Structure of the Turbulent Boundary Layer Under Static and Dynamic Impulsive Roughness Perturbation

Abstract

The zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer at Reynolds numbers (based on momentum thickness) ranging from 2700--4100 was perturbed using an impulsively short patch of two-dimensional, spanwise roughness elements. A spatial perturbation was considered in which the roughness patch was held statically on the flat-plate, and the flow downstream of the perturbation was measured by hotwire and particle-image velocimetry. A dynamic perturbation, in which the roughness patch was actuated periodically in time, was also studied, and additional measurements were taken by phase-locking to the dynamic actuation itself. The static perturbation distorted the boundary layer through the generation of a `stress bore' which modified the mean streamwise velocity gradient. The effect of this stress bore was observed in a modification of statistical and spectral measures of the turbulence, as well as a redistribution of coherent structures in the boundary layer. The characterization of the statically perturbed boundary layer provided a base flow from which to consider the dynamically perturbed flow. The dynamically perturbed flow manifested both effects analogous to the static perturbation, as well as a coherent, periodic, large-scale velocity fluctuation. The extent to which these two features could be treated as linearly independent was studied by a variety of statistical and spectral means. Moreover, the very large scale motion synthesized by the dynamic perturbation was isolated by phase-locked measurement, and its behavior was predicted with reasonable success by employing a resolvent operator approach to a forced version of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. The relationship between large-scale motions and an envelope of small-scale motions in the turbulent boundary layer was studied in both the unperturbed and perturbed flows. A variety of correlation techniques were used to interpret the interaction between the different scale motions in the context of a phase-relationship between large and small scales. This phase relationship was shown to provide a physically-grounded perspective on the relationship between the synthetic very large scale motion produced by the dynamic perturbation and the smaller scales in the flow, and was able to provide a foundation for thinking about new approaches to controlling turbulence through large-scale forcing.