Effect of Favourable Pressure Gradient on Turbulence in Boundary Layers
Author | : |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2018 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1048626259 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (59 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: This thesis explores the effects of favourable pressure gradient on the structure of turbulent boundary layers (TBL). In this context, the structure of three types of boundary layers namely a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer, equilibrium boundary layers under favourable pressure gradient and relaminarising boundary layers is investigated mostly from the point of view of large-scale dynamics. This covers a whole range of flows on the so-called Reynolds number - pressure gradient diagram - from turbulent zero pressure gradient flows to relaminarising flows at relatively low Reynolds numbers. The study of turbulent and relaminarising boundary layers is carried out primarily using direct numerical analyses and some limited experiments in this thesis. The direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer (ZPG TBL) is validated against the experimental and DNS data available in the literature. Furthermore, the important question of time-averaged signature of a large scale vortex structure and its relation with the two-point correlations in the context of ZPG TBL is addressed. In this context, a synthetic flow consisting of hairpin vortex structures is generated. The two-point correlations in the synthetic TBL and a real TBL are found to be qualitatively similar. This shows that the vortex structure leaves a time-averaged footprint in the form of correlations of velocity and vorticity. A study of two-point correlations in a real TBL shows that the structure angle deduced from two-point correlations varies with wall-normal location. The structure angle is small near the wall and increases away from the wall in agreement with the previous studies. The small angle close to the wall signifies the presence of streamwise structure. Away from the wall, this streamwise coherence is lost and the correlation contours become more isotropic. The presence of the wall and the mean shear affects smaller scales making them anisotropic close to th