Antonio Segalini

A new scaling for the streamwise turbulence intensity in wall-bounded turbulent flows and what it tells us about the “outer” peak

One recent focus of experimental studies of turbulence in high Reynolds number wall-bounded flows has been the scaling of the root mean square of the fluctuating streamwise velocity, but progress has largely been impaired by spatial resolution effects of hot-wire sensors. For the near-wall peak, recent results seem to have clarified the controversy; however, one of the remaining issues in this respect is the emergence of a second (so-called outer) peak at high Reynolds numbers. The present letter introduces a new scaling of the local turbulence intensity profile, based on the diagnostic plot by Alfredsson and Orlu [Eur. J. Mech. B/Fluids 42, 403 (2010)], which predicts the location and amplitude of the “outer” peak and suggests its presence as a question of sufficiently large scale separation.

Effect of the spatial filtering and alignment error of hot-wire probes in a wall-bounded turbulent flow

The effort to describe velocity fluctuation distributions in wall-bounded turbulent flows has raised different questions concerning the accuracy of hot-wire measurement techniques close to the wall and more specifically the effect of spatial averaging resulting from the finite size of the wire. Here, an analytical model which describes the effect of the spatial filtering and misalignment of hot-wire probes on the main statistical moments in turbulent wall-bounded flows is presented. The model, which is based on the two-point velocity correlation function, shows that the filtering is directly related to the transverse Taylor micro-scale. By means of turbulent channel flow DNS data, the capacity of the model to accurately describe the probe response is established. At the same time, the filtering effect is appraised for different wire lengths and for a range of misalignment angles which can be expected from good experimental practice. Effects of the second-order terms in the model equations are also taken into account and discussed. In order to use the model in a practical situation, the Taylor micro-scale distribution at least should be provided. A simple scaling law based on classic turbulence theory is therefore introduced and finally employed to estimate the filtering effect for different wire lengths.

Time-resolved measurements with a vortex flowmeter in a pulsating turbulent flow using wavelet analysis

Vortex flowmeters are commonly employed in technical applications and are obtainable in a variety of commercially available types. However their robustness and accuracy can easily be impaired by environmental conditions, such as inflow disturbances and/or pulsating conditions. Various post-processing techniques of the vortex signal have been used, but all of these methods are so far targeted on obtaining an improved estimate of the time-averaged bulk velocity. Here, on the other hand, we propose, based on wavelet analysis, a straightforward way to utilize the signal from a vortex shedder to extract the time-resolved and thereby the phase-averaged velocity under pulsatile flow conditions. The method was verified with hot-wire and laser Doppler velocimetry measurements.

Scaling Laws in Canopy Flows: A Wind-Tunnel Analysis

An analysis of velocity statistics and spectra measured above a wind-tunnel forest model is reported. Several measurement stations downstream of the forest edge have been investigated and it is observed that, while the mean velocity profile adjusts quickly to the new canopy boundary condition, the turbulence lags behind and shows a continuous penetration towards the free stream along the canopy model. The statistical profiles illustrate this growth and do not collapse when plotted as a function of the vertical coordinate. However, when the statistics are plotted as function of the local mean velocity (normalized with a characteristic velocity scale), they do collapse, independently of the streamwise position and freestream velocity. A new scaling for the spectra of all three velocity components is proposed based on the velocity variance and integral time scale. This normalization improves the collapse of the spectra compared to existing scalings adopted in atmospheric measurements, and allows the determination of a universal function that provides the velocity spectrum. Furthermore, a comparison of the proposed scaling laws for two different canopy densities is shown, demonstrating that the vertical velocity variance is the most sensible statistical quantity to the characteristics of the canopy roughness.

High-order generalisation of the diagnostic scaling for turbulent boundary layers

ABSTRACT The diagnostic scaling concept, introduced for the streamwise turbulence intensity in wall-bounded turbulent flows (Alfredsson, Segalini and Örlü, Phys. Fluids 2011;23:041702), is here extended and generalised not only for the higher even-order central statistical moments, but also for the odd moments and thereby the probability density distribution of the streamwise velocity fluctuations. Turbulent boundary layer data up to a friction Reynolds number of 60,000 are employed and demonstrate the feasibility of the diagnostic scaling for the data throughout the logarithmic and wake regions. A comparison with the generalised logarithmic law for even-order moments by Meneveau and Marusic (J. Fluid Mech. 2013;719:R1) based on the attached-eddy hypothesis, is reported. The diagnostic plot provides an apparent Reynolds-number-independent scaling of the data, and is exploited to reveal the functional dependencies of the constants needed in the attached-eddy-based model. In particular, the invariance of the lowest order diagnostic scaling poses an intriguing incompatibility with the asymptotic constancy of the Townsend–Perry constant.

Reynolds stress scaling in pipe flow turbulence-first results from CICLoPE

This paper reports the first turbulence measurements performed in the Long Pipe Facility at the Center for International Cooperation in Long Pipe Experiments (CICLoPE). In particular, the Reynolds stress components obtained from a number of straight and boundary-layer-type single-wire and X-wire probes up to a friction Reynolds number of 3.8×104 are reported. In agreement with turbulent boundary-layer experiments as well as with results from the Superpipe, the present measurements show a clear logarithmic region in the streamwise variance profile, with a Townsend–Perry constant of A2≈1.26. The wall-normal variance profile exhibits a Reynolds-number-independent plateau, while the spanwise component was found to obey a logarithmic scaling over a much wider wall-normal distance than the other two components, with a slope that is nearly half of that of the Townsend–Perry constant, i.e. A2,w≈A2/2. The present results therefore provide strong support for the scaling of the Reynolds stress tensor based on the attached-eddy hypothesis. Intriguingly, the wall-normal and spanwise components exhibit higher amplitudes than in previous studies, and therefore call for follow-up studies in CICLoPE, as well as other large-scale facilities. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.

Techniques for the Eduction of Coherent Structures from Flow Measurements in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Two empirical methods to detect coherent motions embedded in the flow field have been compared, namely the variable interval time average (VITA) method and a wavelet-based technique, both with artificial signals as well as velocity measurements from the atmospheric boundary layer over a forest canopy. It has been found that the wavelet method is slightly better than the VITA approach in coherent structure eduction, even if the results of both techniques are comparable. Also the application of the present approach to simultaneous conditionally sampled wind data has highlighted some important features of coherent structures and gust generation in canopy flows.

Experimental analysis of dominant instabilities in coaxial jets

An experimental analysis of the dominant instabilities in the near field of two coaxial jets is presented and discussed. Different inner/outer jet velocity pairs (U-i, U-o) have been tested in orde ...

On the stability of von Kármán rotating-disk boundary layers with radial anisotropic surface roughness

We summarise results of a theoretical study investigating the distinct convective instability properties of steady boundary-layer flow over rough rotating disks. A generic roughness pattern of concentric circles with sinusoidal surface undulations in the radial direction is considered. The goal is to compare predictions obtained by means of two alternative, and fundamentally different, modelling approaches for surface roughness for the first time. The motivating rationale is to identify commonalities and isolate results that might potentially represent artefacts associated with the particular methodologies underlying one of the two modelling approaches. The most significant result of practical relevance obtained is that both approaches predict overall stabilising effects on type I instability mode of rotating disk flow. This mode leads to transition of the rotating-disk boundary layer and, more generally, the transition of boundary-layers with a cross-flow profile. Stabilisation of the type 1 mode means that it may be possible to exploit surface roughness for laminar-flow control in boundary layers with a cross-flow component. However, we also find differences between the two sets of model predictions, some subtle and some substantial. These will represent criteria for establishing which of the two alternative approaches is more suitable to correctly describe experimental data when these become available.

A new formulation for the streamwise turbulence intensity distribution

Numerical and experimental data from zero pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers over smooth walls have been analyzed by means of the so called diagnostic plot introduced by Alfredsson & Orlu [Eur. J. Fluid Mech. B/Fluids, 42, 403 (2010)]. In the diagnostic plot the local turbulence intensity is shown as a function of the local mean velocity normalized with a reference velocity scale. In the outer region of the boundary layer a universal linear decay of the turbulence intensity is observed independent of Reynolds number. The deviation from this linear region appears in the buffer region and seems to be universal when normalized with the friction velocity. Therefore, a new empirical fit for the streamwise velocity turbulence intensity distribution is proposed and the results are compared with up to date reliable high-Reynolds number experiments and extrapolated towards Reynolds numbers relevant to atmospherical boundary layers.