Very-large-scale structures in pipe flows are characterized using an extended Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD)-based estimation. Synchronized non-time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and time-resolved, multi-point hot-wire measurements are integrated for the estimation of turbulent structures in a pipe flow at friction Reynolds numbers of 9500 and 20000. This technique enhances the temporal resolution of PIV, thus providing a time-resolved description of the dynamics of the large-scale motions. The experiments are carried out in the CICLoPE facility. A novel criterion for the statistical characterization of the large-scale motions is introduced, based on the time-resolved dynamically-estimated POD time coefficients. It is shown that high-momentum events are less persistent than low-momentum events, and tend to occur closer to the wall. These differences are further enhanced with increasing Reynolds number.

Extensive combined experimental and theoretical investigations of the linear evolution of unsteady (in general) Cross-Flow (CF) and three-dimensional (3D) Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) instability modes of 3D boundary layers developing on a swept airfoil section have been carried out. CF-instability characteristics are investigated in detail at an angle of attack of -5 degrees when this kind of instability dominates in the laminar-turbulent transition process, while the 3D TS-instability characteristics are studied at an angle of attack of +1.5 degrees when this kind of instability is predominant in the transition process. All experimental results are deeply processed and compared with results of calculations based on several theoretical approaches. For the first time, very good quantitative agreement of all measured and calculated stability characteristics of swept-wing boundary layers is achieved both for unsteady CF- and 3D TS-instability modes for the case of a boundary layer developing on a real swept airfoil. The first part of the present study (this paper) is devoted to the description of the case of CF-dominated transition, while the TS-dominated case will be described in detail in a subsequent second part of this investigation.

The effect of a streamwise pressure gradient on the wake developed by wall-attached square ribs in a turbulent boundary layer is investigated experimentally. Favourable-, adverse- and zero-pressure-gradient conditions (FPG, APG and ZPG, respectively) are reproduced at matched friction Reynolds number and non-dimensional rib height. Flow-field measurements are carried out by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Turbulence statistics are extracted at high resolution using an Ensemble Particle Tracking Velocimetry approach. Modal analysis is performed with Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). We demonstrate that a non-dimensional expression of the pressure gradient and shear stress is needed to quantify the pressure-gradient effects in the wake developing past wall-attached ribs. We suggest the Clauser pressure-gradient parameter beta, commonly used in the literature for the characterization of turbulent boundary layers under the effect of a pressure gradient, as a suitable parameter. The results show that, in presence of an adverse pressure gradient, the recirculation region downstream of the rib is increased in size, thus delaying the reattachment, and that the peak of turbulence intensity and the shed eddies are shifted towards larger wall-normal distances than in the ZPG case. The observed changes with respect to the ZPG configuration appear more intense for larger magnitude of beta, which are more likely to be obtained in APG than in FPG due to the reduced skin friction and increased displacement thickness.

In this work the modal decomposition of convective heat transfer distributions in turbulent flows is explored. The organization and thermal footprint of the turbulent flow features generated downstream of wall-proximity two-dimensional square ribs immersed in a turbulent boundary layer are investigated experimentally. This study employs modal decomposition to investigate whether this analysis can allow identifying which characteristics of the flow topology are responsible for the Nusselt-number augmentation, aiming to uncover the underlying physics of heat-transfer enhancement. Heat transfer and flow velocity measurements are performed at a Reynolds number (based on the free-stream velocity and rib side-length) equal to 4600. Square ribs are tested for two different gap spacings from the wall (0.25 and 0.5 ribs side-length) and in wall-attached configuration. A low-thermal-inertia heat transfer sensor coupled with high-repetition-rate Infrared (IR) thermography is designed to study the unsteady variation of the convective heat-transfer coefficient downstream of the obstacles. Flow-field measurements are performed with non-time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). A modal analysis with Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is applied to both convective heat-transfer maps and velocity-fields. The comparison of the Nusselt-number spatial modes of the clean turbulent boundary layer configuration and of the configurations with the ribs shows a variation of the spatial pattern associated with oscillations with strong spanwise coherence, opposed to the thin elongated streaks which dominate the convective heat transfer in the clean turbulent boundary layer. In configurations where the convective heat transfer is enhanced by coherent structures located close to the wall, similar eigenspectra are observed for both flow field and convective heat transfer modes. The results of the modal analysis support a picture of a direct relation between the coherence of near-wall flow features and heat-transfer augmentation, providing a statistical evidence for the fact that near-wall coherent eddies are extremely efficient in enhancing heat transfer.

Many recent investigations on the scale interactions in wall-bounded turbulent flows focus on describing so-called amplitude modulation, the phenomenon that deals with the influence of large scales in the outer region on the amplitude of the small-scale fluctuations in the near-wall region. The present study revisits this phenomenon regarding two aspects, namely the method for decomposing the scales and the quantification of the modulation. First, the paper presents a summary of the literature that has dealt with either or both aspects. Second, for decomposing the scales, different spectral filters (temporal, spatial or both) and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) are evaluated and compared. The common data set is a well-resolved large-eddy simulation that offers a wide range of Reynolds numbers spanning Re-theta = 880-8200. The quantification of the amplitude modulation is discussed for the resulting scale components. Particular focus is given to evaluate the efficacy of the various filters to separate scales for the range of Reynolds numbers of interest. Different to previous studies, the different methods have been evaluated using the same data set, thereby allowing a fair comparison between the various approaches. It is observed that using a spectral filter in the spanwise direction is an effective approach to separate the small and large scales in the flow, even at comparably low Reynolds numbers, whereas filtering in time should be approached with caution in the low-to-moderate Re range. Additionally, using filters in both spanwise and time directions, which would separate both wide and long-living structures from the small and fast scales, gives a cleaner image for the small-scales although the contribution to the scales interaction from that filter implementation has been found negligible. Applying EMD to decompose the scales gives similar results to Fourier filters for the energy content of the scales and thereby for the quantification of the amplitude modulation using the decomposed scales. No direct advantage of EMD over classical Fourier filters could be seen. Potential issues regarding different decomposition methods and different definitions of the amplitude modulation are also discussed.

The paper is devoted to the first results of an experimental quantitative study of the receptivity mechanism of a swept-wing laminar boundary layer related to scattering of 2D freestream vortices (with frequency fv) at 3D local surface vibrations (with frequency fs) resulting in an excitation of Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) waves (having combination frequencies f+ = fs+fv and f- = fs - fv). The experiments were carried out in a low-turbulence level wind tunnel on a high-precision experimental model of long-laminar-run swept airfoil (sweep angle of 35°) at a freestream speed of about 10 m/s. Controlled localized 3D surface vibrations and 2D freestream vortices were generated by special disturbance sources. Quantitative characteristics of the studied receptivity mechanism (receptivity coefficients) were estimated.

Direct numerical simulation (DNS) has been performed for a spatially developing 90° bend pipe flow to investigate the unsteady flow motions downstream of the bend. A recycling method is implemented to generate a fully-developed turbulent inflow condition. The Reynolds number of the pipe flow is ReD=5300 and the bend curvature is γ=0.4. A long straight pipe section (40D) is attached in the downstream of the bend to allow the flow to develop. Flow oscillations downstream of the bend are measured using several methods, and the corresponding oscillation frequencies are estimated. It is found that different characteristic frequencies are obtained from various flow measurements. The stagnation point movement and single-point velocity measurements may not be good measures to determine the swirl-switching frequency. The oscillations of the lateral pressure force on the pipe wall and half-sided mass flow rate are proposed to be a more unambiguous measure of the unsteady flow motions downstream of the bend. 

There are several kinds of velocity disturbances, which may affect the transition to turbulence in a swept wing boundary layer. Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) waves are among most important of them. The properties of TS waves and their potential competition with cross-flow waves on a swept wing are poorly studied in theoretical works and were not studied experimentally at all. This paper presents the method of excitation of fully controlled 3D TS waves via interaction of free-stream vortices and surface vibrations. The experimental approach developed here will be used for investigation of the corresponding receptivity problem.

Control of a turbulent boundary layer separating on a half-cylinder mounted on a flat plate has been investigated using a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuator placed along the apex of a cylinder. The main focus of the study has been to evaluate if the control ability of the actuator can be improved through pulsed actuation compared to its steady counterpart. Investigations of the electric wind induced by the DBD plasma actuator in still air, when mounted on the flat plate, revealed that while the steady actuation produces an electric wind similar to a wall jet, the pulsed actuation creates a train of co-rotating vortices. The vortices are the result of a starting vortex produced by the actuator at each actuation pulse. A parametric study showed a dependence of the size, shape and propagation velocity of the vortices on the pulse frequency and duty cycle. With the actuator mounted along the apex of the cylinder, Particle Image Velocimetry measurements of the uncontrolled and controlled flow with a free-stream velocity of 5 m/s showed a clear reduction of the recirculation region downstream the cylinder when using plasma actuation. An even higher control effect could be achieved with pulsed actuation compared to the steady actuation. Phase-locked measurements of the unsteady actuation showed that pulsed actuation periodically shifted the flow separation location resulting in the propagation of vortical structures in the recirculation region. The size of the vortical structures showed a dependence on the pulsed actuation timing parameters.

A study of the back flow events and critical points in the flow through a toroidal pipe at friction Reynolds number Reτ ≈ 650 is performed and compared with the results in a turbulent channel flow at Reτ ≈ 934. The statistics and topological properties of the back flow events are analysed and discussed. Conditionally-averaged flow fields in the vicinity of the back flow event are obtained, and the results for the torus show a similar streamwise wall-shear stress topology which varies considerably for the spanwise wall-shear stress when compared to the channel flow. The comparison between the toroidal pipe and channel flows also shows fewer back flow events and critical points in the torus. This cannot be solely attributed to differences in Reynolds number, but is a clear effect of the secondary flow present in the toroidal pipe. A possible mechanism is the effect of the secondary flow present in the torus, which convects momentum from the inner to the outer bend through the core of the pipe, and back from the outer to the inner bend through the pipe walls. In the region around the critical points, the skin-friction streamlines and vorticity lines exhibit similar flow characteristics with a node and saddle pair for both flows. These results indicate that back flow events and critical points are genuine features of wall-bounded turbulence, and are not artifacts of specific boundary or inflow conditions in simulations and/or measurement uncertainties in experiments.