Numerical methods in Fluid Mechanics II

2. Turbulent flows

Prof. Marc Avila

http://www.avila.lstm.techfak.fau.de
 Exercise Sheet 1 (Curvilinear coordinates)
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You all have to solve it till the 8th of May
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On the 8th of May two groups (of two people) will
present the results using slides / blackboard
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Each person will present one Task (1.1 – 1.4)
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The two groups will hand in a report with the solution
of all the Tasks (1.1 -1.4)
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People interested in doing this, come to me at the end
of the class: if you don't do it now, you'll have to do it
later to collect the points (up to 100)
 Tomorrow: programming class
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OpenFOAM Tutorial II (already online in StudOn)
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The first programming Task (Deliverable Task I) will be
hand out. It has to be turned in on the 23rd of May:
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Every group (of two) has to send the report and code till then
to chennan0528@gmail.com
 Next Week
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1st of May is labor day and there is no class
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The class will take place on the 2nd of May at 10:15
(Lecture room T0.75) and there will be no
exercise/programming class
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Outline of the Lecture
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What is a turbulent flow?
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Examples
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From laminar to turbulent flows: transition
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Physics of turbulent flows:
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Energy cascade
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Vortex stretching

Recommended literature:
TURBULENT FLOWS, by S.B Pope
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Laminar and turbulent flows
Low velocity: laminar Large velocity: turbulent

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Most practical flows are turbulent
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Exception: microfluidics (low Reynolds number)
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Examples of turbulent flows

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Turbulent flows are disorganized in space and time
and feature motions at many scales
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Turbulent flows

Turbulence can be good efficient:

● Mixing
● Mass & momentum transfer

Turbulence can be bad expensive:

● Transport of fluids
● Drag: energy loss

● Vibration

● Noise generation
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Comparison: laminar vs turbulent flows
Laminar flow Turbulent flow

• Characterized by high degree of order • Characterized by chaotic behavior

• No irregularities (lamina=layers) • Irregular in time and space
● Coherent structures do occur

• Occurs at low Reynolds numbers • Occurs at large Reynolds numbers

• It may be 1/2/3D and un/steady
● Transport: mainly molecular diffusion
• Three-dimensional
• Intensive in mixing: strong momentum,
heat and mass exchange
• Molecular diffusion may be neglected
compared to turbulent diffusion
• Highly dissipative: conversion of
mechanical energy into heat

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But when precisely (e.g. what Re) will a flow become
turbulent? → Research: Hydrodynamic Stability
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The pioneer: Osborne Reynolds

Laminar

Turbulent

Transitional (movie)

Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London (1883)

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Reynolds observations
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Turbulence is found above a critical velocity
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The critical velocity is proportional to viscosity and the
inverse of the pipe diameter:

DU inertial forces
Re= ν =
viscous forces
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In a theoretical attempt to obtain the critical point,
Reynolds the now called Reynolds Averaged Navier-
Stokes equations (RANS)... but he couldn't
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Onset of turbulence: the critical point

Re c ≈2040

Science 333, 192 (2011)

Projects available for Masters and Bachelors Theses

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A turbulent flow: energy cascade

Richardson, `Weather prediction by numerical process',

Cambridge Univ. Press (1922):

Big whorls have little whorls,

Which feed on their velocity;
And little whorls have lesser whorls,
And so on to viscosity
(in the molecular sense).

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L : largest length scale of the flow
LU
Re= ν
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in a pipe L :=pipe diameter
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in the picture: L :=diameter of the island
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Energy cascade
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The geometry of our system will define the size L of
the largest vortices in the flow
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Because of the convection term energy will be
transferred to smallest scales in a cascade process
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End of the cascade: the mechanical energy of the
smallest eddies is dissipated into heat via viscosity
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Kolmogorov length
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Kolmogorov length: size of the smallest vortex in the
flow 1

( )
3
ν
η:= ϵ 4
ν :=kinematic viscosity [m2 / s]
ϵ:=disspation rate [m2 / s 3 ]

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We can also define Kolmogorov time and velocity:
1 1
τ η :=( ϵν ) ,
2
u η := ( ν ϵ ) 4
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Energy dissipation rate
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In the asymptotic limit of large Reynolds number, the
energy dissipation rate scales as
3
U
ϵ∼
L
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Thus we can find the following scalings:
3
η −
4
∼ Re
L
1
uη −
∼ Re 4
U 1
τη −
2
τ ∼ Re
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Kolmogorov's Hypothesis (1941)
At sufficiently high Reynolds number:
First similarity hypothesis
The statistics of the small-scale motions (l < lEI) are universal and
uniquely determined by the viscosity and dissipation rate.
“Universal equilibrium range”

Hypothesis of local isotropy

The small-scale turbulent motions (l < lEI) are statistically isotropic.

Second similarity hypothesis

The statistics of the motions of scale l in the range L>>lEI>l >lDI>> η
have a universal form determined uniquely by the dissipation rate.
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Kolmogorov's Hypothesis (1941)
Universal equilibrium range

(c) (b) (a)

Dissipation range Inertial range Energy-containing range

η l DI l EI L
Eddie sizes (on a logarithmic scale) at very high Reynolds number

(a) Energy is injected in the system

(b) Energy is transferred from large to small scales
(c) Energy is dissipated by the smallest scale eddies
Backscatter effect: energy is also transferred from small to large
scales (not in a net sense but locally in space and time)
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Characterization of the energy cascade
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Consider the cross-section of a pipe:
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Look at the radial velocity on a circle:
FFT ( U 2r )

Energy spectrum

Ur E (k )

θ k =2 π/ l
 20

5
−
3
E (k )∼k
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Summary of the energy cascade
1. Energy input at large scales: l ∈[l EI , L]

2. Energy transfer to smaller scales: l ∈[l DI , L EI ]

3. Energy dissipation at smallest scales: l ∈[ η , L DI ]

What about the physical mechanisms

of energy transfer? Vortex stretching
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Vorticity
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Vorticity is the rotational (curl) of the velocity field:
ωx
ω
( )
⃗ = ω y =∇ ×⃗u
ωz
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Interpretation: two-dimensional example

( )
0

( )
u( x , y , t)
0
⃗u = v ( x , y , t) ω
⃗=
∂ v ∂u
0 −
∂x ∂z

Blackboard
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Vortex Stretching
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Blackboard
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Summary of the lecture
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Predicting/defining at what Reynolds number a flow
will be turbulent is a very hard task
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Energy cascade:
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Energy input at large scales 3
η −
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Energy transfer to smaller scales ∼Re 4
L
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Energy dissipation at smallest scales
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Central mechanisms: vortex stretching and tilting
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Warning: Kolmogorov's theory assumes isotropy
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Simulation methods of turbulent flow
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Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS)
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Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)
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Large Eddie Simulations (LES)