H. L. Petrie

Laser Doppler velocity bias in separated turbulent flows

Velocity bias effects on data obtained with a coincident two channel laser Doppler velocimeter in a highly turbulent separated supersonic flow are presented. Probability distributions of the fluctuating velocities were distorted by velocity bias in a manner consistent with theory and a two-dimensional velocity inverse weighting function bias correction produced reasonable appearing velocity probability distributions. The addition of an approximate correction term to account for the effects of the unmeasured third velocity component improved these results but had little effect on the velocity statistics. Experimental factors that could partially compensate or falsely add to the velocity bias, conditions for the bias to occur, and conditions for which the bias may also be observed and corrected for are discussed.

Polymer drag reduction with surface roughness in flat-plate turbulent boundary layer flow

Experimental results from a study of surface roughness effects on polymer drag reduction in a zero-pressure gradient flat-plate turbulent boundary layer are presented. Both slot-injected polymer and homogeneous polymer ocean cases were considered over a range of flow conditions and surface roughness. Balance measurements of skin friction drag reduction are presented. Drag reductions over 60% were measured for both the injected and homogeneous polymer cases even with fully rough surfaces. As the roughness increased, higher polymer concentration was required to achieve a given level of drag reduction for the homogeneous case. With polymer injection, increasing surface roughness caused the drag reduction to decrease to low levels more quickly when the polymer expenditure was decreased or the freestream velocity was increased. However, the percent drag reductions on the rough surfaces with polymer injection were often substantially larger than on the smooth surface. Remarkably, in some cases, the skin friction drag force on a rough surface with polymer injection was less than the drag force observed on a smooth surface at comparable conditions.

Velocity profile statistics in a turbulent boundary layer with slot-injected polymer

The modification of a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer resulting from the injection of drag-reducing polymer solutions through a narrow inclined slot into the near-wall region of the flow has been studied. Two-component coincident laser-Doppler velocity profile measurements were taken with a free-stream velocity of 4.5 m/s with polymer injection, water injection, and no injection. Polyethylene oxide solutions at concentrations of 500 and 1025 w.p.p.m. were injected. These data are complemented by polymer concentration profile measurements that were taken using a laser-induced-fluorescence technique. Also, integrated skin friction measurements were made with a drag balance for a range of polymer injection conditions and free-stream velocities. The immediate effects of polymer injection are a deceleration of the flow near the wall, a dramatic decrease of the vertical r.m.s. velocit}’ fluctuation levels and the Reynolds shear stress levels, and a mean velocity profile approaching Virks asymptotic condition. These effects relax substantially with increasing stream wise distance from the injection slot and become similar to the effects observed for dilute homogeneous polymer flows.

Validation of Two-Fluid Eulerian CFD Modeling for Microbubble Drag Reduction Across a Wide Range of Reynolds Numbers

An Eulerian two-fluid computational fluid dynamics model has been developed for flows with microbubble drag reduction (MBDR). This paper focuses on recent validation studies for MBDR flows across a spectrum of Reynolds numbers. Direct numerical simulations and two sets of experimental flat plate boundary layer measurements are studied. In this paper the interfacial dynamics and other models used are first presented, followed by detailed comparisons with the validation cases. Emphasis is placed on the modeling strategies required to capture measured volume fraction, bubble size, and bubble velocity distributions, as well as skin friction drag reduction.

Combined polymer and microbubble drag reduction on a large flat plate

Drag-reduction experiments with combined injection of high-molecular-weight long-chained polymers and microbubbles were conducted on a 3.1 m long flat plate model in the 1.22 m diameter water tunnel at the Applied Research Laboratory of the Pennsylvania State University. Combined gas injection upstream of polymer injection produced, over a wide range of test conditions, higher levels of drag reduction than those obtained from the independent injection of polymer or microbubbles alone. These increased levels of drag reduction with combined injection were often greater than the product of the drag reductions obtained by the independent constituents, defined as synergy. We speculate that the synergy is a result of the gas-layer-induced extension of the polymer-alone initial diffusion zone in combination with the increased drag reduction by microbubbles. This increased length of the initial zone layer, consistent with high drag reduction, can significantly increase the persistence of the drag reduction and may improve the outlook for practical application.

A fluorescence technique for measurement of slot injected fluid concentration profiles in a turbulent boundary layer

A technique for measuring near instantaneous concentration profiles of a fluid injected through a narrow inclined slot at the wall into a high unit Reynolds number flat plate turbulent boundary layer is discussed. The concentration profiles are determined by measuring the light intensity emitted from a fluorescent dye, premixed into the injectant flow, as the injectant convects through an excitation laser beam. The fluorescence intensity is quantified by an electronically shuttered single stage microchannel plate image intensifier coupled to a linear photodiode array. This instrumentation provided the high spatial and temporal resolution required for these boundary layer concentration profile measurements. The laser induced fluorescence technique is being used to study the diffusion of injected polymer solutions away from the near wall region of the boundary layer where these solutions are effective in reducing drag. The diffusion of slot injected water has also been examined and the present results are in excellent agreement with previous studies.

Laminar flow performance of a heated body in particle-laden water

The effects of small uniformly sized spherical particles seeded into the freestream flow of a water tunnel on the delayed transition of a heated laminar flow control body is examined experimentally. In separate trials, four different mean diameter particle seedings were added to the flow and the approach flow velocity was cycled from subcritical to supercritical conditions at three different body heating conditions. The transition Reynolds number based on the body arc length and the approach flow velocity decreases monotonically with increasing d/δ*, where d is the particle diameter and δ* is the displacement thickness at a critical location. The location of initial turbulent spot formation defines the critical location, and, within the range of experimental conditions reported here, is independent of particle size, heating condition and the approach velocity. For the high unit Reynolds numbers considered (Reu⩽ 1.88 × 107 per metre), there is no observed critical particle diameterbased Reynolds number threshold; all sizes of particles considered in the experiments (d = 37 to 218 μm) have some effect on transition. In a second set of experiments, particles were injected into the laminar boundary layer from a small orifice located at the forward stagnation point. These injected particles have no observable effect on the laminar layer or transition, which suggests that the injected particles fail to produce wakes or vorticity within the laminar layer that may lead to turbulent spot production.

Microbubble Drag Reduction in Rough Walled Turbulent Boundary Layers

Experiments were conducted in the 12-inch diameter tunnel at ARL/PSU using the tunnel wall boundary layer facility to determine the influence of surface roughness on microbubble drag reduction. To accomplish this, carbon dioxide was injected through a slot at rates of 0.001 m3 /s to 0.011 m3 /s, and the resulting skin friction drag measured on a 317.5 mm long by 152.4 mm span balance. In addition to the hydrodynamically smooth balance plate, additional plates were covered with roughly 75, 150 and 300 micron grit. Over the speed range tested of 7.6, 10.7 and 13.7 m/s, the roughness ranged from smooth to fully rough. Not only was microbubble drag reduction achieved over the rough surfaces, but the percentage drag reduction at a given gas flow rate was larger for larger roughness. A new scaling parameter that collapses all of the data is also introduced.Copyright

The structure of Reynolds stress in the near-wall region of a fully developed turbulent pipe flow

The structure of the Reynolds stress in the near-wall region of a fully developed turbulent pipe flow, at a pipe Reynolds number of 8,923, was investigated. Because the closed circuit tunnel used glycerine as a working fluid, measurements could be readily made inside the viscous sublayer. Two laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) systems were combined to measure the two point spatial correlation, R12, between the stream wise and radial velocities in a radial plane of the pipe. The correlation measurements extended over the region from y+ of 2 to 64 in the direction normal to the pipe wall and covered more than 800 wall units in the streamwise direction. Two-dimensional maps of the correlation coefficient were established for six different distances of the streamwise velocity probe from the wall. The use of LDV systems allowed the measurements to be made for small spatial separations of the probes without fear of probe interference effects. A characteristic feature of the correlation contour maps, that maxium correlation arises for small non-zero separation of the probes, may not have been observed had invasive techniques been employed.

The scaling of the wall pressure fluctuations in polymer-modified turbulent boundary layer flow

Wall pressure fluctuations and integrated skin friction were measured beneath a turbulent boundary layer that was modified by adding drag-reducing polymer to the pure water flow. The measurements were performed on an axisymmetric model, equipped with an isolated cylindrical drag balance section, and placed in the test section of the 0.3048-m-diam water tunnel at ARL Penn State. Data were acquired at a free-stream velocity of 10.7 m/s with pure water and with polymer added to the water at concentrations of 1, 5, 10, and 20 weight parts per million. Nondimensionalization of the wall pressure fluctuation frequency spectra with traditional outer, inner, and mixed flow variables failed to adequately collapse the data. The mean square wall pressure fluctuations were found to scale linearly with the wall shear stress. Polymer addition had little effect on the characteristic time scale of the flow. These properties were used to develop a novel form of the nondimensional wall pressure fluctuation spectrum that provided the best collapse of the measured data.