Statistical Structure at the Wall of the High Reynolds Number Turbulent Boundary Layer

The one and two-point statistical structure of very high Reynolds number turbulence in the surface layer near a rigid `wall' is analysed. The essential mechanisms for turbulent eddies impinging on the wall are studied using linearised rapid distortion theory, which show how the mean shear and blocking actions of the surface act first independently and then, over the life time of the eddy, interactively. Previous analytical results are reinterpreted and some new results are derived to show how the integral length scales, cross correlations and spectra of the different components of the turbulence are distorted depending on the form of the spectra of eddies above the surface layer and how they are related to motions of characteristic eddy structures near the surface. These results are applied to derive some quantitative and qualitative predictions in the surface layers (SL), where the eddies are affected by local shear dynamics, and in the `eddy surface layer' (ESL) where quasi independents loping elongated eddies interact directly with the wall, and where there is a large range of wave number within which the spectra of the horizontal velocity components are proportional to k ⁻¹. The longest eddies in the boundary layer occur near the wall. Field experiments agree with the theoretical model predictions for the quite different forms for the spectra, cospectra and cross correlations for the vertical and horizontal components of the velocity field. By showing that in SL the energy exchange between the large and small scale eddies is local(`staircase') energy cascade, whereas in ESL there is a direct nonlocal (`elevator-like')energy transfer to the small scales, it is shown why the thickness of the ESL increases over rougher surfaces and as the Reynolds number decreases. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental studies on particle behaviour and turbulence modification in horizontal channel flow with different wall roughness

Detailed measurements in a developed particle-laden horizontal channel flow (length 6 m, height 35 mm, the length is about 170 channel heights) are presented using phase-Doppler anemometry for simultaneous determination of air and particle velocity. The particles were spherical glass beads with mean diameters in the range of 60 µm-1 mm. The conveying velocity could be varied between about 10 m/s and 25 m/s, and the particle mass loading could reach values of about 2 (the mass loading is defined as the ratio of particle to gas phase mass flow rates), depending on particle size. For the first time, the degree of wall roughness could be modified by exchanging the wall plates. The influence of these parameters and the effect of inter-particle collisions on the profiles of particle mean and fluctuating velocities and the normalised concentration in the developed flow were examined. It was shown that wall roughness decreases the particle mean velocity and enhances fluctuating velocities due to irregular wall bouncing and an increase in wall collision frequency, i.e. reduction in mean free path. Thereby, the larger particles are mainly more uniformly distributed across the channel, and gravitational settling is reduced. Both components of the particle velocity fluctuation were reduced with increasing mass loading due to inter-particle collisions and the momentum loss involved. Moreover, the effect of the particles on the air flow and the turbulent fluctuations was studied on the basis of profiles in the developed flow and turbulence spectra determined for the streamwise velocity component. In addition to the effect of particle size and mass loading on turbulence modulation, the influence of wall roughness was analysed. It was clearly shown that increasing wall roughness also results in a stronger turbulence dissipation due to two-way coupling.     

Development of quasi two-dimensional structures in a shallow free-surface mixing layer

 The large quasi two-dimensional turbulence structures that emerge in a shallow mixing layer are studied experimentally using Laser Doppler Anemometry. Velocity profiles and turbulence intensities are measured in the first two meters downstream of the splitter plate. In contradistinction with previous experiments, it is shown that the initial growth rate and the turbulence intensities of the shallow mixing layer compare well with deep-water plane mixing layers. Two-point measurements allowed for the determination of spatial correlations of the fluctuating velocity components. The large eddies were found to extend from one tenth of the water depth up to the free surface while the streamwise size of the eddies was found to be three times the mixing layer width. The two-dimensional character of the large structures and the associated reversed energy cascade is inferred from the power spectra of the lateral velocity component. Received: 2 April 1997/Accepted: 25 August 1997     

Filtered particle tracking in isotropic turbulence and stochastic modeling of subgrid-scale dispersion

A numerical study based on the Eulerian–Lagrangian formulation is performed for dispersed phase motion in a turbulent flow. The effect of spatial filtering, commonly employed in large-eddy simulations, and the role of the subgrid scale turbulence on the statistics of heavy particles, including preferential concentration, are studied through a priori analysis of DNS of particle-laden forced isotropic turbulence. In simulations where the subgrid scale kinetic energy attains 30–35% of the total we observe the impact of residual fluid motions on particles of a smaller inertia. It is shown that neglecting the influence of subgrid scale fluctuations has a significant effect on the preferential concentration of those particles. A stochastic Langevin model is proposed to reconstruct the residual (or subgrid scale) fluid velocity along particle trajectories. The computation results for a selection of particle inertia parameters are performed to appraise the model through comparisons of particle turbulent kinetic energy and the statistics of preferential concentrations.     

Gas turbulence modulation in the pneumatic conveying of massive particles in vertical tubes

The present work is concerned with the interaction between large particles and gas phase turbulence. Gas turbulence modulation in these systems is considered to be dominated by a generation mechanism which arises due to the presence of wakes behind particles. Following a recent proposal, a closure for gas turbulence modulation accounting for the effect of wakes is employed within the context of a mathematical model for particle-laden, turbulent flows. The model accounts for particle particle and particle-wall interactions associated with larger particles based on concepts from gas kinetic theory. It is shown that due to the significant flattening of the mean gas velocity profile with the addition of particles, and the corresponding decrease in turbulent energy production, a generation mechanism must be present in order to produce gas velocity fluctuation predictions which are consistent with the experimental measurements, even in the case where the experimental results indicate a net suppression of gas phase turbulence in the presence of particles.     

Simultaneous PIV and PTV measurements of wind and sand particle velocities

Wind-blown sand is a typical example of two-phase particle-laden flows. Owing to lack of simultaneous measured data of the wind and wind-blown sand, interactions between them have not yet been fully understood. In this study, natural sand of 100–125 μm taken from Taklimakan Desert was tested at the freestream wind speed of 8.3 m/s in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel. The captured flow images containing both saltating sand and small wind tracer particles, were separated by using a digital phase mask technique. The 2-D PIV (particle imaging velocimetry) and PTV (particle tracking velocimetry) techniques were employed to extract simultaneously the wind velocity field and the velocity field of dispersed sand particles, respectively. Comparison of the mean streamwise wind velocity profile and the turbulence statistics with and without sand transportation reveal a significant influence of sand movement on the wind field, especially in the dense saltating sand layer (y/δ < 0.1). The ensemble-averaged streamwise velocity profile of sand particles was also evaluated to investigate the velocity lag between the sand and the wind. This study would be helpful in improving the understanding of interactions between the wind and the wind-blown sand.     

Effect of particles on turbulent thermal field of channel flow with different Prandtl numbers

The direct numerical simulation(DNS) of heat transfer in a fully developed non-isothermal particle-laden turbulent channel flow is performed.The focus of this paper is on the modulation of the particles on turbulent thermal statistics in the particle-laden flow with three Prandtl numbers(P r = 0.71,1.5,and 3.0) and a shear Reynolds number(Reτ = 180).Some typical thermal statistics,including normalized mean temperature and their fluctuations,turbulent heat fluxes,Nusselt number and so on,are analyzed.The results show that the particles have less effects on turbulent thermal fields with the increase of Prandtl number.Two reasons can explain this.First,the correlation between fluid thermal field and velocity field decreases as the Prandtl number increases,and the modulation of turbulent velocity field induced by the particles has less influence on the turbulent thermal field.Second,the heat exchange between turbulence and particles decreases for the particle-laden flow with the larger Prandtl number,and the thermal feedback of the particles to turbulence becomes weak.     

Modeling of dynamics, heat transfer, and combustion in two-phase turbulent flows: 1. Isothermal flows

This paper presents a review of authors' collective works in the field of two-phase flow modeling done in the past few decades. The paper is aimed at the construction of mathematical models for simulation of particle-laden turbulent flows. A kinetic equation was obtained for the probability density function (PDF) of the particle velocity distribution in turbulent flows. The proposed kinetic equation describes both the interaction of particles with turbulent eddies of the carrier phase and particle-particle collisions. This PDF equation is used for the derivation of different schemes describing turbulent momentum transfer in the dispersed particle phase. The turbulent characteristics of the gaseous phase are calculated on the basis of the k - turbulence model with a modulation effect of particles on the turbulence.

The constructed models have been applied to the calculation of various two-phase gas-particle turbulent flows in jets and channels as well as particle deposition in tubes and separators. For validating the theoretical and numerical results, a wide range of comparisons with experimental data from Russian and foreign sources has been done.     

Experimental investigation on turbulence modification in a horizontal channel flow at relatively low mass loading

Particle-laden flows in a horizontal channel were investigated by means of a two-phase particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Experiments were performed at a Reynolds number of 6 826 and the flow is seeded with polythene beads of two sizes, 60 μm and 110 μm. One was slightly smaller than and the other was larger than the Kolmogorov length scale. The particle loadings were relatively low, with mass loading ratio ranging from 5×10⁻⁴ to 4×10⁻² and volume fractions from 6×10⁻⁷ to 4.8×10⁻⁵, respectively. The results show that the presence of particles can dramatically modify the turbulence even under the lowest mass loading ratio of 5×10⁻⁴. The mean flow is attenuated and decreased with increasing particle size and mass loading. The turbulence intensities are enhanced in all the cases concerned. With the increase of the mass loading, the intensities vary in a complicated manner in the case of small particles, indicating complicated particle-turbulence interactions; whereas they increase monotonously in the case of large particles. The particle velocities and concentrations are also given. The particles lag behind the fluid in the center region but lead in the wall region, and this trend is more prominent for the large particles. The streamwise particle fluctuations are larger than the gas fluctuations for both sizes of particles, however their varying trend with the mass loadings is not so clear. The wall-normal fluctuations increase with increasing mass loadings. They are smaller in the 60 μm particle case but larger in the 110 μm particle case than those of the gas phase. It seems that the small particles follow the fluid motion to certain extent while the larger particles are more likely dominated by their own inertia. Finally, remarkable non-uniform distributions of particle concentration are observed, especially for the large particles. The inertia of particles is proved to be very important for the turbulence modification and particles behaviors and thus should be considered in horizontal channels. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50276021), and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, Ministry of Education (NCET-04-0708) The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

液固两相槽道流中湍流调制的数值研究

结合雷诺应力模型 (Reynolds Stress Model, RSM) 和混合模型 (Mixture Model) 对槽道湍流向下流动中的颗粒调制湍流问题进行了研究．该模型考虑了颗粒流的动能理论和颗粒对湍流的反馈作用．着重分析了颗粒对湍流的调制作用,以及颗粒参数变量（如颗粒密度和质量载荷）对湍流调制的影响．结果表明：(1)在颗粒抑制湍流的范围内,当颗粒密度小于载流体密度时,湍流强度的改变量与颗粒密度成反比;当颗粒密度大于载流体密度时,湍流强度的改变量与颗粒密度成正比;(2)在一定范围内,颗粒抑制湍流的能力随颗粒质量载荷增加而变强．     

Simultaneous measurement of particle and fluid velocities in a plane mixing layer with dispersion

 An optical method is presented to measure simultaneously and separately the velocity field of both phases in particle-laden flows. The fluid is seeded with flow markers which are fluorescent at a specific wavelength and thus can be distinguished from the sediment particles by applying an optical filter. The motion of each phase is recorded by two CCD cameras, which are triggered such that a high correlation between subsequent images is guaranteed. The velocity fields are determined by means of least-square matching of a group of particles. The whole set-up was applied to study the sedimentation of particles through a rapidly evolving mixing layer. Received: 14 June 1999/Accepted: 15 January 2000     

Direct numerical simulation of a particle-laden low Reynolds number turbulent round jet

Direct numerical simulation method is used for the investigating of particle-laden turbulent flows in a spatially evolution of low Reynolds number axisymmetric jet, and the Eulerian–Lagrangian point-particle approach is employed in the simulation. The simulation uses an explicit coupling scheme between particles and the fluid, which considers two-way coupling between the particle and the fluid. The DNS results are compared well with experimental data with equal Reynolds number (R_e = 1700). Our objects are: (i) to investigate the correlation between the particle number density and the fluctuating of fluid streamwise velocity; (ii) to examine whether the three-dimensional vortex structures in the particle-laden jet are the same as that in the free-air jet and how the particles modulate the thee-dimensional vortex structures and turbulence properties with different Stokes number particles; (iii) to discover the particle circumferential dispersion with different Stokes number particles. Our findings: (i) all the particles, regardless of their particle size, tend to preferentially accumulate in the region with large-than-mean fluid streamwise velocity; (ii) the small Stokes number particles take an important part in the modulation of three-dimensional vortex structures, but for the intermediate and larger sized particles, this modulation effect seems not so apparent; (iii) the particle circumferential dispersion is more effective for the smaller and intermediate sized particles, especially for the intermediate sized particles.     

Validation of Lagrangian Two-Way Coupled Point-Particle Models in Large-Eddy Simulations

The accuracy of point-particle models with two-way coupling for particles of Kolmogorov-length-scale size is assessed. Turbulent kinetic energy budgets are analyzed in physical and in spectral space. It is shown that the force projection of the two-way coupling consistently models the direct transfer of kinetic energy on the particle surfaces and the enhanced viscous dissipation in the vicinity of the particles. Direct and large-eddy simulations of particle-laden flows in isotropic decaying turbulence are conducted and compared with direct-particle fluid simulations, where the particle-fluid interaction is fully resolved. An analysis in spectral space shows that turbulence modulation by particles mainly occurs at larger scales, although the momentum transfer takes place at the smallest scales. Therefore, the turbulent kinetic energy cascade of the single phase dominates in particle-laden flows. It is shown that point-particle models do not interfere with subgrid scale models, which usually act on the smallest scale. Consequently, point-particle models predict sufficiently accurate the turbulence modulation in direct numerical simulations and even when a subgrid scale model is used. The resolution of the LES does not affect the accuracy of the point-particle model, when the subgrid kinetic energy is negligible.     

Characteristics of turbulence transport for momentum and heat in particle-laden turbulent vertical channel flows

The dynamic and thermal performance of particle-laden turbulent flow is investigated via direction numerical simulation combined with the Lagrangian point-particle tracking under the condition of two-way coupling, with a focus on the contributions of particle feedback effect to momentum and heat transfer of turbulence. We take into account the effects of particles on flow drag and Nusselt number and explore the possibility of drag reduction in con-junction with heat transfer enhancement in particle-laden turbulent flows.The effects of particles on momentum and heat transfer are analyzed,and the possibility of drag reduc-tion in conjunction with heat transfer enhancement for the prototypical case of particle-laden turbulent channel flows is addressed.We present results of turbulence modification and heat transfer in turbulent particle-laden channel flow,which shows the heat transfer reduction when large inertial parti-cles with low specific heat capacity are added to the flow. However,we also found an enhancement of the heat transfer and a small reduction of the flow drag when particles with high specific heat capacity are involved.The present results show that particles,which are active agents,interact not only with the velocity field,but also the temperature field and can cause a dissimilarity in momentum and heat transport.This demonstrates that the possibility to increase heat transfer and suppress friction drag can be achieved with addition of par-ticles with different thermal properties.     

Experimental investigation of turbulence modulation in particle-laden coaxial jets by Phase Doppler Anemometry

The effect of solid particles on the flow characteristics of axisymmetric turbulent coaxial jets for two flow conditions was studied. Simultaneous measurements of size and velocity distributions of continuous and dispersed phases in a two-phase flow are presented using a Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) technique. Spherical glass particles with a particle diameter range from 102 to 212 μm were used in this two-phase flow, the experimental results indicate a significant influence of the solid particles and the Re on the flow characteristics. The data show that the gas phase has lower mean velocity in the near-injector region and a higher mean velocity at the developed region. Near the injector at low Reynolds number (Re = 2839) the presence of the particles dampens the gas-phase turbulence, while at higher Reynolds number (Re = 11 893) the gas-phase turbulence and the velocity fluctuation of particle-laden jets are increased. The particle velocity at higher Reynolds number (Re = 11 893) and is lower at lower Reynolds number (Re = 2839). The slip velocity between particles and gas phase existed over the flow domain was examined. More importantly, the present experiment results suggest that, consideration of the gas characteristic length scales is insufficient to predict gas-phase turbulence modulation in gas-particle flows.     

Velocity statistics along the stagnation line of an axi- symmetric stagnating turbulent flow

 Velocity statistics along the stagnation line of an axi-symmetric wall stagnating turbulent flow are studied experimentally. A low turbulence, uniform air flow from a nozzle type air supply with an exit diameter of 50 mm stagnates at a wall located 50 mm downstream. A flow velocity is set to 3 m/s, 10 mm downstream from the exit of the air supply. Instantaneous values of streamwise and radial velocities are measured by laser-Doppler velocimetry. The turbulence level in the air flow is changed by use of turbulence generator. When the turbulence generator is not installed in the air supply, the mean velocity profile in the streamwise direction fits well with that of a laminar viscous flow with the rms value of velocity fluctuations low near the wall. With the turbulence generator installed, a significant turbulence structure appears near the wall. When the wall is approached, the rms value of velocity fluctuations in the streamwise direction decreases monotonically while the profile of the rms value in the radial direction reaches a maximum near the wall. The increase in the rms value of velocity fluctuations in the radial direction near the wall is attributed to the bi-modal histogram of the fluctuating velocity in the radial direction. Near the wall, the instantaneous stagnation streamline fluctuates and the probability of the mean location of the stagnation point reaches a maximum not at the stagnation line but on a circle around the stagnation line, resulting in the bi-modal histogram. Turbulence statistics, the rms value of velocity fluctuation and the turbulent kinetic energy, can be normalized successfully by similarity parameters based on the strain rate and the reference turbulent kinetic energy introduced by Champion and Libby. Received: 7 April 1995/Accepted: 27 September 1996     

Experimental study of flow past a square cylinder at high Reynolds numbers

 Measurements of two-components of velocity in the wake of a square cylinder using a hot-wire anemometer are reported. Two Reynolds numbers, namely 8700 and 17,625, have been considered. The measurements were carried out in a low-speed, low-turbulence wind tunnel. Benchmark experiments at much lower Reynolds numbers show good agreement between the present experiments and published results. At higher Reynolds numbers, the experimental data reveal anticipated trends in terms of wake recovery and turbulence decay. Both velocity and velocity fluctuations show symmetry about the wake axis. The experimental data have been compared with the large eddy simulation (LES) calculation reported by Wang et al. [University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign (1996) Report CFD 96-03] and LDV measurements of Lyn et al. [J Fluid Mech (1995) 304: 285–319]. The agreement among the three sets is generally acceptable in terms of the time-averaged velocity components, but not the velocity fluctuations. The turbulence fluctuations in the present experiments are seen to be lower than in the referred work. The differences have been traced to factors such as the aspect ratio, blockage ratio and upstream turbulence. Experiments with increased upstream turbulence did show a reduction in the discrepancy between the present experiments and the published data. An assessment of the experimental data in terms of physical mechanisms revealed that (a) streamwise normal stresses were correlated with the vortex centers, and (b) the turbulence kinetic energy profiles are similar to the turbulence shear stress. Spectral analysis of the velocity signals was carried out in the present work. Energy transfer from the mean flow to the streamwise velocity fluctuation was confirmed in the near wake. A redistribution of the kinetic energy between the streamwise and transverse components of velocity over a longer distance downstream was subsequently observed. Received: 17 May 1999/Accepted: 29 December 1999     

Decaying homogeneous turbulence under strong density stratification at low-Prandtl number

The characteristics of decaying homogeneous turbulence under strong density stratification have been studied using direct numerical simulations. While our previous study dealt with rotating stratified turbulence, here we investigate the detailed flow structure of stratified turbulence without rotation especially at low-Prandtl number. By assuming a low-Prandtl-number fluid, e.g. liquid sodium: Pr ≈ 0.01, gallium: Pr ≈ 0.025, internal gravity waves are markedly attenuated due to the large thermal conductivity, and turbulence soon reaches a two-component state, where vertical energy, coupled with potential energy, significantly decays, and becomes negligible as observed experimentally (Praud et al. in J Fluid Mech 522:1–33, 2005). In the horizontal plane, there appear large-scale vortices with vertical vorticity, and those with the same sign of vorticity increase their horizontal length scale by merging with each other. In the vertical plane, highly sheared regions represented by horizontal vorticity also tend to horizontally increase their length scale and become layered structures by the combined effects of vortex coalescence and energy cascade into higher vertical wavenumbers.      

The influence of sub-grid scale motions on particle collision in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

The absence of sub-grid scale (SGS) motions leads to severe errors in particle pair dynamics, which represents a great challenge to the large eddy simulation of particle-laden turbulent flow. In order to address this issue, data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of homogenous isotropic turbulence coupled with Lagrangian particle tracking are used as a benchmark to evaluate the corresponding results of filtered DNS (FDNS). It is found that the filtering process in FDNS will lead to a non-monotonic variation of the particle collision statistics, including radial distribution function, radial relative velocity, and the collision kernel. The peak of radial distribution function shifts to the large-inertia region due to the lack of SGS motions, and the analysis of the local flowstructure characteristic variable at particle position indicates that the most effective interaction scale between particles and fluid eddies is increased in FDNS. Moreover, this scale shifting has an obvious effect on the odd-order moments of the probability density function of radial relative velocity, i.e. the skewness, which exhibits a strong correlation to the variance of radial distribution function in FDNS. As a whole, the radial distribution function, together with radial relative velocity, can compensate the SGS effects for the collision kernel in FDNS when the Stokes number based on the Kolmogorov time scale is greater than 3.0. However, it still leaves considerable errors for \({ St}_\mathrm{k }<3.0\).