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At least 163 records · Page 9

Supersonic turbulent flow past a swept compression corner at Mach 3. II

The three-dimensional Mach 3.0 shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interaction generated by a swept compression corner whose geometry is characterized by the angle of streamwise compression angle alpha and the angle of sweep lambda is presently treated by the Baldwin-Lomax (1978) algebraic turbulent eddy viscosity model. The results obtained, and those previously derived by means of Cebeci and Smith (1974) and Jones and Launder (1972) models, are compared with experimental measurements. The rate of change of the mean kinetic energy along a streamline is investigated, and evidence is obtained that the flowfield structure is rotational and inviscid.

Knight, Doyle D.↗

A compressible solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for turbulent flow about an airfoil

A compressible time dependent solution of the Navier-Stokes equations including a transition turbulence model is obtained for the isolated airfoil flow field problem. The equations are solved by a consistently split linearized block implicit scheme. A nonorthogonal body-fitted coordinate system is used which has maximum resolution near the airfoil surface and in the region of the airfoil leading edge. The transition turbulence model is based upon the turbulence kinetic energy equation and predicts regions of laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow. Mean flow field and turbulence field results are presented for an NACA 0012 airfoil at zero and nonzero incidence angles of Reynolds number up to one million and low subsonic Mach numbers.

Shamroth, S. J.↗

Turbulent Compressible Convection with Rotation: Flow Structure and Evolution - Part 1

The effects of Coriolis forces on compressible convection are studied using three-dimensional numerical simulations carried out within a local modified f-plane model. The physics is simplified by considering a perfect gas occupying a rectilinear domain placed tangentially to a rotating sphere at various latitudes, through which a destabilizing heat flux is driven. The resulting convection is considered for a range of Rayleigh, Taylor, and Prandtl (and thus Rossby) numbers, evaluating conditions where the influence of rotation is both weak and strong. Given the computational demands of these high-resolution simulations, the parameter space is explored sparsely to ascertain the differences between laminar and turbulent rotating convection. The first paper in this series examines the effects of rotation on the flow structure within the convection, its evolution, and some consequences for mixing. Subsequent papers consider the large-scale mean shear flows that are generated by the convection, and the effects of rotation on the convective energetics and transport properties. It is found here that the structure of rotating turbulent convection is similar to earlier nonrotating studies, with a laminar, cellular surface network disguising a fully turbulent interior punctuated by vertically coherent structures. However, the temporal signature of the surface flows is modified by inertial motions to yield new cellular evolution patterns and an overall increase in the mobility of the network. The turbulent convection contains vortex tubes of many scales, including large-scale coherent structures spanning the full vertical extent of the domain involving multiple density scale heights. Remarkably, such structures align with the rotation vector via the influence of Coriolis forces on turbulent motions, in contrast with the zonal tilting of streamlines found in laminar flows. Such novel turbulent mechanisms alter the correlations which drive mean shearing flows and affect the convective transport properties. In contrast to this large-scale anisotropy, small-scale vortex tubes at greater depths are randomly orientated by the rotational mixing of momentum, leading to an increased degree of isotropy on the medium to small scales of motion there. Rotation also influences the thermodynamic mixing properties of the convection. In particular, interaction of the larger coherent vortices causes a loss of correlation between the vertical velocity and the temperature leaving a mean stratification which is not isentropic.

Brummell, Nicholas H.↗

Structure of supersonic turbulent flow past a swept compression corner

The structure of the shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction generated by a 3D swept compression corner has been investigated through a combined experimental and theoretical research program. The flowfield geometry is defined by the streamwise compression angle alpha and the sweep angle lambda of the corner. The present study examines two different configurations, namely (alpha, lambda) = (24 deg, 40 deg) and (24 deg, 60 deg) at Mach 3 and Re sigma infinity about 9 x 10 exp 5. The theoretical model is the 3D Reynolds-averaged compressible Navier-Stokes equations with turbulence incorporated using a turbulent eddy viscosity. The calculated flowfields display general agreement with experimental data for surface pressure and good agreement with experimental flowfield profiles of pitot pressure and yaw angle. The principal feature of the flowfield is a large vortical structure approximately aligned with the corner. The entrainment of incoming fluid into the vortical structure is strongly affected by the sweep angle lambda. Viscous (turbulent and molecular) effects appear to be important only in the immediate vicinity of the surface and in an isolated region within the interaction and near the corner.

Knight, Doyle D.↗

The obstacle block as a device to measure turbulent skin friction in compressible flow

The obstacle block, developed as an alternative to the Preston tube for indirectly measuring skin friction on smooth surfaces in incompressible flows, is examined as a device for compressible flows as well. The block, which is congruent with a surface static pressure orifice, has a geometry which is easily specified and thus has a universal calibration. Data from two independent studies are used to establish such a calibration using 'wall' variables, valid for Mach numbers up to about 3. Various aspects concerning practical application of the device are examined, such as sensitivity to yaw and the minimum permissible axial spacing between blocks. Several examples showing the utility of the device are given.

Elfstrom, G. M.↗

On a finite element CFD algorithm for compressible, viscous and turbulent aerodynamic flows

This paper develops and analyses individual construction aspects of an efficient and accurate finite element algorithm for prediction of viscous and turbulent flow fields of impact in aerodynamics. The theoretical construction employs a Taylor weak statement (TWS) for coincident embedding of stability mechanisms within a classic Galerkin finite element formulation of semidiscrete approximation error orthogonalization. A wide variety of the stabilizing mechanisms of independently derived CFD algorithms are contained within the TWS theory. An implicit construction that meets the requirement of efficient convergence to steady state is developed. The theoretical asymptotic error estimates of the TWS finite element algorithm for supersonic and viscous boundary layer flows are verified. Application to a three-dimensional turbulent flow is cited.

Baker, A. J.↗

Extra compressibility terms for Favre-averaged two-equation models of inhomogeneous turbulent flows

Forms of extra-compressibility terms that result from use of Favre averaging of the turbulence transport equations for kinetic energy and dissipation are derived. These forms introduce three new modeling constants, a polytropic coefficient that defines the interrelationships of the pressure, density, and enthalpy fluctuations and two constants in the dissipation equation that account for the non-zero pressure-dilitation and mean pressure gradients.

Rubesin, Morris W.↗

Evaluation of the time dependent surface shear stress in turbulent flows

The time dependent surface shear stress has been evaluated using surface heat transfer measurements. For fully developed turbulent pipe and open channel water flows, and incompressible and compressible turbulent boundary layer air flows the measurements indicate the absolute magnitude of the surface shear stress fluctuations will be greater than two times the mean values. The root-mean-square shear stress fluctuations were of the order of 0.2 to 0.4 times the mean surface shear values. Due to these large surface shear stress fluctuations and the nonlinear relation between heat transfer and shear stress, a special technique has been developed to evaluate the measurements. It was found that the non-linear averaging errors for a hot film-surface shear stress gauge in a fully developed pipe flow was of the order of 10 percent at low velocities. A hot wire-surface shear stress gauge was employed for measurements of turbulent boundary layers in air.

Sandborn, V. A.↗

Three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer development and separation in V/STOL engine inlets at incidence with small-cross flow and curvature influences

The study concerns the influence of the three-dimensional cross flows on the compressible turbulent boundary layer development and flow separation prediction around V/STOL engine inlets at high incidence. The governing equations for the three-dimensional boundary layer flow with small-cross approximation are solved numerically on an intrinsic streamline coordinate system. Results are presented to illustrate the effects of small cross-flow, compressibility and streamline curvatures on the flow. Comparisons of the results with the wind tunnel data for scaled model and with data obtained from another existing compressible axisymmetric turbulent boundary layer scheme are included in the analysis.

Chou, D. C.↗

Density fluctuations in the interstellar medium: Evidence for anisotropic magnetogasdynamic turbulence. I - Model and astrophysical sites

A self-consistent theoretical model of turbulent fluctuations in a compressible electrically conducting gas is developed in order to quantitatively study a turbulent fluid origin for the small spiral scale density fluctuations observed by Armstrong et al. (1981). A heuristic description of turbulent flows in compressible fluids is offered as an analogy for the small-scale turbulent velocity and magnetic field variations which derive density variations in the presence of a strong local magnetic field.

Higdon, J. C.↗

Numerical Calculations of Shock-Wave/Boundary-Layer Flow Interactions

The paper presents results of calculations for 2-D supersonic turbulent compression corner flows. The results seem to indicate that the newer, improved kappa-epsilon models offer limited advantages over the standard kappa-epsilon model in predicting the shock-wave/boundary-layer flows in the 2-D compression corner over a wide range of corner angles and flow conditions.

Huang, P. G.↗

Transition-Sensitized Turbulence Models for Compressible and Incompressible Flows

During the grant period from January 1,2002 to December 31,2002 work was carried out on three projects to extend the range of applicability of advanced turbulence models. First, a new transition-sensitized turbulence model was tested and refined. Second, the influence of compressibility on the pressure-strain rate correlation was studied. Third, the relationship between time-filtered large eddy simulation (TLES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling was investigated leading to submission of the article. The transition-sensitized turbulence model encompasses the early-stage transition and turbulent flow regimes describing the evolution of the ensemble mean disturbance energy and dissipation rate. It is founded on a consistent mathematical description of the laminar regime with its linear disturbances and the fully turbulent regime with its stochastic fluctuations. The unified description is provided by the ensemble viewpoint.

Thacker, William D.↗

Numerical simulation of transition in wall-bounded shear flows

The current status of numerical simulation techniques for the transition to turbulence in incompressible channel and boundary-layer flows is surveyed, and typical results are presented graphically. The focus is on direct numerical simulations based on the full nonlinear time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations without empirical closure assumptions for prescribed initial and boundary conditions. Topics addressed include the vibrating ribbon problem, space and time discretization, initial and boundary conditions, alternative methods based on the triple-deck approximation, two-dimensional channel and boundary-layer flows, three-dimensional boundary layers, wave packets and turbulent spots, compressible flows, transition control, and transition modeling.

Kleiser, Leonhard↗

Computer program for calculating laminar and turbulent boundary layer development in compressible flow

A computer program is described which performs a numerical integration of the equations of motion for a compressible two-dimensional boundary layer. Boundary layer calculations may be carried out for both laminar and turbulent flow for arbitrary Reynolds number and free stream Mach number distribution on planar or axisymmetric bodies with wall heating or cooling, longitudinal wall curvature, wall suction or blowing, and a rough or a smooth wall. A variety of options are available as initial conditions. The program can generate laminar initial conditions such as Falkner-Skan similarity solutions (so that initial wedge flows can be simulated including Blasius or stagnation point flow) or approximate equilibrium turbulent profiles. Alternatively, initial profile input data can be utilized.

Herring, H. J.↗

Turbulence modeling for high speed compressible flows

The following grant objectives were delineated in the proposal to NASA: to offer course work in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and related areas to enable mechanical engineering students at North Carolina A&T State University (N.C. A&TSU) to pursue M.S. studies in CFD, and to enable students and faculty to engage in research in high speed compressible flows. Since no CFD-related activity existed at N.C. A&TSU before the start of the NASA grant period, training of students in the CFD area and initiation of research in high speed compressible flows were proposed as the key aspects of the project. To that end, graduate level courses in CFD, boundary layer theory, and fluid dynamics were offered. This effort included initiating a CFD course for graduate students. Also, research work was performed on studying compressibility effects in high speed flows. Specifically, a modified compressible dissipation model, which included a fourth order turbulent Mach number term, was incorporated into the SPARK code and verified for the air-air mixing layer case. The results obtained for this case were compared with a wide variety of experimental data to discern the trends in the mixing layer growth rates with varying convective Mach numbers. Comparison of the predictions of the study with the results of several analytical models was also carried out. The details of the research study are described in the publication entitled 'Compressibility Effects in Modeling Turbulent High Speed Mixing Layers,' which is attached to this report.

Chandra, Suresh↗

Numerical computation of shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interaction in transonic flow over an axisymmetric curved hill

A control-volume based finite difference computation of a turbulent transonic flow over an axisymmetric curved hill is presented. The numerical method is based on the SIMPLE algorithm, and hence the conservation of mass equation is replaced by a pressure correction equation for compressible flows. The turbulence is described by a k-epsilon turbulence model supplemented by a near-wall turbulence model. In the method, the dissipation rate in the region very close to the wall is obtained from an algebraic equation and that for the rest of the flow domain is obtained by solving a partial differential equation for the dissipation rate. The other flow equations are integrated up to the wall. It is shown that the present turbulence model yields the correct location of the compression shock. The other computational results are also in good agreement with experimental data.

Kim, S.-W.↗

Numerical solution of three-dimensional free turbulent shear flows

Numerical results are presented for three-dimensional compressible turbulent jet and wake flows. An alternating direction implicit numerical procedure is used to solve the finite-difference form of the parabolic elliptic Navier-Stokes equations. A coordinate transformation maps the boundaries at infinity into a finite computational domain in order to properly specify infinity boundary conditions as well as contain the downstream growth of the viscous flow field in a fixed computational grid. Turbulence closure is achieved through an algebraic mixing length eddy viscosity model. Numerical results for supersonic flow are presented for an axisymmetric jet, an elliptical jet, an elliptical wake, and two interacting rectangular jets. Experimental data were not available for comparison with the numerical results. However, the results compare well with empirical results for free shear flows.

Oh, Y. H.↗