Experimental realisation of near-equilibrium adverse-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers

• A new experimental database of adverse-pressure-gradient (APG) turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) obtained through hot-wire anemometry and oil-film interferometry covering a momentum–loss Reynolds number 450<Reθ<23450 and Clauser pressure-gradient-parameter range up to β≈2.4 is presented. Both increasing and approximately constant β distributions with the same upstream history are characterised. Turbulence statistics are compared among the different pressure-gradient distributions with additional numerical and experimental zero-pressure-gradient (ZPG) TBL data. Cases at approximately constant β, which can be considered as canonical representations of the boundary layer under a certain pressure-gradient magnitude, exhibit skin-friction and shape-factor curves consistent with the ones proposed by Vinuesa et al. (2017). These curves show a similar scaling behaviour as those proposed by Nagib et al. (2007) for ZPG TBLs. The pre-multiplied power-spectral density is employed to study the differences in the large-scale energy content throughout the boundary layer. Two different large-scale phenomena are identified, the first one related to the pressure gradient and the second one (also present in high-Re ZPG TBLs) due to the Reynolds number. Recently proposed scaling laws by Kitsios et al. (2016) and Maciel et al. (2018) are tested over a wider Reynolds-number range and for different β cases. The mean velocity and streamwise velocity fluctuation profiles are found to be dependent on the upstream development. The mean velocity profile is found to be self-similar only in the outer region, in agreement with classical theory. The mean and higher-order statistics of the new APG TBL database are made available under www.flow.kth.se.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Strömningsmekanik och akustik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Pressure gradient flows

Turbulent boundary layer

Turbulent flows

Boundary layer flow

Boundary layers

Higher order statistics

Pressure gradient

Reynolds number

Spectral density

Turbulence

Turbulent flow

Adverse pressure gradient

Canonical representations

Mean velocity profiles

Oil film interferometries

Pressure-gradient parameters

Stream-wise velocities

Turbulent boundary layers

Zero pressure gradient

Atmospheric thermodynamics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)