Rotating Disk Boundary Layer Flow Research Articles

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF FLOW RESPONSE TO STATIONARY DISTURBANCE IN ROTATING-DISK FLOW

Three-dimensional boundary-layer flow is well known for its abrupt and sharp transition from laminar to turbulent regime. The presented study is a first attempt to achieve the target of delaying the natural transition to turbulence. The behaviour of two different shaped and sized stationary disturbances (in the laboratory frame) on the rotating-disk boundary layer flow is investigated. These disturbances are placed at dimensionless radial location (Rf = 340) which lies within the convectively unstable zone over a rotating-disk. Mean velocity profiles were measured using constant-temperature hot-wire anemometry. By careful analysis of experimental data, the instability of these disturbance wakes and its estimated orientation within the boundary-layer were investigated.

Transition to turbulence in the rotating-disk boundary-layer flow with stationary vortices

This paper proposes a resolution to the conundrum of the roles of convective and absolute instability in transition of the rotating-disk boundary layer. It also draws some comparison with swept-wing flows. Direct numerical simulations based on the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations of the flow over the surface of a rotating disk with modelled roughness elements are presented. The rotating-disk flow has been of particular interest for stability and transition research since the work by Lingwood (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 299, 1995, pp. 17–33) where an absolute instability was found. Here stationary disturbances develop from roughness elements on the disk and are followed from the linear stage, growing to saturation and finally transitioning to turbulence. Several simulations are presented with varying disturbance amplitudes. The lowest amplitude corresponds approximately to the experiment by Imayama et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 745, 2014a, pp. 132–163). For all cases, the primary instability was found to be convectively unstable, and secondary modes were found to be triggered spontaneously while the flow was developing. The secondary modes further stayed within the domain, and an explanation for this is a proposed globally unstable secondary instability. For the low-amplitude roughness cases, the disturbances propagate beyond the threshold for secondary global instability before becoming turbulent, and for the high-amplitude roughness cases the transition scenario gives a turbulent flow directly at the critical Reynolds number for the secondary global instability. These results correspond to the theory of Pier (J. Engng Maths, vol. 57, 2007, pp. 237–251) predicting a secondary absolute instability. In our simulations, high temporal frequencies were found to grow with a large amplification rate where the secondary global instability occurred. For smaller radial positions, low-frequency secondary instabilities were observed, tripped by the global instability.

Experimental study of rotating-disk boundary-layer flow with surface roughness

Rotating-disk boundary-layer flow is known to be locally absolutely unstable at $R>507$ as shown by Lingwood (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 299, 1995, pp. 17–33) and, for the clean-disk condition, experimental observations show that the onset of transition is highly reproducible at that Reynolds number. However, experiments also show convectively unstable stationary vortices due to cross-flow instability triggered by unavoidable surface roughness of the disk. We show that if the surface is sufficiently rough, laminar–turbulent transition can occur via a convectively unstable route ahead of the onset of absolute instability. In the present work we compare the laminar–turbulent transition processes with and without artificial surface roughnesses. The differences are clearly captured in the spectra of velocity time series. With the artificial surface roughness elements, the stationary-disturbance component is dominant in the spectra, whereas both stationary and travelling components are represented in spectra for the clean-disk condition. The wall-normal profile of the disturbance velocity for the travelling mode observed for a clean disk is in excellent agreement with the critical absolute instability eigenfunction from local theory; the wall-normal stationary-disturbance profile, by contrast, is distinct and the experimentally measured profile matches the stationary convective instability eigenfunction. The results from the clean-disk condition are compared with theoretical studies of global behaviours in spatially developing flow and found to be in good qualitative agreement. The details of stationary disturbances are also discussed and it is shown that the radial growth rate is in excellent agreement with linear stability theory. Finally, large stationary structures in the breakdown region are described.

A Note on the Correspondence Between Certain Nanofluid Flows and Standard Fluid Flows

This note introduces a rescaling approach that greatly simplifies the evaluation of flow and physical parameters such as skin friction and heat transfer rate in recent single phase nanofluids research for which the nanofluids begin to create a non-Newtonian fluid after 5–6% volumetric concentration of nanoparticles. Much of the task is hence reduced to a particular case for a chosen fluid. By the help of specified transformations, the nanofluid results can be obtained from known properties of regular fluid. Such rescaling is shown to work well for the rotating disk boundary layer flow in nanofluid, and thus sheds light upon the future studies of this kind when further physical mechanism are taken into account.

On the laminar–turbulent transition of the rotating-disk flow: the role of absolute instability

AbstractThis paper describes a detailed experimental study using hot-wire anemometry of the laminar–turbulent transition region of a rotating-disk boundary-layer flow without any imposed excitation of the boundary layer. The measured data are separated into stationary and unsteady disturbance fields in order to elaborate on the roles that the stationary and the travelling modes have in the transition process. We show the onset of nonlinearity consistently at Reynolds numbers, $R$, of $\sim $510, i.e. at the onset of Lingwood’s (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 299, 1995, pp. 17–33) local absolute instability, and the growth of stationary vortices saturates at a Reynolds number of $\sim $550. The nonlinear saturation and subsequent turbulent breakdown of individual stationary vortices independently of their amplitudes, which vary azimuthally, seem to be determined by well-defined Reynolds numbers. We identify unstable travelling disturbances in our power spectra, which continue to grow, saturating at around $R=585$, whereupon turbulent breakdown of the boundary layer ensues. The nonlinear saturation amplitude of the total disturbance field is approximately constant for all considered cases, i.e. different rotation rates and edge Reynolds numbers. We also identify a travelling secondary instability. Our results suggest that it is the travelling disturbances that are fundamentally important to the transition to turbulence for a clean disk, rather than the stationary vortices. Here, the results appear to show a primary nonlinear steep-fronted (travelling) global mode at the boundary between the local convectively and absolutely unstable regions, which develops nonlinearly interacting with the stationary vortices and which saturates and is unstable to a secondary instability. This leads to a rapid transition to turbulence outward of the primary front from approximately $R=565$ to 590 and to a fully turbulent boundary layer above 650.

An experimental study of edge effects on rotating-disk transition

AbstractThe onset of transition for the rotating-disk flow was identified by Lingwood (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 299, 1995, pp. 17–33) as being highly reproducible, which motivated her to look for absolute instability of the boundary-layer flow; the flow was found to be locally absolutely unstable above a Reynolds number of 507. Global instability, if associated with laminar–turbulent transition, implies that the onset of transition should be highly repeatable across different experimental facilities. While it has previously been shown that local absolute instability does not necessarily lead to linear global instability: Healey (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 663, 2010, pp. 148–159) has shown, using the linearized complex Ginzburg–Landau equation, that if the finite nature of the flow domain is accounted for, then local absolute instability can give rise to linear global instability and lead directly to a nonlinear global mode. Healey (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 663, 2010, pp. 148–159) also showed that there is a weak stabilizing effect as the steep front to the nonlinear global mode approaches the edge of the disk, and suggested that this might explain some reports of slightly higher transition Reynolds numbers, when located close to the edge. Here we look closely at the effects the edge of the disk have on laminar–turbulent transition of the rotating-disk boundary-layer flow. We present data for three different edge configurations and various edge Reynolds numbers, which show no obvious variation in the transition Reynolds number due to proximity to the edge of the disk. These data, together with the application (as far as possible) of a consistent definition for the onset of transition to others’ results, reduce the already relatively small scatter in reported transition Reynolds numbers, suggesting even greater reproducibility than previously thought for ‘clean’ disk experiments. The present results suggest that the finite nature of the disk, present in all real experiments, may indeed, as Healey (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 663, 2010, pp. 148–159) suggests, lead to linear global instability as a first step in the onset of transition but we have not been able to verify a correlation between the transition Reynolds number and edge Reynolds number.

A new way to describe the transition characteristics of a rotating-disk boundary-layer flow

A new method of graphically representing the transition stages of a rotating-disk flow is presented. The probability density function contour map of the fluctuating azimuthal disturbance velocity is used to show the characteristics of the boundary-layer flow over the rotating disk as a function of Reynolds numbers. Compared with the variation of the disturbance amplitude (rms) or spectral distribution, this map more clearly shows the changing flow characteristics through the laminar, transitional, and turbulent regions. This method may also be useful to characterize the different stages in the transition process not only for the rotating-disk flow but also for other flows.

Analytic approximate solutions of rotating disk boundary layer flow subject to a uniform vertical magnetic field

The present paper is concerned with the analytical solution of the boundary layer flow of a steady, laminar, incompressible, viscous and electrically conducting fluid due to a rotating disk. Within this purpose, the recently popular homotopy analysis method is employed, making it possible to obtain explicitly analytic expressions for Lighthill’s coordinate straining parameter c in terms of the magnetic field parameter m, first used in Ackroyd (J Eng Phys 12:207–220, 1978) for the nonmagnetic case and recently studied to get the small perturbation and large asymptotic representations in Ariel (Z Angew Math Mech 82:235–246, 2001) for the magnetic case. Making use of the outlined approach, the mean velocity profiles corresponding to a wide range of magnetic strength parameters are computed, and also explicit formulas are derived for several quantities of physical significance.

The effects of mass transfer on the global stability of the rotating-disk boundary layer

Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of surface suction and injection on the global behaviour of linear disturbances in the rotating-disk boundary layer. This extends earlier work, which considered the case with no mass transfer. For disturbances in the genuine base flow, where radially inhomogeneity is retained, mass injection at the disk surface led to behaviour that remained qualitatively similar to that which was found when there was no mass transfer. The initial development of disturbances within the absolutely unstable region involved temporal growth and upstream propagation, as should be anticipated for an absolute instability. However, this did not persist indefinitely. Just as for the case without mass transfer, the simulation results suggested that convective behaviour would eventually dominate, for all the Reynolds numbers investigated. In marked contrast, the results obtained for flows with mass suction indicate a destabilization due to the effects of the base-flow radial inhomogeneity. It was possible to identify disturbances excited within the absolutely unstable region that grew continually, with a temporal growth rate that increased as the disturbance evolved. The strong locally stabilizing effect of suction on the absolute instability, which gives rise to large increases in critical Reynolds numbers, appears to be obtainable only at the expense of introducing a new form of global instability. Analogous forms of global behaviour can be found in impulse solutions of the linearized complex Ginzburg–Landau equation. These solutions were deployed to interpret and make comparisons with the numerical simulation results. They illustrate how the long-term behaviour of a disturbance can be determined by the precise balance between radial increases in temporal growth rates, corresponding shifts in temporal frequencies and diffusion/dispersion effects. This balance provides some insight into why disturbances that are absolutely unstable, for the homogenized version of the rotating-disk boundary-layer flow, may become, in the genuine radially inhomogeneous flow, either globally stable or globally unstable, depending on the level of mass transfer that is applied at the disk surface.

Analytic approximate solutions of rotating disk boundary layer flow subject to a uniform suction or injection

The present paper is devoted to the study of derivation of analytical expressions for the solution of steady, laminar, incompressible, viscous fluid of the boundary layer flow due to a rotating disk in the presence of a uniform suction or injection. Within this aim, the recently popular homotopy analysis method is employed to obtain the exact solutions, in contrast to the full numerically or perturbative/asymptotically evaluated ones in the literature. It is shown here that such a technique is extremely powerful in gaining solutions in terms of the purely exponential and decaying functions if the proposed approach introduced here is carefully pursued. The homotopy technique makes it possible to obtain explicitly analytic expressions for Lighthill's coordinate straining parameter c in terms of the suction/blowing parameter s, first used in [1]. Using the outlined approach, not only the mean velocity profiles corresponding to a wide range suction/blowing parameter are computed non-iteratively and analytically, but also explicit formulas are derived for some quantities of physical significance. The notion of optimal convergence control parameter is made use to accelerate the rate of convergence of the homotopy series, whose convergence is later proven via a convergence theorem.

Primary instability mechanisms on the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow over a rotating disk subject to a uniform radial flow

This paper is devoted to the investigation of three primary linear instability mechanisms due to the resonating disturbance waves present in the three-dimensional incompressible viscous/inviscid rotating disk boundary layer flow, extending our earlier still outer fluid work [M. Turkyilmazoglu, “Resonance instabilities on the boundary layer flow over a rotating-disk under the influence of a uniform magnetic field,” J. Eng. Math. 59, 337 (2007)] to a uniform nonzero radial flow. A spatiotemporal linear stability analysis is conducted to search for the influences of physical parameters on the possible important mechanisms of resonances leading to, respectively, the absolute instability, the direct spatial instability, and the direct temporal instability. The radial flow is shown to act in the way of stabilizing all the possible mechanisms considered, more pronouncedly as the magnetic field gets strengthened. The onset of absolute instability and convective temporal instability is found to be more sensitive to the variations in the radial flow than is the onset of convective direct spatial instability. Although a considerable delay of the onset of absolute instability as well as temporal instability can be achieved by increasing the magnitude of the radial flow, the direct spatial resonance instability mechanism persists to occur for low Reynolds numbers, while the flow is still in the laminar regime, which is expected to trigger nonlinearity just prior to transition to turbulence.

Influence of suction/blowing on the finite amplitude disturbances having non-stationary modes of a compressible boundary layer flow

In this paper, a weakly non-linear stability analysis is pursued to explore the effects of suction and blowing on a compressible mode of instability of the three-dimensional boundary layer flow induced by a rotating disk. The main thrust of the research is to extend the stationary work of Seddougui and Bassom (1996) to cover for the non-stationary mode so that it is targeted to determine whether the major role in finite amplitude destabilization of the boundary layer is played by the stationary mode of Seddougui and Bassom (1996) or the non-stationary mode as calculated from the present study. Within this perspective, the basic compressible flow obtained in the large Reynolds number limit, together with a suction parameter entering into the wall with normal velocity at the wall, is perturbed by disturbances which are constituted as the non-linear interaction of fundamental modes and harmonics. The effects of non-linearity are then explored by deriving a finite amplitude equation governing the evolution of the non-linear lower branch modes and also allowing the finite amplitude growth of a disturbance close to the neutral location determined from a prior stability analysis. Although the form of the amplitude equation is not at all surprising (given a similar result for the stationary vortices in Seddougui and Bassom (1996)), the dependence of the coefficients of the Landau-type modulated vortex amplitude equation on the frequency parameter is established here. A close examination of the coefficients of this evolution equation indicates strongly that the non-linearity has a destabilizing effect for both suction and blowing through the surface of the disk, the effect of which is much more stronger for a suction. Also the impact of non-linearity is higher for the non-stationary compressible modes than for the stationary waves of Seddougui (1990) and Seddougui and Bassom (1996). Moreover, in the case of suction, there occurs a regime of non-stationary modes that cover not only the positive frequency waves, but also waves having negative frequencies, and these modes are always unstable no matter whether the wall is insulated or isothermal. The solution of the asymptotic amplitude equation further demonstrates that as the local Mach number increases, compressibility has the influence of stabilization by requiring smaller initial amplitude of the disturbance for the laminar rotating disk boundary layer flow to become unstable whenever fluid injection is applied. Unlike this, suction makes the underlying flow more convectively unstable as far as the compressibility is concerned, particulary for the modes generated as a consequence of an isothermal wall. Both for the suction and injection cases, disturbances having positive frequency are always shown to cause an instantaneous non-linear amplification prior to the negative frequency waves.

Resonance instabilities in the boundary-layer flow over a rotating-disk under the influence of a uniform magnetic field

Instabilities due to resonating waves in the three-dimensional incompressible viscous/inviscid rotating-disk boundary-layer flow are investigated numerically. The influence of a normal magnetic field on the resonances leading, respectively, to the direct spatial instability, the direct temporal instability and the absolute instability are worked out, in an attempt to determine the physically most significant one. It is found that the magnetic field has a stabilizing influence on all the resonance mechanisms outlined. However, the direct spatial-resonance-instability mechanism persists for low Reynolds numbers, when the flow is still in the laminar regime. Thus, attention should be directed to this specific instability mechanism, which offers a strong route to transition to turbulence by means of triggering the nonlinearity.

Influence of Finite Amplitude Disturbances on the Nonstationary Modes of a Compressible Boundary Layer Flow

A weakly nonlinear stability analysis is performed to search for the effects of compressibility on a mode of instability of the three‐dimensional boundary layer flow due to a rotating disk. The motivation is to extend the stationary work of [1] (hereafter referred to as S90) to incorporate into the nonstationary mode so that it will be investigated whether the finite amplitude destabilization of the boundary layer is owing to this mode or the mode of S90. Therefore, the basic compressible flow obtained in the large Reynolds number limit is perturbed by disturbances that are nonlinear and also time dependent. In this connection, the effects of nonlinearity are explored allowing the finite amplitude growth of a disturbance close to the neutral location and thus, a finite amplitude equation governing the evolution of the nonlinear lower branch modes is obtained. The coefficients of this evolution equation clearly demonstrate that the nonlinearity is destabilizing for all the modes, the effect of which is higher for the nonstationary waves as compared to the stationary waves. Some modes particularly having positive frequency, regardless of the adiabatic or wall heating/cooling conditions, are always found to be unstable, which are apparently more important than those stationary modes determined in S90. The solution of the asymptotic amplitude equation reveals that compressibility as the local Mach number increases, has the influence of stabilization by requiring smaller initial amplitude of the disturbance for the laminar rotating disk boundary layer flow to become unstable. Apart from the already unstable positive frequency waves, perturbations with positive frequency are always seen to compete to lead the solution to unstable state before the negative frequency waves do. Also, cooling the surface of the disk will be apparently ineffective to suppress the instability mechanisms operating in this boundary layer flow.

An asymptotic investigation into the stabilization effect of suction in the rotating-disk boundary layer flow

The suction effects in the three-dimensional boundary layer flow due to a rotating disk are analyzed from the linear stability point of view making use of the asymptotic structure of the suction mean velocity profiles of the boundary layer. The primary interest of the current work is in giving an explanation to the well-known stabilization influence of the suction from an easy to implement asymptotic means. As a consequence of the analysis, the shapes of the linear amplitude functions are derived analytically. There also results a dispersion relation for the eigenvalues existing in the limit of large suction. A comparison is then made between the perturbations obtained from the present work and also from the direct numerical solution of the linear stability equations. The asymptotic approach pursued provides a good indication as to why the large suction in the specific three-dimensional boundary layer should act in favor of the stabilization of the flow by strongly damping the external disturbances received into the suction boundary layer.

Asymptotic calculation of inviscidly absolutely unstable modes of the compressible boundary layer on a rotating disk

In this work a long-wavelength asymptotic approach is used to analyze the region of absolute instability in the compressible rotating disk boundary layer flow. Theoretically determined values of branch points for the occurrence of absolute instability in the compressible flow are shown to match onto the ones which are obtained via a numerical solution of the linear inviscid compressible Rayleigh equations.

Effects of roughness on nonlinear stationary vortices in rotating disk flows

Primary instability of rotating disk boundary layer flow over a rough surface for stationary modes was investigated by using the weakly nonlinear theory where the Reynolds number R is close to its critical value R c as determined by linear theory. Both the single mode case, where the wave vector K equals its critical K c at the onset of stationary primary instability, and the bimodal case, where the wave vectors K n ( n = 1, 2) are close to K c for the primary instability of the flow, are considered. The analysis leads to stable solutions for particular roughness forms and magnitude, and particular wave vectors ~K n ( n = 1, 2) of the surface roughness.

An experimental study of absolute instability of the rotating-disk boundary-layer flow

In this paper, the results of experiments on unsteady disturbances in the boundary-layer flow over a disk rotating in otherwise still air are presented. The flow was perturbed impulsively at a point corresponding to a Reynolds numberRbelow the value at which transition from laminar to turbulent flow is observed. Among the frequencies excited are convectively unstable modes, which form a three-dimensional wave packet that initially convects away from the source. The wave packet consists of two families of travelling convectively unstable waves that propagate together as one packet. These two families are predicted by linear-stability theory: branch-2 modes dominate close to the source but, as the packet moves outwards into regions with higher Reynolds numbers, branch-1 modes grow preferentially and this behaviour was found in the experiment. However, the radial propagation of the trailing edge of the wave packet was observed to tend towards zero as it approaches the critical Reynolds number (about 510) for the onset of radial absolute instability. The wave packet remains convectively unstable in the circumferential direction up to this critical Reynolds number, but it is suggested that the accumulation of energy at a well-defined radius, due to the flow becoming radially absolutely unstable, causes the onset of laminar–turbulent transition. The onset of transition has been consistently observed by previous authors at an average value of 513, with only a small scatter around this value. Here, transition is also observed at about this average value, with and without artificial excitation of the boundary layer. This lack of sensitivity to the exact form of the disturbance environment is characteristic of an absolutely unstable flow, because absolute growth of disturbances can start from either noise or artificial sources to reach the same final state, which is determined by nonlinear effects.

Weakly non-linear development of rotating disk flow

The problem of primary stability of rotating disk boundary layer flow for stationary modes was studied by using the weakly non-linear theory where the Reynolds number R is close to its critical value R c as determined by linear theory. The system of equations for small amplitude disturbances is solved by a combination of theoretical and computational methods. A Landau type equation for the disturbance amplitude, A, is derived whose coefficients are determined numerically. It is found that for R < R c subcritical instability is exhibited while ¦A¦ becomes very large in a finite time for R > R c . These results suggest possible fast transition to turbulence in rotating-disk flow.

The Diffusion of Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and Inert Gas in Flowing Blood

Measurements were made of exchange rates of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and krypton-85 with blood at 37.5 degrees C. Gas transfer took place across a 1 mil silicone rubber membrane. The blood was in a rotating disk boundary layer flow, and the controlling resistance to transfer was the concentration boundary layer. Measured rates were compared with rates predicted from the equation of convective diffusion using velocities derived from the Navier-Stokes equations and diffusivities calculated from the theory for conduction in a heterogeneous medium. The measured absorption rate of krypton-85 was closely predicted by this model. Significant deposition of material onto the membrane surface, resulting in an increased transfer resistance, occurred in one experiment with blood previously used in a nonmembrane type artificial lung. The desorption rate of oxygen from blood at low P(o2)(1) was up to four times the corresponding transfer rate of inert gas. This effect is described somewhat conservatively by a local equilibrium form of the convective diffusion equation. The carbon dioxide transfer rate in blood near venous conditions was about twice that of inert gas, a rate significantly greater than predicted by the local equilibrium theory. It should be possible to apply these theoretical methods to predict exchange rates with blood flowing in systems of other geometries.