Effects of temperature on drag reduction in a subsonic turbulent boundary layer via micro-blowing array

A comparative study of two micro-blowing temperature cases has been performed to investigate the characteristics of drag reduction in a subsonic flat-plate flow (where the freestream Mach number is 0.7) by means of Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). With minute amount of blowing gas injected from a 32 × 32 array of micro-holes arranged in a staggered pattern, the porosity of micro-holes is 23% and the blowing coefficient is 0.125%. The simulation results show that a drag reduction is achieved by micro-blowing, and a lower wall-friction drag can be obtained at a higher blowing temperature. The role of micro-blowing is to redistribute the total kinetic energy in the boundary layer, and the proportion of stream-wise kinetic energy decreases, resulting in the thickened boundary layer. Increasing micro-blowing temperature can accelerate this process and obtain an enhanced drag reduction. Moreover, an explanation of drag reduction by micro-blowing related to the micro-jet vortex clusters is proposed that these micro-jet vortex clusters firmly attached to the wall constitute a stable barrier, which is to prevent the direct contact between the stream-wise vortex and the wall. By Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) from temporal/spatial aspects, it is revealed that small structures in the near-wall region play vital role in the change of turbulent scales. The high-frequency patterns are clearly strengthened, and the low-frequency patterns just maintain but are lifted up.     

Predicting near-wall turbulence with minimal flow units in compressible turbulent channel flows

Mach number effects on the near-wall turbulence in the absence of outer motions remain unclear so far. The present study extends the Minimal Flow Units (MFUs), a widely applied method to investigate near-wall turbulence free from the impact of large-scale motions in the outer region in incompressible channel flows, to compressible wall-bounded turbulence. The compressible near-wall turbulence in MFU proves accurate in replicating near-wall statistics, independent of Mach number and statistically equivalent to the universal signals extracted from the full-sized channel. It is further utilized as universal signals in the predictive models of compressible near-wall turbulence, which is capable of accurately predicting variances and joint probability density functions of velocity and temperature fluctuations.     

Minimizing airfoil drag at low angles of attack with DBD-based turbulent drag reduction methods

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) based turbulent drag reduction methods are used to reduce the total drag on a NACA 0012 airfoil at low angels of attack. The interaction of DBD with turbulent boundary layer was investigated, based on which the drag reduction experiments were conducted. The results show that unidirectional steady discharge is more effective than oscillating discharge in terms of drag reduction, while steady impinging discharge fails to finish the mission (i.e. drag increase). In the best scenario, a maximum relative drag reduction as high as 64 % is achieved at the freestream velocity of 5 m/s, and a drag reduction of 13.7 % keeps existing at the freestream velocity of 20 m/s. For unidirectional discharge, the jet velocity ratio and the dimensionless actuator spacing are the two key parameters affecting the effectiveness. The drag reduction magnitude varies inversely with the dimensionless spacing, and a threshold value of the dimensionless actuator spacing of 540 (approximately five times of the low-speed streak spacing) exists, above which the drag increases. When the jet velocity ratio smaller than 0.05, marginal drag variation is observed. In contrast, when the jet velocity ratio larger than 0.05, the experimental data bifurcates, one into the drag increase zone and the other into the drag reduction zone, depending on the value of dimensionless actuator spacing. In both zones, the drag variation magnitude increases with the jet velocity ratio. The total drag reduction can be divided into the reduction in pressure drag and turbulent friction drag, as well as the increase in friction drag brought by transition promotion. The reduction in turbulent friction drag plays an important role in the total drag reduction.     

Evolution of turbulent boundary layer over a three-dimensional bump

A bump is typically used in the inlet system of an aircraft engine to compress the incoming airflow and to reduce boundary layer thickness developed over fuselage. In this work, the turbulent flow over a three-dimensional bump is experimentally studied. The bump model is mounted in a closed return wind tunnel operated at the nominal velocity 10 m/s, corresponding to a friction Reynolds number of 2300. The flow field upstream the bump, along the bump centerline and at two different spanwise plane...     

Large eddy simulations of a turbulent mixing layer periodically excited with fundamental and third harmonic frequency

A better understanding of the mixing behavior of excited turbulent mixing layers is critical to a number of aerospace applications. Previous studies of excited turbulent mixing layers focused on single frequency excitation or the excitation with fundamental and its second harmonic frequency. There is a lack of detailed studies on applying low and higher frequency excitation. In this study, we have performed large-eddy simulations of periodically excited turbulent mixing layers. The excitation consists of a fundamental frequency and its third harmonic. We have used phase-averaging to identify the vortex structure and strength in the mixing layer, and we have studied the vortex dynamics. Two different vortex paring mechanisms are observed depending on the phase shift between the two excitation frequencies. The influence of these two mechanisms on the mixing of a passive scalar is also studied. It is found that exciting the mixing layer with these low and high frequencies has initially an adverse influence on the mixing process; however, it improves the mixing further downstream of the splitter plate with the excitation using a phase shift of $\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi =\mathrm{\pi }$ showing the best mixing performance. The present works shed lights on the fundamental vortex dynamics, and has great potential for aeronautical, automotive and combustion engineering applications.     

Experimental study on dynamic behavior of mechanically pumped two-phase loop with a novel accumulator in simulated space environment

Mechanically pumped two-phase loop (MPTL) which is a prominent two-phase heat transfer technology presents a promising prospect in thermal control for space payload. However, transient behavior of MPTL caused by phase-change and heat sources load-on/off in simulated space environment is rarely reported. In the present study, one MPTL setup was designed and constructed, and experimentally studied. Particularly, a novel two-phase thermally-controlled accumulator integrated with passive cooling measure and three capillary structures was designed as the temperature-control device. Dynamic behavior of the start-up, temperature control, and temperature adjustment were monitored; meanwhile, thermodynamic behavior within the proposed accumulator, the operating behavior as well as the heat and mass transfer behavior between the main loop and the accumulator were revealed. The results show that the fluid management function of the capillary structures for the novel accumulator is verified. The working point of the MPTL system can be adjusted by changing the temperature control point of the accumulator and it is little influenced by external heat flux and heat sources on/off. Pressure-drop oscillations which are manifested as fluctuations of temperature and pressure can be observed after phase changing due to the compressible volume within the accumulator and the negative-slope portion of the internal pressure.     

Pressure performance for a thin-walled ring and turbulent-jet orifice modeled elastic squeeze film damper

This paper explores an analytical model for Elastic Ring Squeeze Film Damper (ERSFD) with thin-walled ring and turbulent-jet orifices, and uncovers its Oil Film Pressure Performance (OFPP). Firstly, the ring deformation is addressed by using the Fourier series expansion approach and the orifice outflow rate is characterized with the Prandtl boundary layer theory. Secondly, applying finite difference scheme, the influence of elastic ring flexibility, orifice diameter, and attitude angle on the OFPP is analyzed. Finally, Outer chamber pressure was measured experimentally at different rotor speeds. The results indicate that the outer chamber pressure coats an individual load-carrying region and spreads symmetrically pertaining to the attitude angle. Its amplitude drops as the elastic ring flexibility decreases but boosts with the reduction of the orifice diameter. For inner chamber pressure, the orifice diameter effects a similar trend to the outer cavity, but exhibits more stable distribution regarding the attitude angle. Minimizing the elastic ring flexibility causes an increase in amplitude. The model is validated by the test results giving that the outer chamber pressure shifts synchronously and periodically with the variation of the attitude angle, while the pressure amplitude increases slightly at higher rotor speeds.