Single Roughness Element Research Articles

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Turbulent spot transit of a hypersonic laminar separation

This paper presents an experimental study of the interaction of turbulent spots with an initially laminar separation, using schlieren visualisation and dynamic measurements of surface heat transfer and pressure. The separation is generated on a blunt cylinder-flare body, tested at Mach 9, and entropy layer effects result in a boundary layer edge Mach number of 3.43 at separation. A single roughness element is used to produce isolated spots, defined such that separation collapse and re-establishment is completed before arrival of the next spot. On average the spot axial length, at the start of the interaction, is 2.5 times the separation length, growing to 6.8 times as the spot base passes the original reattachment position. As such the spot comprises a large perturbation. The local separation responds almost immediately with passage of the spot, so that the downstream region may be unaffected while the upstream part has already collapsed. Re-establishment of separation is slow, taking up to four times the total transit time of the spot. A basic model is presented to explore the transient wave processes during spot passage.

Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Perspective on the Response of Turbulent Pipe Flows to Strong Perturbations

Pipe flow responds to strong perturbations in ways that are fundamentally different from the response exhibited by boundary layers undergoing a similar perturbation, primarily because of the confinement offered by the pipe wall, and the need to satisfy continuity. We review such differences by examining previous literature, with a particular focus on the response of pipe flow to three different kinds of disturbances: the abrupt change in surface condition from rough to smooth, the obstruction due to presence of a single square bar roughness elements of different sizes, and the flow downstream of a streamlined body-of-revolution placed on the centerline of the pipe. In each case, the initial response is strongly influenced by the pipe geometry, but far downstream all three flows display a common feature, which is the very slow, second-order recovery that can be explained using a model based on the Reynolds stress equations. Some future directions for research are also given.

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Transition induced by streamwise arrays of roughness elements on a flat plate in Mach 3.5 flow.

The flow behind streamwise arrays of roughness elements was examined with a hot-wire probe. The roughness elements had heights of approximately 20% and 40% of the boundary layer thickness and different spacings and orientations of these roughness elements were tested. The circular roughness elements were spaced two diameters apart or four diameters apart from center to center. Transition moved upstream only when the roughness elements were spaced four diameters apart. The rectangular roughness elements were oriented so that they were at a 45-degree angle relative to the leading edge of the plate. Tandem rectangular elements either had the same orientation or opposing orientation. Mean mass-flux and total-temperature profiles of the flow field downstream of the roughness elements were examined for mean-flow distortion. Mass-flux fluctuation profiles showed that a 45-kHz odd-mode disturbance was present downstream of the shorter circular roughness elements. The dominant instability downstream of the taller circular roughness elements was a 65-85 kHz even-mode disturbance. Mass-flux fluctuation profiles showed that the dominant mode downstream of the tandem rectangular roughness elements with the same orientation was similar to that of a single roughness element and centered at a frequency of approximately 55 kHz. The 55-kHz instability appeared to correspond to increased spanwise shear, and thus was determined to be an odd-like mode. The dominant instability downstream of the tandem roughness elements with opposing orientation was centered at a frequency of 65 kHz and did not transition in the measurement region.

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Experimental Characterization of the Supersonic Transitional Wake Downstream of a Single Roughness Element

An experimental campaign was carried out to investigate the characteristics of the transitional supersonic wake downstream of a single roughness element. Two Mach numbers were tested, 1.6 and 2.3, and two roughness heights, 0.1 mm and 1 mm. Unsteady and steady wall temperature measurements were taken along and across the roughness wake. The spatial trends of adiabatic wall temperature and heat flux, and the spectral time evolution of temperature were documented in this paper. The initial wall temperature was varied during the temperature measurements, and the resulting steady and unsteady effects on the roughness wake were investigated. The streamwise trends of heat-flux and adiabatic-wall temperature confirmed the transitional nature of the roughness wake. Spectral analysis showed that roughness height and initial wall temperature had the same type of effect on the wake wall-temperature fluctuations. The effect of roughness height was more sensible at Mach 2.3, ant that of the initial wall temperature was more evident with the smallest roughness also tested at Mach 2.3.

Wind speed acceleration around a single low solid roughness in atmospheric boundary layer

Air flow around vegetation is crucial for particle transport (e.g., dust grains, seeds and pollens) in atmospheric boundary layer. However, wind acceleration around vegetation is still not well understood. In this work, air flow around a single low solid roughness element (representing a dense shrub patch or clump) in atmospheric boundary layer was numerically investigated, with emphasizing wind acceleration zone located at the two lateral sides. The maximum value of dimensionless horizontal wind speed as well as its location of occurrence and the geometrical morphology and area of wind acceleration zone were systematically studied. It reveals that they could alter significantly with the change of roughness basal shape. The maximum value of dimensionless resultant horizontal speed decreases monotonously with observation height, while the area of wind acceleration zone shows a non-linear response to observation height. The dependence of the maximum speed location on observation height is generally weak, but may vary with roughness basal shape. These findings could well explain the disagreement among previous field observations. We hope that these findings could be helpful to improve our understanding of aeolian transport in sparsely vegetated land in arid and semi-arid region, and wind dispersals of seeds and pollens from shrub vegetation.

Numerical and experimental investigation into hypersonic boundary layer transition induced by roughness elements

In this work, the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Oil-Film Interferometry (OFI) technique are used to investigate the hypersonic boundary layer transition induced by single and double roughness elements at Mach number 5. For single roughness, the DNS results showed that both horseshoe vortices and hairpin vortices caused by shear layer instability can affect the boundary layer instability. The generation of the near-wall unstable structure is the key point of boundary layer transition behind the roughness element. At the downstream of the roughness element, the interaction between horseshoe vortices and hairpin vortices will spread in the spanwise direction. For double roughness elements, the effect of the spacing between roughness elements on the transition is studied. It is found that the case of higher spacing between roughness elements is more effective for inducing transition than the lower one. The interaction between two adjacent roughness elements can suppress the evolution of horseshoe vortices in the downstream and trigger the instability of shear layer. Thus, the transition will be suppressed accordingly.

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Study on Oil-Film Interferometry Measurement Technique of Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition

Prediction of boundary layer transition is important for the design of hypersonic aircrafts. The study of boundary layer transition of hypersonic flow around a flat plate using oil-film interferometry was investigated at Φ500mm traditional hypersonic wind tunnel. In order to measure the skin friction fast and precisely on the hypersonic wind tunnel, the traditional oil-film interferometry technique is improved. A high-speed camera is used to capture the images of fringes and the viscosity of the silicon oil is modified according to the wall temperature measured by thermocouples during the test. The skin frictions of smooth surface and the surface with single square roughness element were measured. For the smooth surface, the boundary layer is laminar. However, the boundary layer transition is promoted by wake vortices induced by the roughness element. Both the results of skin friction with and without the roughness element are in good agreement with the simulation results correspondingly, indicating high accuracy of the oil film interferometry technique.

Numerical study of the influence of a single roughness element on development of disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer on a blunted cone

A supersonic (M∞=5.95) flow around a blunted cone with a cylindrically shaped single roughness element located in the bluntness region is considered. Numerical simulations are performed by means of solving the unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with a computational module that takes into account the action of external acoustic waves on the flow. Numerical data are obtained for the mean flow characteristics and evolution of disturbances formed in the wake behind the roughness element. It is shown that intense interaction of steady streamwise vortices occurs behind the single roughness element (Rekk=4880, k/δ=3.95) on the cone with a bluntness radius of 5mm. This interaction is accompanied by formation of three-dimensional finger-shaped structures in the azimuthal direction, which testifies to the initial stage of the laminar-turbulent transition.

Cross-flow-type breakdown induced by distributed roughness in the boundary layer of a hypersonic capsule configuration

Direct numerical simulations are undertaken to investigate the nature of instability mechanisms induced by singular and distributed roughnesses on a blunt-capsule configuration. On the base of a capsule-like hemispherical forebody at wind-tunnel conditions ($M=5.9$), we analyse the development of unsteady disturbances behind a patch of two different roughness geometries. First, spanwise periodic roughness elements are considered and cross-validation with other methods of the stability analysis is achieved. Two main unstable modes are found in the roughness wake, corresponding to the symmetric and antisymmetric modes already known for single roughness elements. Second, the case of a patch of (pseudo-)randomly distributed roughness is presented. A new type of roughness-induced cross-flow-like instability is observed for the blunt-capsule configuration. The rapid growth of primary and secondary instabilities in the cross-flow-type vortex is analysed and quantified in both the linear and nonlinear stages up to the laminar–turbulent breakdown. Spatio-temporal Fourier analysis is performed to track the onset of secondary instabilities, whereas laminar–turbulent transition is identified by the steep increase of the wall heat flux.

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Properties of Turbulence Wedge Generated by a Single Roughness Element under Favorable Pressure Gradient

Turbulization of the wake behind a single roughness element on a blunted body at a hypersonic Mach number

The influence of a cylinder-shaped single roughness element on the laminar–turbulent transition in the presence of an entropy layer is experimentally studied. The experiments are performed on a blunted cone model at the Mach number M = 5. The roughness element is located on the blunted tip of the model. Information about the mean and fluctuating parameters of the boundary layer in the wake behind the roughness element is obtained by using hot-wire anemometry. It is shown that flow turbulization behind the roughness elements occurs at the local Reynolds number calculated on the basis of the roughness element height and equal to 400–500. It is found that the presence of the roughness element exerts a significant effect on the unsteady characteristics of the boundary layer if the roughness element height is smaller than the effective value.

Interaction of instability waves and a three-dimensional roughness element in a boundary layer

The influence of a single roughness element on the evolution of two-dimensional (2-D) Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves is investigated experimentally. Experiments are carried out in a region of zero pressure gradient of an airfoil section. Downstream from the disturbance source, TS waves interact with a cylindrical roughness element with a slowly oscillating height. The oscillation frequency of the roughness was approximately 1500 times lower than the wave frequency and approximately 250 times slower than the characteristic time of flow passing the region of transition development. Therefore, the roughness behaved as a quasi-steady disturbance. The set-up enabled us to perform hot-wire measurements phase locked to the waves and to the roughness movement. Experimental results show a scattering of the 2-D waves into oblique ones and a relatively weak distortion of the mean flow for roughness heights as large as 0.2 times the boundary layer displacement thickness ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }$). Transfer functions for TS wave scattering at the roughness are obtained. Results show an unexpected coincidence in shape with acoustic receptivity functions found in Würz et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 478, 2003, pp. 135–163) for the problem of excitation of TS waves by scattering of acoustic waves at surface roughness. In the present work, the ratio between the incoming 2-D wave amplitude to the amplitude of the scattered oblique waves scaled linearly with the roughness height only for very shallow roughness. For roughness elements higher than $0.08\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }$ and below $0.2\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }$, the wave scattering exhibited a quadratic variation with respect to the roughness height. In addition, this feature did not vary significantly with respect to TS wave frequency. An analysis of the weakly nonlinear interactions triggered by the roughness element is also carried out, assisted by numerical solution of nonlinear parabolized stability equations, performed for a two-dimensional Blasius boundary layer. A comparison between experiments and simulations reveals that the weakly nonlinear interactions observed are not substantially affected by mean flow distortions that could be produced in the wake of the small and medium sized roughness elements ($h<0.2\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }$). From a practical perspective, results suggest that scattering coefficients might be employed to include the effect of isolated and medium sized roughness elements in transition prediction tools developed for smooth surfaces.

Turbulization of the Wake behind a Single Roughness Element on a Blunted Body at a Hypersonic Mach Number

Turbulization of the Wake behind a Single Roughness Element on a Blunted Body at a Hypersonic Mach Number

On the influence of a single roughness element on the flow in supersonic boundary layer on a blunted cone

The work presents the results of numerical modeling of a supersonic flow around a blunted cone with an isolated cylindrical roughness on the forebody surface in the three-dimensional formulation. The roughness element is shown to distort the mean flow and to give rise to small-amplitude disturbances with distinguished spectral peaks in the boundary layer.

Drag of a turbulent boundary layer with transverse 2D circular rods on the wall

In this paper, we present the results of a turbulent boundary layer developing over a rod-roughened wall with a spacing of \(\lambda /k = 8\) (\(\lambda\) is the spacing between two adjacent roughness elements, and \(k\) is the rod diameter). Static pressure measurements are taken around a single roughness element to accurately determine the friction velocity, \(U_\tau\) and the error in the origin, \(d_0\), which are the two prominent issues that surround rough-wall boundary layers. In addition, velocity measurements are taken at several streamwise locations using hot-wire anemometry to obtain \(C_\mathrm{f}\) from the momentum integral equation. Results showed that both methods give consistent values for \(U_\tau\), indicating that the contribution of the viscous drag over this rough wall is negligible. This supports the results of Perry et al. (J Fluid Mech 177:437–466, 1969) and Antonia and Luxton (J Fluid Mech 48(04):721–761, 1971) in a boundary layer and of Leonardi et al. (2003) in a channel flow but does not agree with those of Furuya et al. (J Fluids Eng 98(4):635–643, 1976). The results show that both \(U_{\tau }\) and \(d_0\) can be unambiguously measured on this particular rough wall. This paves the way for a proper comparison between the boundary layer developing over this wall and the smooth-wall turbulent boundary layer.