Vesselina Roussinova

Revisiting turbulence in smooth uniform open channel flow

This study reexamines the mean velocity scaling as well as higher order turbulent moments in a uniform smooth open channel flow with three different aspect ratios. In the overlap region, the velocity profiles follow the classical logarithmic law. In the outer region, the mean velocity data at various aspect ratios collapse on to each other only when the length scale is suitably modified. This length scale is defined on the basis of a region of constant turbulence intensity close to the free surface and is equal to the depth of flow at large aspect ratios. The proposed new length scaling also provides for a positive value of the wake parameter. Furthermore, turbulence distributions including that of the Reynolds shear stress, and triple correlations and collapse onto a single line making them nearly independent of aspect ratio. Quadrant decomposition of the velocity data was used to quantify the differences in the turbulence structure at the three channel aspect ratios. The quadrant analysis shows that the turbulence in open channel is similar to that in both turbulent boundary layers and flow in two-dimensional channels when all turbulent events are included. When only the extreme events are considered, differences between open channel flow and turbulent boundary layers become significant. The conditional quadrant analysis reveals that the violent ejections do penetrate into the flow and they are responsible for producing large portion of the Reynolds shear stress. Some effects of aspect ratio are revealed when the ratio of the ejection to sweep events are calculated. The turbulent events with the higher aspect ratios tend to be closer to the two-dimensional channel data.

Investigation of Fluid Structures in a Smooth Open-Channel Flow Using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition

This paper reports particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the instantaneous velocity fields in a smooth open-channel flow. The Reynolds number of the flow based on the water depth was 21,000. The instantaneous velocity fields were analyzed using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to expose the vortical structures. The velocity fields were reconstructed using different combination of modes; the first 12 modes to expose the energetic structures, and from Modes 13 to 100 to expose the less energetic structures. The first set recovered about 50% of the turbulent kinetic energy while the second group of modes recovered about 33% of the energy. The POD results were further combined with the results from the momentum analysis as well as with the conditional quadrant analysis performed at three different threshold levels. The POD results revealed the existence of hairpin vortices of different sizes and energy levels. Most of the large eddies are elongated and inclined toward the boundaries in the str...

Open channel flow past a train of rib roughness

In this paper, the effect of depth on turbulent open channel flow past a train of rib elements is examined. The two-dimensional square ribs spanning the width of the channel are located throughout the length of the flume. The experiments are conducted in the fully rough regime to document the turbulence characteristics of the flow at two different rib spacing (pitch-to-height ratios [ p/k ] of 9 and 18) conforming to the classical definition of k-type roughness. The streamwise mean velocity profiles demonstrate a shift from a smooth wall flow but varied marginally between the two cases of p/k and were also not affected by the change of flow depth. At shallow depths, roughness with p/k = 9 show a substantial increase of turbulence intensities and Reynolds shear stress in the outer layer compared to the reference flow case on a smooth bed. In the case of p/k = 18, the roughness effect is confined to the region less than 3 k from the wall and an outer layer similarity is confirmed with no effect of flow depth. Quadrant analysis shows an increase of ejection and sweep events in the outer layer at shallow depths for p/k = 9. Near the reattachment point, strong sweeps penetrate into the outer layer for both rough wall flows only at shallow depth. Strong ejections, on the other hand, seem to be more sensitive to the roughness and p/k ratio. The present results indicate that at shallow depths with p/k = 9, most of the flow in the outer layer is affected, while with a larger spacing (p/k = 18), the flow characteristics are less sensitive to the change of depth.

A study in the developing region of square jet

The developing region of a turbulent square jet is investigated using high-resolution particle image velocimetry (PIV). The mean velocity and turbulence stresses are presented in various horizontal planes, along the jet centerline covering the initial region of the jet as well as the transition to the self-similar region. To study the flow structure away from the central plane, velocity measurements in two additional horizontal planes, one located halfway from the jet central plane toward the edge and the other at the edge of the square jet, are also examined. Analysis of the instantaneous velocity fields reveal the presence of an arrow-like feature in the square jet due to the higher instability generated in the jet shear layer compared with a round jet. To elucidate the imprints of the vortex structures present in the jets, a swirling strength-based vortex identification methodology is applied on a large ensemble of instantaneous velocity fields. Statistical analysis of the number of vortex cores, and their size and rotational strength in the measurement plane is undertaken. Vortex population at the edge was found to be very different compared with that in the central plane.

Reynolds Stress Anisotropy in Open-Channel Flow

This paper reports the results of an experimental study characterizing turbulence and turbulence anisotropy in smooth and rough shallow open-channel flows. The rough bed consists of a train of two-dimensional transverse square ribs with a ratio of the roughness height (k) to the total depth of flow (d) equal to 0.10. Three rib separations ( p/k ) of 4.5, 9, and 18 were examined. Here, p is the pitch between consecutive roughness elements and was varied to reproduce the classical condition of d - and k -type roughness. For each case, two-component velocity measurements were obtained using a laser Doppler velocimetry system at two locations for p/k=4.5 and 9: on the top of the rib and above the cavity, and an additional location for p/k=18 . The measurements allow examination of the local variations of the higher-order turbulent moments, stress ratios as well as turbulence anisotropy. Large variations of the turbulence intensities, Reynolds shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulence production ar...

Characteristics of a Jet in the Vicinity of a Free Surface

In this study, the characteristics of a round turbulent jet in the vicinity of a free surface are investigated. The jet issued from a nozzle located at a depth five times the nozzle diameter (d = 10 mm) below and parallel to the free surface. The jet exit velocity was 2.8 m/s and the resulting Reynolds number was 28,000. Instantaneous two-dimensional PIV measurements were obtained in the vertical central plane and in several horizontal planes at various distances (y/d = 0,±1,±2,±3± 4) from the axis of the nozzle. All fields-of-view were positioned at streamwise locations in the range of 28 < x/d < 62, where the jet interacts significantly with the free surface. The results reveal that the behavior of the surface jet is very similar to that of the free jet before it interacts with the free surface which occurs at about x/d = 30. Beyond this, the velocity normal to the free surface is diminished and those parallel to the free surface are enhanced in the region near the free surface. In the horizontal plane near the free surface (y/d = +4), the spreading of the surface jet is significantly greater than that of the free jet. The mean lateral flow in this region tends to be outward everywhere for the surface jet, while the opposite trend occurs in the free jet. Turbulence intensities in all three directions are reduced by the effect of the free surface confinement. Near the free surface, at y/d = +4, unlike the single peak streamwise turbulence intensity profile noticed in the case of the free jet, the off-axis double peaks reappear in the case of the surface jet. The magnitude of shear stress in the vertical central plane of the surface jet is smaller than that noticed in the free jet near the free surface. In identical horizontal planes, the shear stress (-uw¯) profiles are similar in both free jets and surface jets in regions where the interaction with the free surface is not significant (x/d ≈ 30). As the downstream distance increases near the free surface, the magnitudes of the shear stress profiles are larger compared to that of the free jet. An increase in the normal component of vorticity is observed in the horizontal planes near the free surface.

Round impinging jets with relatively large stand-off distance

Large eddy simulation and particle image velocimetry measurements have been performed to evaluate the characteristics of a turbulent impinging jet with large nozzle height-to-diameter ratio (H/D = 20). The Reynolds number considered is approximately 28 000 based on the jet exit velocity and nozzle diameter. Mean normalized centerline velocity in both the free jet and impingement regions and pressure distribution over the plate obtained from simulations and experiments show good agreement. The ring-like vortices generated due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities at the exit of the nozzle merge, break down and transform into large scale structures while traveling towards the impingement plate. A Strouhal number of 0.63 was found for the vortices generated at the exit of the nozzle. However, this parameter is reduced along the centerline towards the impingement zone. A characteristic frequency was also determined for the large scale structures impinging on the plate. The expansion, growth, tilt, and three-d...

ANALYSIS OF ENTRAINMENT AT THE TURBULENT/NON-TURBULENT INTERFACE OF A SQUARE JET

Particle image velocimetry measurements are carried out to study the entrainment at the interface between the non-turbulent and turbulent regions in a square jet. Jet Reynolds number based on the hydraulic diameter of the jet is 50,000. Measurements cover up to 25 diameters downstream of the nozzle exit using five horizontal field-of-views in the central plane of the jet. The turbulent/non-turbulent interface is identified using a velocity criterion and a suitable thresholding method. Using vorticity and swirling strength it is shown that the turbulent/non-turbulent interface separates the rotational and irrotational regions of the flow. Instantaneous velocity vector field superimposed with the turbulent/non-turbulent interface are presented. The relation between the vortex cores in the vicinity of the turbulent/non-turbulent interface and the contractions and expansions noticed in the jet velocity field are explained. Entrainment into the jet is evaluated at each axial distance by identifying the points falling inside the turbulent region of the jet. Compared to a round jet, the square jet entrains more ambient fluid. In addition, normal volume fluxes going through the turbulent/non-turbulent interface of the square jet are found to be larger compared to that of a round jet.Copyright

Turbulence characteristics of flow in an open channel with temporally varying mobile bedforms

Abstract Turbulence of flow over mobile bedforms in natural open channels is not yet clearly understood. An attempt is made in this paper to determine the effect of naturally formed mobile bedforms on velocities, turbulent intensities and turbulent stresses. Instantaneous velocities are measured using a two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) to evaluate the turbulence structure of free surface flow over a fixed (immobile) bed, a weakly mobile bed and a temporally varying mobile bed with different stages of bedform development. This paper documents the vertical distribution of velocity, turbulence intensities, Reynolds shear stress and higher-order moments including skewness and turbulent diffusion factors. Analysis of the velocity distributions shows a substantial decrease of velocity near the bed with increasing bedform mobility due to increased friction. A modified logarithmic law with a reduced von Kármán constant and increased velocity shift is proposed for the case of the mobile bedforms. A significant increase in the Reynolds shear stress is observed in the mobile bedforms experiments accompanied by changes over the entire flow depth compared to an immobile bed. The skewness factor distribution was found to be different in the case of the flow over the mobile bedforms. All higher-order turbulence descriptors are found to be significantly affected by the formation of temporally varying and non-equilibrium mobile bedforms. Quadrant analysis indicates that sweep and outward events are found to be dominant in strongly mobile bedforms and govern the bedform mobility.

Large eddy simulation of the near-field vortex dynamics in starting square jet transitioning into steady state

Large eddy simulation (LES) is carried out to study the vortex dynamics in the near-field of a starting turbulent square jet as well as its evolution into a developed steady jet. Simulations are conducted at Reynolds numbers (Re = UjD/υ) of 8000 and 45 000 based on the nozzle hydraulic diameter D and jet velocity (Uj). A Reynolds stress model was used to simulate the internal flow in the nozzle which provided the inlet conditions for the LES of the jet. To validate the simulations, turbulence statistics are compared with experimental results available for a steady square jet. Evaluation of the probability density function, skewness, and flatness of the centerline streamwise velocity (Uc) shows deviation from the Gaussian distribution in the near-field. Evolution of the self-induced deformation of the leading vortex ring is investigated to further clarify the role of axis-switching. The axis-switching is initiated earlier at low Reynolds number while the completion of the axis-switching process occurred at...