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Assessed work for ES912: Turbulent Flows: Term 2, 2007

Also: Example problems for ES441


Week 1
1) This uses mixing length theory and the statistical theory of turbulence to be considered next week.
A certain amount of hot uid of characteristic size is released in a turbulent ow with characteristic velocity u and characteristic
length .
Assume << << , where is the Kolmogorov length scale.
The temperature of the patch is higher than the ambient temperature, but the density dierence and the eects of buoyancy may be
neglected.
Justify using as the length scale in an eddy diusivity rather than or .
Now choose the velocity that is needed to form an eddy diusivity.
Hint: The velocity scale is the velocity scale for that length scale in the Kolmogorov prediction for the 2nd order structure
function, that is u
2
r
2/3
.
Estimate:
The rate of spreading of the patch of hot uid and
the rate at which the maximum temperature dierence decreases.
Answer:

T
u (
1/3

1/3
) =
1/3

4/3
so,
d
2
/dt
T

1/3
(
2
)
2/3
whichgives (
2
)
1/3

1/3
or
2
t
3
.
This is known as Richardsons t
3
law of turbulent dispersion.
1
2) A very long, heated cylinder (diameter 1mm) is placed perpendicular to a steady airstream whose velocity is 10 m/sec. (i.e. a hot-wire
for an anemometer.)
The cylinder is heated electrically at 100 watts/meter.
Assume that the distribution of the mean temperature dierence in the wake is similar to the distribution of the mean velocity defect.
For air at room temperature and pressure, = 1.25kg/m
3
, c
p
= 10
3
joule/kg

C.
Hints:
The dimension of the heating is joules/sec/meter.
The dimension of the heat ux through position x is (c
p
)T times the velocity times the integrated prole in y, which will have
a dimension of length.
The dimensions of the heating and the dimensions of this heat ux are the same.
Choose as the width of the wake at the cylinder x = x
0
= .001 to be the diameter of the cylinder (
0
=1mm),
In a later lecture you will learn that the characteristic length scale of a cylindrical wake goes as =
0
(x/x
0
)
1/2
.
Neglecting the detailed factors in front of the scaling, from this you can know that T
s
= T
0
(x/x
0
)
1/2
.
First estimate the temperature on the wire.
At what distance downstream (x x
0
) is the rms temperature uctuation in the wake of the cylinder reduced to 1

C?
Give a better estimate for x
0
by assuming that = 0.25(x/)
1/2
and
0
=1mm .
Answer: At the cylinder the
heat ux = 100w/m = c

T
0
U
0

0
= 1.25 10
3
T
0
10 10
3
giving T
0
= 8

C
To get this down to 1

C due to the square roots requires going x 8


2
x
0
=64mm=6.4cm.
This could be rened with a better estimate for x
0
from the scaling for in a wake. = 0.5mm, then x
0
= 1/(0.25
2
) = 32mm, so
we need to go to x = 64 32 32 2000mm=2m.
2
Week 2
1) For a wake prole U(y) = U
0
U
s
f(y/) obeying the equation
U
0
U
x
+

y
(uv) = 0 with
uv
y
=

y
_

y
U
_
=
U
2
s
R
T

(1)
where
U
x
=
dU
s
dx
f +
U
s

d
dx
f

The similarity equation reduces to:


(f

+ f) + f

= 0 whose solution is f = e

2

2
(2)
Dene:
U
s
= U
0
C
U
(x/)
1/2
= Ax
1/2
and = C

(x/)
1/2
= Bx
1/2
A = U
0
C
U

1/2
B = C

1/2
Use
_

exp(
1
2

2
)d = (2)
1/2
Show how to derive (2) from (1) and how depends upon U
s
, and R
T
.
It is possible to derive C
U
and C

in terms of R
T
given constraints upon and the momentum integral. What is the constraint
upon and how does the momentum integral change with the dimensionality of the object?
MSc only: Get C
U
and C

in terms of R
T
.
MSc only: Given R
T
= 12.5, what are the numerical values of C
U
and C

?
Answer:
U
0
(
dU
s
dx
f +
U
s

d
dx
f

)
U
2
s
R
T

=
U
2
s

_
U
0
_

U
2
s
dU
s
dx
_
f + U
0
_
1
U
s
d
dx
_
f

+
1
R
T
f

_
(3)
Use
_


U
2
s
dU
s
dx
_
=
B
2A
and
_
1
U
s
d
dx
_
=
B
2A
to get from inside the brackets
U
0
B
2A
f + U
0
B
2A
f

+
1
R
T
f

which gives
(f

+ f) + f

= 0 with =
U
0
R
T
B
2A
=
R
T
C

2C
u
To get C
U
and C

in terms of R
T
we need two conditions. First set = 1 =
1
2
R
T
U
0
B/A.
The second condition comes from the momentum integral, which is U
0
U
s

fd = U
2
0
.
3
Using U
s
= Ax
1/2
, = Bx
1/2
and
_
fd above, one nds that
AB(2)
1/2
= U
0

This gives (A/U


0
) = (2)
1/2
(/B). Substitute in the equation for to get 2/R
T
= (2)
1/2
B
2
, which gives B = [2/(R
T
(2)
1/2
]
1/2

1/2
.
For R
T
= 12.5 and (2)
1/2
2.5, 2/(R
T
(2)
1/2
1/1.25
2
(10) then
B 1/1.25

10 1/4 = 0.25 so C

0.25
. Substitute this in the equation = 1 to get C
U
:
A = U
0
(2)
1/2
/B = U
0

1/2
(4/

2
1/2
) 1.58
1/2
so C
U
1.58
2) Experiments show that for an axisymmetric wake R
T
= 14.1. In that case we still need:


U
2
s
dU
s
dx
=
1
U
s
d
dx
But the momentum integral is cylindrical:
U
0
U
s

2
_

f()(2)d = U
2
0

Example problem: if (1/U


s
)(d/dx) =constant and U
s

2
=constant, how will U
s
and depend on x
1
?
Answer: Assume U
s
= Ax
a
, = Bx
b
. The similarity requirements yield the same result as before:
U
1
s
d/dx x
a
x
b1
constant or a + b = 1 .
The momentum integral constraint gives
U
x

2
constant or a + 2b = 0 .
Using a = 2b in the rst equation one gets
3b = 1 or b = 1/3 and a = 2/3 giving U
s
= Ax
2/3
= Bx
1/3
and the Reynolds number
R

= U
s
/ x
2/3
x
1/3
= x
1/3
so the Reynolds number decreases downstream.
4
Week 3
1) Take as the prole of a plane wake U
1
= U
s
f() = U
s
exp(
1
2

2
) where = y/.
(a) For what
m
is |uv| greatest? What are the values of
m
and f(
m
)?
Answer: |uv| will be largest where U
1
/y is largest, or where
2
f/
2
= 0.

2
exp(
1
2

2
) =

exp(
1
2

2
) = (
2
1) exp(
1
2

2
) = 0
at || = 1 and f(1) = exp(.5) = .606
(b) In a shear ow, the maximum Reynolds stress is |uv| 0.4 u
2
, where u is a typical value for uctuations of u in the wake and
is relatively constant out to = 1.5. Assume that u
2
= v
2
= w
2
. Recall that in similarity theory
T
= U
s
/R
T
and for a plane
wake R
T
= 12.5.
What is typical value of
1
2
q
2
,the turbulent kinetic energy in terms of uv? MSc only: In terms of U
2
s
?
Answer: In terms of uv:
1
2
q
2
=
3
2
u
2
=
3
2 0.4
uv = 3.75uv
We now need to relate this to the maximum of uv in terms of U
s
and . and the maximum of U
1
/y = U
s
/e
0.5
, so the
maximum of
uv =
T
(U
1
/y) =
U
2
s
R
T
max(f

) =
U
2
s
12.5
e
0.5

.606
12.5
0.05U
2
s
giving
1
2
q
2
= 3.75x0.05U
2
s
0.2U
2
s
5
2) The turbulent kinetic energy budget is
0 = U
0

x
(
1
2
q
2
) uv
U
y


y
v
_
1
2
q
2
+
P

(a) Dene the terms. Answer: In order: Advection, production, transport, dissipation
MSc only: (UG would be given these proles on the exam)
Assume for a wake with the prole above that the advection term=0.7(1 (
4
7
)
2

2
) exp(
2
7

2
)
and transport = (1 + (
2
3
+
6
7

2
) exp(
2
)) advection
(b) Sketch the Reynolds stress and production of turbulent kinetic energy.
Answer: Answer to production: The production uv
U
y
is taken to be
T
(
f

)
2
, where f and are dened in problem 2-1:
= y/ and f() = e
0.5
2
.
(c) Sketch the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, .
Answer: Now that the production is known, and the advection and transport are given, by nding the residual of these terms
in the kinetic energy budget equation, the dissipation can be found.
6
(d) Explain where the positive part of the advection term comes from and where the negative part is going to. The answer should
include a discussion of the role of transport in balancing these terms.
Answer: The positive part comes from the energy advected from upstream that does not get advected further downstream in
the middle. It is either dissipated or transported to wings. The negative part is energy that has been transported to the wings
and is then advected downstream.
3) Consider the prole of an axisymmetric wake. MSc: Use f() = (1 +
2
) exp(
3
2

2
). UG: Sketch will be given.
(a) Sketch the Reynolds stress as a function of = r/(x).
(b) Then sketch the production of turbulent kinetic energy.
You need to identify where the maxima are. (Dont worry about the equation I gave for the Laplacian
2
x
+
2
y
in a cylindrical
geometry. It has nothing to do with maxima).
Answer: You should know that an estimate of the Reynolds stress is f/ and sketch the 1st derivative of f.
That is, f/ = 0 at = 0 and as , and the derivative is largest near 1.
Then to get the prole of the production, you just need to square the derivative: (f/)
2
.
Answer: f/ = (1+2
2
) exp(1.5
2
),
2
f/
2
= (1+3
2
6
4
) exp(1.5
2
) which as a zero at
2
= (3

9 + 24)/(12) = 0.73
7
Week 4
1) In direct numerical simulations, one typically wants the mesh size to be equal to the Kolmogorov scale.
Consider a simulation in a (2)
3
box with 128 mesh points in each direction.
Assume that the large-scale velocity U 10 and the dissipation rate goes as U
3
/L, where L is the size of the periodic domain.
(a) What should the viscosity be so that the Kolmogorov microscale equals the mesh size?
Answer: 10
3
/(2) = 159. x = 2/128 = 0.05, = (x
4
)
1/3
= (159 0.05
4
)
1/3
= 0.1
(b) For this , what is the Taylor microscale and the Taylor microscale Reynolds number U/?
Answer:
=
U
(/15)
1/2
=
10
(159/(15 0.1))
1/2
=
_
150
159
_
1/2
= 0.97 (small compared to L = 2 = 6.28) .
The Taylor microscale Reynolds number is R

=
U

=
10(0.97)
0.1
= 97, typical for 128
3
simulations.
2) The 2nd order longitudinal structure function has 3 regimes: Ar
2
, 0.5
2/3
r
2/3
, where = u
3
0
/L and S
11
(r) 2u
2
0
.
(a) Assume the rst two regimes match at r = , what is A?
Answer: A
2
= 0.5
2/3

2/3
, giving A = 0.5
2/3

4/3
= 0.5
2/3
(
1/3
/) = 0.5/
(b) Find the r where the 2nd and 3rd regimes match.
Answer: 0.5
2/3
r
2/3
= 0.5u
2
0
(r/L)
2/3
= 2u
2
0
or r/L = 8
(c) Sketch S
11
(r) for u
0
= 6, L = 21.6, = 0.006. Giving = 0.012.
(d) MSc only: The 2nd order correlation function at large r is R
11
(r) = 2u
2
0
exp(r/L). How are the 2nd-order correlation and
structure functions related? Answer: R
11
(r) =< u(x + r)u(x) > and
S
11
(r) =< (u(x + r) u(x))
2
>=< (u(x + r))
2
> 2 < u(x + r)u(x) > + < (u(x))
2
>= 2u
2
0
2R
11
(r)
Since R
11
(r) 0 as r , S
11
(r) 2u
2
0
as r .
8
3) Assume that the volume occupied by small-scale vortex tubes is determined by:
A radius the order of the Kolmogorov scale .
A length the order of the Taylor microscale .
And the dissipation scales as U
3
/L where U and L are the large velocity and length scales.
(a) What percentage of the total volume is this in terms of the large-scale Reynolds number?
Answer: Volume of tubes will be
[(
3
/)
1/4
]
2
[E//]
1/2
U
2
/ U
2
/(U
3
/L)
2
L/U
2
.
(b) MSc only: If the dissipation were contained only within and around vortex tubes, what would have to be a typical value of the
strain in these regions?
Answer: Compared to the total volume L
3
then the percentage is
2
/(L
2
U
2
) Re
2
.
(c) MSc only: Explain why this makes it implausible that dissipation is concentrated solely around the most intense vortex tubes.
Answer: If dissipation is only near tubes then
tubes
%V ol = . Therefore
tubes
Re
2
. But the small-scale velocity u is order
of u ()
1/4
so we would expect
tubes
(u/)
2
()
1/2
/(/
3
)
1/2
. Therefore the dissipation must be more spread out.
4) MSc only: Consider two point vortices rotating around each other. One has strength
1
= 4 and the other
2
= 1. Sketch their
motion. Hint: They will rotate about a common center of vorticity that is closer to the stronger vortex.
Answer: If the center of vorticity is at (0,0), then if r
1
= 1 then r
4
= 4. That is v(0, 0) =

1
1


4
4
=
4
4

1
1
= 0
9
Week 5
1) Consider the steady k-equation in a homogeneous log-layer.
k equation :
k
t
+

U

k

x
i
_

k
k
x
i
_
= where
T
= C

k
2

wher the Law of the Wall is: U


x
= u

(
1

log y
+
+ a)
The objective is to show that in the log-layer: k and obey: k
u
2

C
1/2


u
3

y
=
u
4

y
+
a) Which terms in the k-equation are zero? Use the assumption that a common assumption is that the kinetic energy k and the
Reynolds stress are proportional and that in the log-layer the Reynolds stress is constant
Answer: In steady-state the time derivative will be zero and if the boundary layer is homogeneous in x, then the downstream
advection will be zero (second term on the left). Because the Reynolds stress is nearly constant and the turbulent kinetic energy
is assumed to be proportional to uv, the turbulent transport will also be zero. Therefore only production and dissipation
are not zero: = 0.
b) The production = uv
U
y
. Using the eddy viscosity approximation for the Reynolds stress uv in terms of U/y, what is
in terms of
T
and U
x
/y?
Answer: The eddy viscosity prediction for the stress is uv =
12
= const =
T
Ux
y
. Then =
T
_
Ux
y
_
2
.
c) Dene y
+
in the Law of the Wall: Answer: y
+
= y/ where = /u

.
d) What is
U
x
y
in the log-layer in terms of u

and y
+
? Answer:
U
x
y
=
u

y
=
u
2

y
+
e) MSc only: Show that in the log-layer k and obey: k
u
2

C
1/2


u
3

y
=
u
4

y
+
Answer: Combine the k- eddy viscosity with the log-layer prediction for the stress to get

T
U
x
y
= C

k
2

_
u
2

y
+
_
= const = u
2

Cancelling the factors of u


2

one gets C

k
2
/ = y
+
.
Now use 0 = or = with =
T
_
U
x
y
_
2
= y
+
_
u
2

y
+
_
2
= so =
u
4

y
+
=
u
3

y
C

k
2
=
T
= y
+
= u
4

giving k =
u
2

C
1/2

10
2) For a large civil aircraft assume that the ight speed is 300 m/s and the kinematic viscosity of the air is about 1510
6
m
2
/s. estimate
the friction velocity and the wall-unit length scale at 1m from the leading edge. Use c
f
= (2 log
10
Re
x
0.65)
2.3
, where c
f
is the
skin-friction coecient and by denition
c
f


w
1
2
U
2

where
w
= uv = u
2

and U

= 300m/s
2
From this u

can be calculated and y


+
(given in the law of the wall above).
Answer: First need Re
x
=
UL

=
300 1
1.5 10
5
= 2 10
7
Then c
f
= 0.002, gives |uv| = 0.5c
f
U
2

= 90 giving
u

90 9.5 and y
+
= u

y/ = 10/1.5 10
5
6.3 10
5
3) MSc only: Rewrite the pressure equation (
i
u
j
)(
j
u
i
) =
1

2
P in terms of central dierences. In central dierences,
a
j
(x
i
)
x
=
a
j
(x
i+1
) a
j
(x
i1
)
2x

2
a
j
(x
i
)
x
2
=
a
j
(x
i+1
) 2a
j
(x
i
) + a
j
(x
i1
)
x
2
where the subscript i refers to the position i on a mesh and a
j
is one component of an arbitrary vector a.
Answer:

i,j
u
j
(x
i+1
) u
j
(x
i1
)
2x
i
u
i
(x
j+1
) u
i
(x
j1
)
2x
j
=
1

i,j
u
j
(x
i+1
) 2u
j
(x
i
) + u
j
(x
i1
)
x
2
i
11
4) Calculate the eddy viscosity predicted by the Smagorinsky model with C
s
= 0.2 and compare it to the physical viscosity.
Neglect density, assume that the dissipation is = 100m
2
/s
3
, = 1.5 10
6
m
2
/s and the mesh size in an LES designed to
represent this atmospheric ow is 1 meter.
You will need to estimate the strain modulus |e
ij
|.
Do this by estimating the velocity at the mesh scale from the second-order structure function: S
2
(r) = 0.5
2/3
r
2/3
where r =1
meter. Then estimate |e
ij
| as this velocity scale divided by r.
Answer: u
2
= S
2
= 0.5(100
2/3
), u = 0.5
1/2
100
1/3
= 3.28 so |e
ij
| 3.28.
From this
T
= C
s
|e
ij
|x
2
= 0.2 3.28 1
2
= 0.65.
The eddy viscosity is the order of 10
6
greater than the physical viscosity.
5) Derive a relationship between the large-scale estimate of the dissipation rate and the actual dissipation rate.
Use the experimental relationship between the stress and the uctuating velocity, together with the k- relation for the eddy
viscosity.
That is nd C where Cu
3
/L.
The steps will be as follows:
Consider that the stress typically is 0.4u
2
where k = (3/2)u
2
.
In the k-, uv =
T
(u/y) where
T
= C

(k
2
/) and C

= 0.09.
Replace (u/y) by u/L.
Answer:
uv =
12
= 0.4u
2
=
0.8
3
k =
T
U
y
= C

k
2

u
L
= 0.09
(9/4)u
4

u
L
C =
L
u
3
= 0.09(9/4)/0.04 1/2
12

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