Cross-term events of scale-decomposed skewness factor in turbulent boundary layer at moderate Reynolds number

Abstract

This study reports the observation of cross term events of scale-decomposed skewness factor in turbulent boundary layer at moderate Reynolds number. The large field-of-view particle image velocimetry was utilized to measure the flow fields. By the approach of multi-scale proper orthogonal decomposition (mPOD), the large- and small-scale structures were reconstructed by the mPOD modes relevant to the predefined frequency bands. Then, the cross term of the scale-decomposed skewness was observed, which was proposed in the previous works by Schlatter and Örlü [Phys. Fluids 22, 051704 (2010)] and Mathis et al. [Phys. Fluids, 23, 121702 (2011)]. The cross term events are featured by both the large and small scales, which were consolidated by the linear fitting of correlation coefficients with different slope angles. The characteristic length of the local intense cross term events is around 0.1δ (δ is the boundary layer thickness), which is comparable with that of the swirling structures related to hairpin vortice in the form of hairpin packets. The conditional averaging results presented the arrangement that the local cross term event appears underneath the hairpin vortex in the statistical viewpoint. Based on the hairpin vortex model, it was proposed that the local intense cross term events are associated with the local low-speed fluids induced by the hairpins through the ejection process. Especially, in the wake region, the cross term events are promoted, and also well-correlated with the swirling structures. This kind of configuration was attributed to the combination of the vortex induction and the entrainment process relative to the turbulent/non-turbulent intermittency.