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Three-dimensional structure of a low-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2004

CARL J. DELO
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-0710, USA Present address: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10025.
RICHARD M. KELSO
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-0710, USA Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
ALEXANDER J. SMITS
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-0710, USA
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Abstract

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A low-Reynolds-number zero-pressure-gradient incompressible turbulent boundary layer was investigated using a volumetric imaging technique. The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness was 700. The flow was tagged with a passive scalar from two spanwise dye slots to distinguish between fluid motions originating in the inner and outer portions of the boundary layer. The resulting volumetric scalar field was interrogated using a laser sheet scanner developed for this study. Two- and three-dimensional time-dependent visualizations of a 50 volume time series are presented (equivalent to 17$\delta$ in length). In the outer portion of the boundary layer, scalar structures were observed to lie along lines in the ($x$, $z$)-plane, inclined to the streamwise ($x$-)direction in the range $\pm 50^\circ$. The ejection of brightly dyed fluid packets from the near-wall region was observed to be spatially organized, and related to the passage of the large-scale scalar structures.

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press