Spanwise forcing for turbulent drag reduction

Abstract

Turbulent drag reduction (DR) is a crucial research area, as this can contribute to significant energy and emission reductions in various industrial and transportation applications. One such technique is the active flow control method of spanwise forcing. Spanwise forcing introduces a spatio-temporal spanwise wall oscillation as a boundary contrition. Consequently, a phase-varying spanwise velocity profile is generated, that poses useful interaction with the near-wall turbulence resulting in a drag-reduced flow state. DR values of over 40% have been found in both numerical and experimental realisations.

The objective of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, the idea is proposed that spanwise forcing can be realised passively by geometric surface modifications to create a spatially varying spanwise velocity profile. Secondly, supporting the first objective is the idea of investigating active flow control, in this case spatial spanwise forcing, which can aid in the development of passive techniques. The underlying philosophy is gaining understanding of the key factors and mechanisms that contribute to DR by studying active techniques. Subsequently, these leanings can be applied to advance the development of passive techniques. This research rationale is combined with a new pathway for turbulent DR. By actuating the outer-scaled low-frequency turbulent structures in the logarithmic layer, instead of the conventional approach targeted at high-frequency inner-scaled structures. Unlike the decreasing trend observed in inner-scaled actuation (ISA), outer-scaled actuation (OSA) exhibits a positive correlation between DR and Re_τ, making it particularly useful for practical applications that operate under high Reynolds number conditions, such as long-distance pipelines or aviation.

The first part of the thesis investigates the DR and OSA potential of passive techniques. Three techniques are considered: dimples, sinusoidal undulations and oblique wavy walls. Eight test plates are realised for direct force measurements and a detailed investigation into the scale-specific streamwise turbulence kinetic energy using hot-wire anemometry (HWA). From the direct force measurements, the DR trends with Re_τ are inconclusive due to uncertainties originating from a correction term and the results falling within the 95% confidence interval. A slight reduction of outer-scaled energy is observed for the sinusoidal undulations, hinting at effective OSA. Furthermore, one of the oblique wavy walls shows a broadband energy reduction in the wall-normal region 10 ≤ y⁺ ≤ 100.

The second part of the thesis is focused on active flow control, specifically, the method of spatial spanwise forcing. A research gap was identified for spatial forcing, with no experimental realisations to date and only a number of numerical studies. Furthermore spatial forcing is of interest since it shows the closest analogy to a passive counterpart. An experimental setup is proposed, titled the steady spanwise excitation setup (SSES). The experimental setup realises spatial forcing using a series of spanwise running belts that run in alternating spanwise directions so as to generate a spatial square wave forcing. The thesis presents a proof of concept of the aerodynamic working using a prototype setup with four belts. Stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements showt hat a significant flow control effect can be realised with this type of forcing, with a maximum DR value over 39%. Accordingly, the turbulent stresses are significantly reduced. The spanwise velocity profiles are in qualitative agreement with the model based on the laminar solution, with an almost exact match at y⁺ ≤10.