Boundary-layer disturbances subjected to free-stream turbulence and simulation on bypass transition

The phenomena associated with the entrainment of free-stream turbulence （FST） into boundary-layer flows are relevant for a number of subjects. It has been be- lieved that the continuous spectra of the Orr-Sommerfeld （O-S）/Squire equations describe the entrainment process, and thus they are used to specify the inlet condition in simulation of bypass transition. However, Dong and Wu （Dong, M. and Wu, X. On continuous spectra of the Orr-Sommerfeld/Squire equations and entrainment of free-stream vortical disturbances. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 732, 616-659 （2013）） pointed out that continuous spectra exhibit several non-physical features due to neglecting the non-parallelism. They further proposed a large-Reynolds-number asymptotic approach, and showed that the non-parallelism is a leading-order effect even for the short-wavelength disturbance, for which the response concentrates in the edge layer. In this paper, the asymptotic solution is verified numerically by studying its evolution in incompressible boundary layers. It is found that the numerical results can be accurately predicted by the asymptotic solution, implying that the latter is adequate for moderate Reynolds numbers. By introducing a series of such solutions as the inflow perturbations, the bypass transition is investigated via the direct numerical simulation （DNS）. The transition processes, including the evolution of streaks, the amplification of secondary-instability modes, and the emergence of turbulent spots, agree with the experimental observations.

A simulation on bypass transition and its key mechanism

The scenario of bypass transition is generally described theoretically as follows: low-frequency disturbances in the free-stream would generate long stream-wise streaks in the boundary layer, which later would induce secondary instability, leading to rapid increase of high-frequency disturbances, then possibly turbulent spots would emerge, and through their merging, fully developed turbulence appears. This description, however, is insufficient in the sense that it does not provide the explanation on why during the breakdown stage, a large number of waves with different frequencies and wave numbers would appear almost simultaneously, leading to a swift change of the mean flow profile. In this paper, the mechanism leading to this phenomenon is found to be the change of the stability characteristics of mean flow profile, which has a positive feedback effect on the change of the profile itself. And another interesting finding is that, during the transition, the unstable disturbance waves which appear first belong to a branch of inviscid modes, while following the change of the stability characteristics of the mean flow profile, the disturbance waves will change to another branch of inviscid modes, and the latter play the key role in bypass transition.

Experimental investigation on coherent structures at early stage of boundary layer bypass transition induced by wake impingement

The early stage of a boundary layer bypass transition induced by the direct impingement of a circular cylinder wake is experimentally investigated in water tunnel,with the primary interest in both the evolution of coherent structures and their effects on the disturbance growth inside the boundary layer.It is found that spanwise vortices with small scale first form in the near-wall region around the leading-edge,which are either the residual of the wake rollers cut by the leading-edge or the high-order structures induced by the wake rollers.The formation of these spanwise vortices leads to the first rapid disturbance growth inside the boundary layer.On the other hand,streamwise vortices,which result from the impingement of longitudinal braids onto the leading-edge,are also observed inside the boundary layer.They lead to the three dimensional destabilization and the subsequent dispersion of spanwise vortices,and soon become the most dominant coherent structures inside the transitional boundary layer.It is suggested that the formation and evolution of these streamwise vortices contribute to the secondary disturbance growth stage and thus promote the completion of the transition process.The difference between the present transition scenario triggered by direct wake impingement and that by indirect wake-vortex inducement is further discussed.

A Four-Equation Eddy-Viscosity Approach for Modeling Bypass Transition

It is very important to predict the bypass transition in the simulation of flows through turbomachinery.This paper presents a four-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence transition model for prediction of bypass transition.It is based on the SST turbulence model and the laminar kinetic energy concept.A transport equation for the non-turbulent viscosity is proposed to predict the development of the laminar kinetic energy in the pre-transitional boundary layer flow which has been observed in experiments.The turbulence breakdown process is then captured with an intermittency transport equation in the transitional region.The performance of this new transition model is validated through the experimental cases of T3AM,T3A and T3B.Results in this paper show that the new transition model can reach good agreement in predicting bypass transition,and is compatible with modern CFD software by using local variables.

Effects of Freestream Turbulence on Bypass Transition of Separated Boundary Layer on Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoils

This paper presents experimental studies on bypass transition of separated boundary layer on low-pressure turbine airfoils,focusing on the effects of freestream turbulence on the transition process.Hot-wire probe measurements are performed on the suction side of an airfoil in the low-pressure linear turbine cascade at several Reynolds number conditions.Freestream turbulence is enhanced by use of turbulence grid located upstream of the cascade.The results of this experimental study show that the location of boundary layer separation does not strongly de-pend on the freestream turbulence level.However,as the freestream turbulence level increases,the size of separa-tion bubble becomes small and the location of turbulent transition moves upstream.The size of separation bubble becomes small as the Reynolds number increases.At low freestream turbulence intensity,the velocity fluctuation due to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is observed clearly in the shear layer of the separation bubble.At high frees-tream turbulence intensity,the streak structures appear upstream of the separation location,indicating bypass transition of attached boundary layer occurs at high Reynolds number.

Entropy generation in bypass transitional boundary layer flows

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of using computational fluid dynamics （CFD） turbulence models to predict entropy generation rates in bypass transitional boundary layers flows under zero and adverse pressure gradients. Entropy generation rates in such flows are evaluated employing the commercial CFD software, ANSYS FLUENT. Various turbulence and transitional models are assessed by comparing their results with the direct numerical simulation （DNS） data and two recent CFD studies. A solution verification study is conducted on three systematically refined meshes. The factor of safety method is used to estimate the numerical error and grid uncertainties. Monotonic convergence is achieved for all simulations. The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness, Reo, skin-friction coefficient, Cf, approximate entropy generation rates, S, dissipation coefficient, Cd , and the intermittency, y, are calculated for bypass transition simulations. All Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） turbulence and transitional models show improvement over previous CFD results in predicting onset of transition. The transition SST k - ω 4 equation model shows closest agreement with DNS data for all flow conditions in this study due to a much finer grid and more accurate inlet boundary conditions. The other RANS models predict an early onset of transition and higher boundary layer entropy generation rates than the DNS shows.

On bypass transition in separation bubbles:a review

Transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow is of great practical interest as it occurs in many engineering flows and often plays a critical role in aerodynamics and heat transfer performance of those flow devices.There could be many routes through transition,depending on flow configuration,geometry and the way in which transition is initiated by a wide range of possible background disturbances such as free-stream turbulence,pressure gradient,acoustic noise,wall roughness and obstructions,periodic unsteady disturbance and so on.This paper presents a brief overview of wall bounded flow transition in general and focuses more on the transition process in the free shear layer of separation bubbles,demonstrating that at elevated free-stream turbulent intensity the so called bypass transition could occur in geometrically induced separation bubbles where the separation point is fixed.