Can We Ever Rely on Results from Wall-Bounded Turbulent Flows Without Direct Measurements of Wall Shear Stress?

Abstract

Recent improvements in three techniques for measuring skin friction in two- and three- dimensional turbulent wall-bounded shear flows are presented. The techniques are: oil-film interferometry, hot wires mounted near the wall, and surface hot-film sensors based on MEMS technology. First, we demonstrate that the oil-film interferometry technique can be used to measure the skin friction magnitude and its direction in two- and three-dimensional wall-bounded shear flows. The results also demonstrate that accurate measurements of the mean skin friction with MEMS sensors are possible. Second, fluctuating skin friction is measured in two- and three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers using a MEMS sensor and a wall-wire as reference. Statistics like skewness, flatness and spectra of the turbulent skin friction are presented to demonstrate the potential and limitations of the MEMS sensor. Finally, the skin friction is measured using the oil film technique with an accuracy of about 1.5%, over the range of Reynolds numbers 10,000 < Reθ < 70,000, in a zero pressure-gradient boundary layer. The results are very well represented by the log-law with κ = 0.38, C = 4.1.