Streamwise-varying steady transpiration control in turbulent pipe flow

Francisco Gómez, H. M. Blackburn, M. Rudman, A. S. Sharma, B. J. McKeon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of streamwise-varying steady transpiration on turbulent pipe flow is examined using direct numerical simulation at fixed friction Reynolds number Reτ = 314. The streamwise momentum equation reveals three physical mechanisms caused by transpiration acting in the flow: modification of Reynolds shear stress,steady streaming and generation of non-zero mean streamwise gradients. The influence of these mechanisms has been examined by means of a parameter sweep involving transpiration amplitude and wavelength. The observed trends have permitted identification of wall transpiration configurations able to reduce or increase the overall flow rate −36.1 % and 19.3%, respectively. Energetics associated with these modifications are presented. A novel resolvent formulation has been developed to investigate the dynamics of pipe flows with a constant cross-section but with time-mean spatial periodicity induced by changes in boundary conditions. This formulation, based on a triple decomposition, paves the way for understanding turbulence in such flows using only the mean velocity profile. Resolvent analysis based on the time-mean flow and dynamic mode decomposition based on simulation data snapshots have both been used to obtain a description of the reorganization of the flow structures caused by the transpiration. We show that the pipe flows dynamics are dominated by a critical-layer mechanism and the waviness induced in the flow structures plays a role on the streamwise momentum balance by generating additional terms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)588-616
Number of pages29
JournalJournal of Fluid Mechanics
Volume796
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2016

Keywords

  • Drag reduction
  • Flow control
  • Turbulent flows

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