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Conditional sampling of transitional boundary layers in pressure gradients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2013

Kevin P. Nolan  and
Tamer A. Zaki
Kevin P. Nolan
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Tamer A. Zaki*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: t.zaki@imperial.ac.uk
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Abstract

Statistical analysis of transitional boundary layers in pressure gradients is performed using the flow fields from direct numerical simulations of bypass transition. Laminar–turbulent discrimination separates the streaky laminar flow from turbulent regions. Individual streaks are identified and tracked in the flow field in order to obtain statistics of the amplitude of the streak population. An extreme value model is proposed for the distribution of streak amplitudes. It is also possible to differentiate those streaks which break down into turbulent spots from innocuous events. It is shown that turbulence onset is due to high-amplitude streaks, with streamwise perturbation velocity exceeding 20 % of the free stream speed. The resulting turbulent spots are tracked downstream. The current analysis allows for the measurement of the lateral spreading angles of individual spots and their spatial extent and volumes. It is demonstrated that the volumetric growth rate of turbulent spots is insensitive to pressure gradient.

JFM classification

Boundary Layers: Boundary Layers Instability: Instability Instability: Transition to turbulence
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 728 , 10 August 2013 , pp. 306 - 339
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press 

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