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Optimal disturbances and large-scale energetic motions in turbulent boundary layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2018

Timothy B. Davis Open the ORCID record for Timothy B. Davis [Opens in a new window] ,
Ali Uzun  and
Farrukh S. Alvi
Timothy B. Davis*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Ali Uzun
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Farrukh S. Alvi
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: tbdavis@fsu.edu
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Abstract

We examine disturbances leading to optimal energy growth in a spatially developing, zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer. The slow development of the turbulent mean flow in the streamwise direction is modelled through a parabolized formulation to enable a spatial marching procedure. In the present framework, conventional spatial optimal disturbances arise naturally as the homogeneous solution to the linearized equations subject to a turbulent forcing at particular wavenumber combinations. A wave-like decomposition for the disturbance is considered to incorporate both conventional stationary modes as well as propagating modes formed by non-zero frequency/streamwise wavenumber and representative of convective structures naturally observed in wall turbulence. The optimal streamwise wavenumber, which varies with the spatial development of the turbulent mean flow, is computed locally via an auxiliary optimization constraint. The present approach can then be considered, in part, as an extension of the resolvent-based analyses for slowly developing flows. Optimization results reveal highly amplified disturbances for both stationary and propagating modes. Stationary modes identify peak amplification of structures residing near the centre of the logarithmic layer of the turbulent mean flow. Inner-scaled disturbances reminiscent of near wall streaks, and amplified over short streamwise distances, are identified in the computed streamwise energy spectra. In all cases, however, propagating modes surpass their stationary counterpart in both energy amplification and relative contribution to total fluctuation energy. We identify two classes of large-scale energetic modes associated with the logarithmic and wake layers of the turbulent mean flow. The outer-scaled wake modes agree well with the large-scale motions that populate the wake layer. For high Reynolds numbers, the log modes increasingly dominate the energy spectra with the predicted streamwise and wall-normal scales in agreement with superstructures observed in turbulent boundary layers.

JFM classification

Boundary Layers: Boundary Layers Boundary Layers: Boundary layer stability Turbulent Flows: Turbulent boundary layers
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 860 , 10 February 2019 , pp. 40 - 80
Copyright
© 2018 Cambridge University Press 

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Footnotes

‡

Present address: National Institute of Aerospace, 100 Exploration Way, Hampton, VA 23666, USA

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