlations of friction factors are presented for the general case of purely viscous non-Newtonian fluids without requiring a priori the adoption of a rheological model. They are based on an empirical estimate of the shift in the wall layer edge and the Kolmogorov point. The predictions of friction factors have the same level of accuracy as those of the Dodge-Metzner correlation but the visualisation is more compatible with measured velocity profiles. The general correlations obtained can be used to easily retrieve correlations for specific rheological models.
We studied experimentally the effect of turbulent thermal diffusion in a multi-fan turbulence generator which produces a nearly homogeneous and isotropic flow with a small mean velocity. Using Particle Image Velocimetry and Image Processing techniques we showed that in a turbulent flow with an imposed mean vertical temperature gradient (stably stratified flow) particles accumulate in the regions with the mean temperature minimum. These experiments detected the effect of turbulent thermal diffusion in a multi-fan turbulence generator for relatively high Reynolds numbers. The experimental result…
The effect of freestream turbulence on the spreading of the near wake of a circular cylinder is investigated through particle image velocimetry (PIV) data. Different ``flavours'' of freestream turbulence, in which the turbulence intensity and integral length scale are independently varied, are subjected to the cylinder. The time-averaged spreading of the near wake is decoupled into the growth through entrainment and the envelope of the spatial extent of the instantaneous wake due to wake ``meandering'', induced by the presence of large-scale coherent structures, i.e. the von Karman vortex stre…
The closure problem of turbulence is still a challenging issue in turbulence modeling. In this work, a stability condition is used to close turbulence. Specifically, we regard single-phase flow as a mixture of turbulent and non-turbulent fluids, separating the structure of turbulence. Subsequently, according to the picture of the turbulent eddy cascade, the energy contained in turbulent flow is decomposed into different parts and then quantified. A turbulence stability condition, similar to the principle of the energy-minimization multi-scale (EMMS) model for gas-solid systems, is formulated t…
We study experimentally turbulent thermal diffusion of small particles in inhomogeneous and anisotropic stably stratified turbulence produced by one oscillating grid in the air flow. The velocity fields have been measured using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). We have determined various turbulence characteristics: the mean and turbulent velocities, two-point correlation functions of the velocity field and an integral scale of turbulence from the measured velocity fields. The temperature field have been measured with a temperature probe equipped with 12 E thermocouples. Spatial distributions…
We investigate through Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) the statistical properties of turbulent flows in the inertial subrange for non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The structural invariance found for the vortex size distribution is achieved through a self-organized mechanism at the microscopic scale of the turbulent motion that adjusts, according to the rheological properties of the fluid, the ratio between the viscous dissipations inside and outside the vortices. Moreover, the deviations from the K41 theory of the structure functions' exponents reveal that the anomalous scaling exhibits a sy…
A space-filling, low blockage fractal grid is used as a novel turbulence generator in a premixed turbulent combustion experiment. In contrast to the power law decay of a standard turbulence grid, the downstream turbulence intensity of the fractal grid increases until it reaches a peak at some distance from the grid before it finally decays. The effective mesh size and the solidity are the same as those of a standard square mesh grid with which it is compared. It is found that, for the same flow rate and stoichiometry, the fractal generated turbulence enhances the burning rate and causes the fl…
In recent years, scale-by-scale energy transport in wall turbulence has been intensively studied, and the complex spatial and interscale transfer of turbulent energy has been investigated. As the enhancement of heat transfer is one of the most important aspects of turbulence from an engineering perspective, it is also important to study how turbulent heat fluxes are transported in space and in scale by nonlinear multi-scale interactions in wall turbulence as well as turbulent energy. In the present study, the spectral transport budgets of turbulent heat fluxes are investigated based on direct …
On dissipation time scales of the basic second-order moments: the effect on the Energy and Flux-Budget (EFB) turbulence closure for stably stratified turbulence
We study the self-similarity and dissipation scalings of a turbulent planar jet and the theoretically implied mean flow scalings. Unlike turbulent wakes where such studies have already been carried out (Dairay et al. 2015; Obligado et al. 2016), this is a boundary- free turbulent shear flow where the local Reynolds number increases with distance from inlet. The Townsend-George theory revised by Dairay et al. (2015) is applied to turbulent planar jets. Only a few profiles need to be self-similar in this theory. The self- similarity of mean flow, turbulence dissipation, turbulent kinetic energy …
Identification and extraction of vortical structures and of waves in a disorganised flow is a mayor challenge in the study of turbulence. We present a study of the spatio-temporal behavior of turbulent flows in the presence of different restitutive forces. We show how to compute and analyse the spatio-temporal spectrum from data stemming from numerical simulations and from laboratory experiments. Four cases are considered: homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, rotating turbulence, stratified turbulence, and water wave turbulence. For homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, the spectrum allows id…
The motion of a large, neutrally buoyant, particle, freely advected by a turbulent flow is determined experimentally. We demonstrate that both the translational and angular accelerations exhibit very wide probability distributions, a manifestation of intermittency. The orientation of the angular velocity with respect to the trajectory, as well as the translational acceleration conditioned on the spinning velocity provide evidence of a lift force acting on the particle.
The turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate is computed by direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations as a test bed for a synthetic turbulence generator (STG) inflow boundary condition. The inlet momentum thickness Reynolds number is approximately 1,000. The study provides validation of the ability of the STG to develop accurate turbulence in 5 to 7 boundary layer thicknesses downstream of the boundary condition. Also tested was the effect of changes in the stabilization scheme on the development of the boundary layer. Moreover, the grid resolution requi…
In particle-laden turbulent flows the turbulence in carrier fluid phase gets affected by the dispersed particle phase for volume fraction above $10^{-4}$ and hence reverse coupling or two-way coupling becomes relevant in that volume fraction regime. In a recent study by Muramulla $et.al.^1$, a discontinuous decrease of turbulence intensity is observed in a vertical particle-laden turbulent channel-flow for a critical volume fraction O($10^{-3}$). The collapse of turbulent intensity is found out to be a result of catastrophic reduction of turbulent energy production rate. Mechanistically, parti…
We show, by direct numerical simulations, that heavy inertial particles (characterized by Stokes number $\St$) in inhomogeneously forced statistically stationary isothermal turbulent flows cluster at the minima of mean-square turbulent velocity. Two turbulent transport processes, turbophoresis and turbulent diffusion together determine the spatial distribution of the particles. If the turbulent diffusivity is assumed to scale with turbulent root mean square velocity, as is the case for homogeneous turbulence, the turbophoretic coefficient can be calculated. Indeed, for the above assumption, th…
Wind-wave interaction involves wind forcing on wave surface and wave effects on the turbulent wind structures, which essentially influences the wind and wave loading on structures. Existing research on wind-wave interaction modeling ignores the inherent strong turbulences of wind. The present study aims to characterize the turbulent airflow over wave surfaces and wave dynamics under wind driving force. A high-fidelity two-phase model is developed to simulate highly turbulent wind-wave fields. Instead of using uniform wind, inherent wind turbulences are prescribed at the inlet boundary using th…
Nonpremixed turbulent reacting flows are intrinsically difficult to model due to the strong coupling between turbulent motions and reaction. The large amount of heat released by a typical hydrocarbon flame leads to significant modifications of the thermodynamic variables and the molecular transport coefficients and thus alters the fluid dynamics. Additionally, in nonpremixed combustion, the flame has a complex spatial structure. Localized expansions and contractions occur, enhancing the dilatational motions. Therefore, the compressibility of the flow and the heat release are intimately related…
Numerical simulations of turbulent round jets, using explicit-filtered LES technique, are performed, for three different Reynolds numbers(Re = 3600, 88000, 400000), to understand the Reynolds number effect on subsonic jets with Mach number 0.9. Eigth-order compact schemes are used for spatial derivative estimation. Second order Runge-Kutta method is used for Time evolution of flow. One-parameter fourth-order compact filter is used for low-pass explicit filtering of transported variables. Decreased centreline axial velocity decay rate and reduced turbulence intensities are observed as jet Reyno…
In pipe, channel and boundary layer flows turbulence first occurs intermittently in space and time: at moderate Reynolds numbers domains of disordered turbulent motion are separated by quiescent laminar regions. Based on direct numerical simulations of pipe flow we here argue that the spatial intermittency has its origin in a nearest neighbor interaction between turbulent regions. We further show that in this regime turbulent flows are intrinsically intermittent with a well defined equilibrium turbulent fraction but without ever assuming a steady pattern. This transition scenario is analogous …
We study the turbulence transition of plane Couette flow in large domains where localised perturbations are observed to generate growing turbulent spots. Extending previous studies on the boundary between laminar and turbulent dynamics we determine invariant structures intermediate between laminar and turbulent flow. In wide but short domains we find states that are localised in spanwise direction, and in wide and long domains the states are also localised in downstream direction. These localised states act as critical nuclei for the transition to turbulence in spatially extended domains.
Turbulence is ubiquitous in nature yet even for the case of ordinary Newtonian fluids like water our understanding of this phenomenon is limited. Many liquids of practical importance however are more complicated (e.g. blood, polymer melts or paints), they exhibit elastic as well as viscous characteristics and the relation between stress and strain is nonlinear. We here demonstrate for a model system of such complex fluids that at high shear rates turbulence is not simply modified as previously believed but it is suppressed and replaced by a new type of disordered motion, elasto-inertial turbul…
Flapping insects are remarkably agile fliers, adapted to a highly turbulent environment. We present a series of high resolution numerical simulations of a bumblebee interacting with turbulent inflow. We consider both tethered and free flight, the latter with all six degrees of freedom coupled to the Navier--Stokes equations. To this end we vary the characteristics of the turbulent inflow, either changing the turbulence intensity or the spectral distribution of turbulent kinetic energy. Active control is excluded in order to quantify the passive response real animals exhibit during their reacti…
Nonlinear interaction between different scales in turbulence results in both interscale and spatial transport of turbulent energy, and the role of such scale interactions in turbulent heat transfer mechanism is also of practical importance from the engineering viewpoint. In the present study, we investigate a turbulent plane Couette flow with passive-scalar heat transfer at the Prandtl number 0.71, in order to address the similarity/difference between the scale interactions in the velocity and temperature fields. The constant-temperature-difference boundary condition is used so that the mean v…
Over a century of research into the origin of turbulence in wallbounded shear flows has resulted in a puzzling picture in which turbulence appears in a variety of different states competing with laminar background flow. At slightly higher speeds the situation changes distinctly and the entire flow is turbulent. Neither the origin of the different states encountered during transition, nor their front dynamics, let alone the transformation to full turbulence could be explained to date. Combining experiments, theory and computer simulations here we uncover the bifurcation scenario organising the …
We study the physics of turbulent/non-turbulent interface of an isolated turbulent region in dilute polymer solutions and Newtonian fluid. The performance of a FENE-P model with a localized homogeneous forcing is verified using the specially designed experimental setup of a turbulent patch growing in water/dilute polymer solution, without mean shear and far from the walls. The results of the small scale dynamics of vorticity and strain help to reveal the key mechanism of polymer action in turbulent flows without mean shear. Modified degrees of alignment between vorticity, the polymer conformat…
The modified Townsend-Perry attached eddy model of Vassilicos et al (2015) combines the outer peak/plateau behaviour of rms streamwise turbulence velocity profiles and the Townsend-Perry log-decay of these profiles at higher distances from the wall. This model was validated by these authors for high Reynolds number tur- bulent pipe flow data and is shown here to describe equally well and with about the same parameter values turbulent boundary layer flow data from four different facilities and a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The model has predictive value as, when extrapolated to the extremel…
Direct numerical simulations are performed to contrast turbulent boundary layers over a concave wall without and with free-stream turbulence. Adverse pressure gradient near the onset of curvature leads to sharp decrease in skin friction and intermittent separation. The presence of free-stream turbulence reduces the probability of reverse flow, accelerates the recovery of the boundary layer in the downstream zero-pressure gradient region, and leads to a sustained and appreciable increase in the skin friction. The forcing also promotes the amplification of coherent Görtler structures in the loga…
Radiation transport plays important roles in stellar atmospheres, but the effects of turbulence are being obscured by other effects such as stratification. Using radiative hydrodynamic simulations of forced turbulence, we determine the decay rates of sinusoidal large-scale temperature perturbations of different wavenumbers in the optically thick and thin regimes. Increasing the wavenumber increases the rate of decay in both regimes, but this effect is much weaker than for the usual turbulent diffusion of passive scalars, where the increase is quadratic for small wavenumbers. The turbulent deca…
Turbulence in fluids is an ubiquitous phenomenon, characterized by spontaneous transition of a smooth, laminar flow to rapidly changing, chaotic dynamics. In 1883, Reynolds experimentally demonstrated that, in an initially laminar flow of water, turbulent motions emerge without any measurable external disturbance. To this day, turbulence remains a major unresolved phenomenon in fluid mechanics; in particular, there is a lack of a mathematical model where turbulent dynamics emerge naturally from a laminar flow. Recently, we proposed a new theory of turbulence in gases, according to which turbul…
We study the experimental properties of exchange flows in a stratified inclined duct (SID), which are simultaneously turbulent, strongly stratified by a mean vertical density gradient, driven by a mean vertical shear, and continuously forced by gravity. We focus on the core shear layer away from the duct walls, where these flows are excellent experimentally-realisable approximations of canonical hyperbolic-tangent stratified shear layers, whose forcing allows mean and turbulent properties to reach quasi steady states. We analyse state-of-the-art data sets of the time-resolved density and veloc…
The recent discovery of unstable travelling waves (TWs) in pipe flow has been hailed as a significant breakthrough with the hope that they populate the turbulent attractor. We confirm the existence of coherent states with internal fast and slow streaks commensurate in both structure and energy with known TWs using numerical simulations in a long pipe. These only occur, however, within less energetic regions of (localized) `puff' turbulence at low Reynolds numbers (Re=2000-2400), and not at all in (homogeneous) `slug' turbulence at Re=2800. This strongly suggests that all currently known TWs si…
Self-organized large-scale flow structures occur in a wide range of turbulent flows. Yet, their emergence, dynamics, and interplay with small-scale turbulence are not well understood. Here, we investigate such self-organized turbulent superstructures in three-dimensional turbulent Kolmogorov flow with large-scale drag. Through extensive simulations, we uncover their low-dimensional dynamics featuring transitions between several stable and meta-stable large-scale structures as a function of the damping parameter. The main dissipation mechanism for the turbulent superstructures is the generation…
The effect of turbulence on the heterogeneous (solid-fluid) reactions of solid particles is studied numerically with Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). A simplified reaction system is used, where the solid-fluid reaction is represented by a single isothermal reaction step. It is found that, due to the clustering of particles by the isotropic turbulence, the overall reaction rate is entirely controlled by the turbulence for large Damköhler numbers. The particle clustering significantly slows down the reaction rate for increasing Damköhler numbers which reaches an asymptotic limit that can be a…
By analogy with the kinetic theory of gases, most turbulence modeling strate- gies rely on an eddy viscosity to model the unresolved turbulent fluctuations. How- ever, the ratio of unresolved to resolved scales - very much like a degree of rarefaction - is not taken into account by the popular conventional schemes, based on the Navier- Stokes equations. This paper investigates the simulation of turbulent flow with a gas- kinetic scheme. In so doing, the modeling of turbulence becomes part of the numerical scheme: the degree of rarefaction is automatically taken into account; the turbulent stre…
The nonstandard picture of a turbulent field is presented in this article. By the concepts of nonstandard mathematics, the picture describes the hierarchical structure of turbulence and shows the mechanism of the fluctuation appearing in a turbulent field. The uncertainty of measurement is pointed out. And the fundamental equations of turbulence are given too. It is natural in this picture that the reasonable closure methods can be obtained and seem to be precise.
We suggest certain effects, caused by interaction between rotation and gravitation with turbulence structure, for the cooling/heating of dispersed phase of non-isothermal particles in rotating turbulent fluid flows. These effects are obtained through the derivation of kinetic or probability density function based macroscopic equations for the particles. In doing so, for one-way temperature coupling, we also show that homogeneous, isotropic non-isothermal fluid turbulence does not influence the mean temperature (though it influences mean velocity) of the dispersed phase of particles settling du…
Compression of turbulent plasma can amplify the turbulent kinetic energy, if the compression is fast compared to the viscous dissipation time of the turbulent eddies. A sudden viscous dissipation mechanism is demonstrated, whereby this amplified turbulent kinetic energy is rapidly converted into thermal energy, suggesting a new paradigm for fast ignition inertial fusion.
This paper is focused on the fundamental mechanism(s) of viscoelastic turbulence that lead to polymer induced turbulent drag reduction phenomenon. A great challenge in this problem is the computation of viscoelastic turbulent flows, since the understanding of polymer physics is restricted to mechanical models. An effective state-of-the-art numerical method to solve the governing equation for polymers modelled as non-linear springs, without using any artificial assumptions as usual, was implemented here for the first time on a three-dimensional channel flow geometry. The capability of this algo…
