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The late stages of transition to turbulence in channel flow

The late stages of transition to turbulence in channel flow
The late stages of transition to turbulence in channel flow
The late stages of transition, from the ?-vortex stage up to turbulence, are investigated by postprocessing data from a direct numerical simulation of the complete K-type transition process in plane channel flow at a Reynolds number of 5000 (based on channel half-width and laminar centreline velocity). The deterministic roll-up of the high-shear layer that forms around the ?-vortices is examined in detail. The new vortices arising from this process are visualized by plotting three-dimensional surfaces of constant pressure. Five vortices are observed, with one of these developing into a strong hairpin-shaped vortex. Interactions between the different vortices, and between the two channel halves, are found to be important. In the very last stage of transition second-generation shear layers are observed to form and roll up into new vortices. It is postulated that at this stage a sustainable mechanism of wall-bounded turbulence exists in an elementary form. The features which are locally present include high wall shear, sublayer streaks, ejections and sweeps. Large-scale energetic vortices are found to be an important part of the mechanism by which the turbulence spreads to other spanwise positions. The generality of the findings are discussed with reference to data from simulations of H-type and mixed-type transition
0022-1120
319-348
Sandham, N.D.
0024d8cd-c788-4811-a470-57934fbdcf97
Kleiser, L.
742a9433-48d2-47e6-a8ac-c46389803a39
Sandham, N.D.
0024d8cd-c788-4811-a470-57934fbdcf97
Kleiser, L.
742a9433-48d2-47e6-a8ac-c46389803a39

Sandham, N.D. and Kleiser, L. (1992) The late stages of transition to turbulence in channel flow. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 245, 319-348. (doi:10.1017/S002211209200048X).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The late stages of transition, from the ?-vortex stage up to turbulence, are investigated by postprocessing data from a direct numerical simulation of the complete K-type transition process in plane channel flow at a Reynolds number of 5000 (based on channel half-width and laminar centreline velocity). The deterministic roll-up of the high-shear layer that forms around the ?-vortices is examined in detail. The new vortices arising from this process are visualized by plotting three-dimensional surfaces of constant pressure. Five vortices are observed, with one of these developing into a strong hairpin-shaped vortex. Interactions between the different vortices, and between the two channel halves, are found to be important. In the very last stage of transition second-generation shear layers are observed to form and roll up into new vortices. It is postulated that at this stage a sustainable mechanism of wall-bounded turbulence exists in an elementary form. The features which are locally present include high wall shear, sublayer streaks, ejections and sweeps. Large-scale energetic vortices are found to be an important part of the mechanism by which the turbulence spreads to other spanwise positions. The generality of the findings are discussed with reference to data from simulations of H-type and mixed-type transition

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Published date: 1992

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 72046
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/72046
ISSN: 0022-1120
PURE UUID: 6ccd627c-06dd-4f45-ac23-d24c2d1c767d
ORCID for N.D. Sandham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5107-0944

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Date deposited: 18 Jan 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:42

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Contributors

Author: N.D. Sandham ORCID iD
Author: L. Kleiser

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