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At least 19 records

Experiment on convex curvature effects in turbulent boundary layers.

Turbulent boundary layers along a convex surface of varying curvature were investigated in a specially designed boundary-layer tunnel. A fairly complete set of turbulence measurements was obtained. The effect of curvature is striking. For example, along a convex wall the Reynolds stress is decreased near the wall and vanishes about midway between the wall and the edge of a boundary layer where there exists a velocity profile gradient created upstream of the curved wall.

So, R. M. C.↗

Mechanisms leading to net drag reduction in manipulated turbulent boundary layers

Turbulent boundary layers have been manipulated successfully using passive devices called BLADES (boundary-layer alteration devices) leading to net drag reduction. Measurements of various turbulence quantities including intermittency have led to the identification of some of the mechanisms involved in skin-friction reduction. Velocity and vorticity fluctuations associated with oncoming large scales are inhibited significantly by the manipulator blades and the vorticity shed in their wake. The manipulated boundary layers exhibit a reduced intermittency in the outer part of the layer. The effects of manipulation relax with downstream distance and the boundary layer returns toward normal conditions after 100 or 150 boundary-layer thicknesses.

Guezennec, Y. G.↗

Application of a general boundary layer analysis to turbulent boundary layers subjected to strong favorable pressure gradients

Theoretical predictions of turbulent boundary layer development under the influence of strong favorable pressure gradients made using a finite-difference calculation procedure are compared to experimental data. Comparisons are presented for low speed flows with and without wall heat transfer as well as for supersonic flows with adiabatic walls. The turbulence model used is governed by an integral form of the turbulence kinetic energy equation and the results are compared with predictions made using a conventional equilibrium turbulence model based upon Prandtl's mixing length, a Clauser-type eddy viscosity model used by Cebecci and Mosinskis, and a two-equation turbulence energy model of Launder and Jones.

Kreskovsky, J. P.↗

Excitation of a Helmholtz resonator by a turbulent boundary layer

A turbulent boundary layer on the fuselage of a glider is used to excite a Helmholtz resonator whose openings are comparable in size to the turbulent eddies in the boundary layer. The resonator was excited at both the Helmholtz frequency and a standing wave frequency. The level of the resonator response and the response frequency are the major results. A shift in the response frequency, compared to acoustic excitation, indicates an interaction of turbulent and acoustic motions and a modification of the orifice end correction. A strong excitation phenomenon occurs when the resonator and boundary layer are tuned, in which case turbulent eddies of about the orifice diameter in size flow past the orifice and impose a frequency equal to one of the resonant frequencies of the resonator.

Panton, R. L.↗

Excitation of a Helmholtz resonator by a turbulent boundary layer

A turbulent boundary layer on the fuselage of a glider was used to excite a Helmholtz resonator. The resonator orifice was flush with the surface and smaller than the boundary layer thickness. Resonator frequencies were chosen so they would tune with different portions of the boundary layer wall pressure spectrum. The resonators were excited at both the Helmholtz frequency and a standing wave frequency. The results show a shift in the Helmholtz frequency when the boundary layer is present. This shift indicates the degree to which the turbulence interacts with the acoustic motion in the orifice and modifies the end correction. Four of the nine resonators tested were 'strongly' excited and radiated considerable acoustic sound. This phenomenon occurs when turbulent eddies about the size of the orifice are convected past the orifice with the proper velocity to impose a frequency that matches a resonant frequency of the resonator. Turbulent eddies which are either smaller or larger than the orifice will not produce strong excitation.

Panton, R. L.↗

Experimental and theoretical investigation of three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers and turbulence characteristics inside an axial flow inducer passage

Analytical and experimental investigations of the characteristics of three dimensional turbulent boundary layers in a rotating helical passage of an inducer rotor are reported. Expressions are developed for the velocity profiles in the inner layer, where the viscous effects dominate, in the outer layer, where the viscous effects are small, and in the interference layer, where the end walls influence the flow. The prediction of boundary layer growth is based on the momentum integral technique. The equations derived are general enough to be valid for all turbomachinery rotors with arbitrary pressure gradients. The experimental investigations are carried out in a flat plate inducer 3 feet in diameter. The mean velocity profiles, turbulence intensities and shear stresses, wall shear stress, and limiting streamline angles are measured at various radial and chordwise locations by using rotating probes. The measurements are in general agreement with the predictions. The radial flows are well represented by an expression which includes the effect of stagger angle and radial pressure gradient. The radial flows in the rotor channel are higher than those on a single blade. The collateral region exists only very near the blade surface. The radial component of turbulence intensity is higher than the streamwise component because of the effect of rotation.

Anand, A. K.↗

An experimental study of three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer and turbulence characteristics inside a turbomachinery rotor passage

Three-dimensional boundary layer and turbulence measurements of flow inside a rotating helical channel of a turbomachinery rotor are described. The rotor is a four-bladed axial flow inducer operated at large axial pressure gradient. The mean velocity profiles, turbulence intensities and shear stresses, and limiting stream-line angles are measured at various radial and chordwise locations, using rotating triaxial hot-wire and conventional probes. The radial flows in the rotor channel are found to be higher compared to those at zero or small axial pressure gradient. The radial component of turbulence intensity is found to be higher than the streamwise component due to the effect of rotation. Flow near the annulus wall is found to be highly complex due to the interaction of the blade boundary layers and the annulus wall resulting in an appreciable radial inward flow, and a large defect in the mainstream velocity. Increased level of turbulence intensity and shear stresses near the midpassage are also observed near this radial location.

Anand, A. K.↗

STC-SAB program users manual for the turbulent boundary layer and turbulent separation prediction methods employed in the NASA Langley streamtube curvature computer program

The streamtube curvature program (STC) has been developed to predict the inviscid flow field and the pressure distribution about nacelles at transonic speeds. The effects of boundary layer are to displace the inviscid flow and effectively change the body shape. Thus, the body shape must be corrected by the displacement thickness in order to calculate the correct pressure distribution. This report describes the coupling of the Stratford and Beavers boundary layer solution with the inviscid STC analysis so that all nacelle pressure forces, friction drag, and incipient separation may be predicted. The usage of the coupled STC-SAB computer program is outlined and the program input and output are defined. Included in this manual are descriptions of the principal boundary layer tables and other revisions to the STC program. The use of the viscous option is controlled by the engineer during program input definition.

Ferguson, D. R.↗

Modeling of Sound Transmission through Shell Structures with Turbulent Boundary Layer Excitation

The turbulent boundary layer (TBL) pressure field is an important source of cabin noise during cruise of high subsonic and supersonic commercial aircraft. The broadband character of this excitation field results in an interior noise spectrum that dominates the overall sound pressure level (SPL) and speech interference metrics in the forward and midcabins of many aircraft. In the authors' previous study, sound transmission through an aircraft fuselage, modeled by two concentric cylindrical sandwich shells and excited by a TBL statistical model was investigated analytically. An assessment of point and global structural vibration levels and resulting interior noise levels was obtained for different TBL models, flight conditions and fuselage structural designs. However, due to the complication of the shell structure, the important noise transmission mechanisms were difficult to discern. Previous experience has demonstrated that a fundamental understanding of the range of modes (or wavenumbers) generated by the TBL source both in the structure and the acoustic cavity is key to the development of both active and passive control technologies. In an initial effort to provide this insight, the objective of this paper is to develop an analytical model of sound transmission through a simple unstiffened cylindrical aluminum shell excited by a TBL pressure field. The description of the turbulent pressure field is based on the Corcos formulation for the cross-spectral density (CSD) of the pressure fluctuations. The coupled shell and interior and exterior acoustic equations are solved for the structural displacement and the interior acoustic response using a Galerkin approach to obtain analytical solutions. Specifically, this study compares the real part of the normalized CSD of the TBL excitation field, the structural displacement and the interior acoustic field. Further the modal compositions of the structural and cavity response are examined and some inference of the dominant mechanism of noise transmission is made.

Tang, Yvette Y.↗

Pressure field due to drag reducing outer layer devices in turbulent boundary layers

The wall static pressure in the vicinity of drag reducing outer layer devices in flat wall turbulent boundary layers has been measured and compared with an inviscid theory. Symmetric and cambered airfoil devices have been examined at small angles of attack and very low chord Reynolds numbers. Airfoil devices impose a sequence of strong favorable and adverse pressure gradients on the boundary layer whose drag is to be reduced. At very small angles of attack (+ or - 2 deg), this pressure field extends up to about three chord lengths downstream of the trailing edge of an airfoil device. Also examined are the pressures on the upper and lower surfaces of a symmetric airfoil device in the freestream and near the wall. The freestream pressure distribution around an airfoil section is altered by the wall proximity. The relevance of lift enhancement caused by wall proximity to drag reduction has been discussed. The pressure distributions on the flat wall beneath the symmetric airfoil devices are predicted well by the inviscid theory. However, the remaining pressure distributions are predicted only qualitatively, presumably because of strong viscous effects.

Bandyopadhyay, P. R.↗

Compressible Turbulent Boundary Layers

Compressibility of turbulent boundary layers - skin friction, heat transfer, flow velocity, temperature distribution, pressure gradients, and aerodynamic drag prediction methods

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