The laminar-to-turbulent transition process in swept-wing boundary layers is often dominated by an inflectional instability arising from crossflow. It is now known that freestream turbulence and surface roughness are two of the key disturbance sources in the crossflow instability problem. Recent experimental findings have suggested that freestream turbulence of low intensity (less than 0.2%) may have a larger influence on crossflow instability than was previously thought. The present work involves experimental measurement of stationary and traveling crossflow mode amplitudes in freestream turbulence levels between 0.02% and 0.2%. A 1.83 m chord, 45-degree swept-wing model is used in the Klebanoff-Saric Wind Tunnel to perform these experiments. The turbulence intensity and length scales are documented. Although a significant amount of research on the role of turbulence has been completed at higher turbulence levels, comparatively little has been done at the low levels of the present experiments, which more closely reflect the flight environment. It is found that growth of the traveling crossflow mode is highly dependent on small changes to the freestream turbulence. Additionally, previously studied attenuation of saturated stationary disturbance amplitudes is observed at these low turbulence levels. The extent of laminar flow is also observed to decrease in moderate freestream turbulence.

This thesis deals with the instabilities of the incompressible boundary-layer flow thatis induced by a disk rotating in otherwise still fluid. The results presented include bothwork in the linear and nonlinear regime and are derived from direct numerical sim-ulations (DNS). Comparisons are made both to theoretical and experimental resultsproviding new insights into the transition route to turbulence. The simulation codeNek5000 has been chosen for the DNS using a spectral-element method (SEM) witha high-order discretization, and the results were obtained through large-scale paral-lel simulations. The known similarity solution of the Navier–Stokes equations for therotating-disk flow, also called the von K ́arm ́an rotating-disk flow, is reproduced by theDNS. With the addition of modelled small simulated roughnesses on the disk surface,convective instabilities appear and data from the linear region in the DNS are anal-ysed and compared with experimental and theoretical data, all corresponding verywell. A theoretical analysis is also presented using a local linear-stability approach,where two stability solvers have been developed based on earlier work. Furthermore,the impulse response of the rotating-disk boundary layer is investigated using DNS.The local response is known to be absolutely unstable and the global response, onthe contrary, is stable if the edge of the disk is assumed to be at radius infinity. Herecomparisons with a finite domain using various boundary conditions give a globalbehaviour that can be both linearly stable and unstable, however always nonlinearlyunstable. The global frequency of the flow is found to be determined by the Rey-nolds number at the confinement of the domain, either by the edge (linear case) or bythe turbulence appearance (nonlinear case). Moreover, secondary instabilities on topof the convective instabilities induced by roughness elements were investigated andfound to be globally unstable. This behaviour agrees well with the experimental flowand acts at a smaller radial distance than the primary global instability. The sharpline corresponding to transition to turbulence seen in experiments of the rotating diskcan thus be explained by the secondary global instability. Finally, turbulence datawere compared with experiments and investigated thoroughly. / <p>QC 20170203</p>

The effect of freestream turbulence on generation of crossflow disturbances over swept wings is investigated through direct numerical simulations.  The set up follows  the  experiments  performed  by Downs  et  al.  in their  TAMU  experi- ment.  In this experiment the authors use ASU(67)-0315 wing geometry which promotes  growth  of crossflow  disturbances.   Distributed  roughness  elements are locally placed near the leading edge with a span-wise wavenumber, to ex- cite the corresponding crossflow vortices.  The response of boundary layer to external disturbances such as roughness heights, span-wise wavenumbers, Rey- nolds numbers and freestream turbulence characteristics are studied.  It must be noted that the experiments were conducted at a very low level of freestream turbulence  intensity  (T u).   In this  study,  we fully  reproduce the  freestream isotropic homogenous turbulence through a DNS code using detailed freestream spectrum data provided by the experiment. The generated freestream fields are then applied as the inflow boundary condition for direct numerical simulation of the wing. The geometrical set up is the same as the experiment along with application of distributed roughness elements near the leading edge to precipi- tate stationary crossflow disturbances.  The effects of the generated freestream turbulence are then studied on the initial amplitudes and growth of the bound- ary layer perturbations.  It appears that the freestream turbulence damps out the dominant stationary crossflow vortices. / <p>QC 20130604</p>

<p>The stability and the receptivity of three-dimensional flat plate boundary layers is studied employing parabolised stability equations. These allow for computationally efficient parametric studies. Two different sets of equations are used. The stability of modal disturbances in the form of crossflow vortices is studied by means of the well-known classical parabolised stability equations (PSE). A new method is developed which is applicable to more general vortical-type disturbances. It is based on a modified version of the classical PSE and describes both modal and non-modal growth in three-dimensional boundary layers. This modified PSE approach is used in conjunction with a Lagrange multiplier technique to compute spatial optimal disturbances in three-dimensional boundary layers. These take the form of streamwise oriented tilted vortices initially and develop into streaks further downstream. When entering the domain where modal disturbances become unstable optimal disturbances smoothly evolve into crossflow modes. It is found that non-modal growth is of significant magnitude in three-dimensional boundary layers. Both the lift-up and the Orr mechanism are identified as the physical mechanisms behind non-modal growth. Furthermore, the modified PSE are used to determine the response of three-dimensional boundary layers to vortical free-stream disturbances. By comparing to results from direct numerical simulations it is shown that the response, including initial transient behaviour, is described very accurately. Extensive parametric studies are performed where effects of free-stream turbulence are modelled by filtering with an energy spectrum characteristic for homogeneous isotropic turbulence. It is found that a quantitative prediction of the boundary layer response to free-stream turbulence requires detailed information about the incoming turbulent flow field. Finally, the adjoint of the classical PSE is used to determine the receptivity of modal disturbances with respect to localised surface roughness. It is shown that the adjoint approach yields perfect agreement with results from Finite-Reynold-Number Theory (FRNT) if the boundary layer is assumed to be locally parallel.  Receptivity is attenuated if nonlocal and non-parallel effects are accounted for. Comparisons to direct numerical simulations and extended parametric studies are presented.</p>

A lot has changed since that day on December 17, 1903 when the Wright brothers made the first powered manned flight. Even though the concepts behind flying are unaltered, appearance of stat-of-the-art modern aircrafts has undergone a massive evolution. This is mainly owed to our deeper understanding of how to harness and optimize the interaction between fluid flows and aircraft bodies. Flow passing over wings and different junctions on an aircraft faces numerous local features, for instance, acceleration or deceleration, laminar or turbulent state, and interacting boundary layers. In our study we aim to characterize some of these flow features and their physical roles. Primarily, stability characteristics of flow over a wing subject to a negative pressure gradient are studied. This is a common condition for flows over swept wings. Part of the current numerical study conforms to existing experimental studies where a passive control mechanism has been tested to delay laminarturbulent transition. The same flow type has also been considered to study the receptivity of three-dimensional boundary layers to freestream turbulence. The work entails investigation of effects of low-level freestream turbulence on crossflow instability, as well as interaction with micron-sized surface roughness elements. Another common three-dimensional flow feature arises as a resultof stream-lines passing through a junction, the so-calledcorner-flow. For instance, thisflow can be formed in the junction between the wing and fuselage on aplane.A series of direct numerical simulations using linear Navier-Stokes equationshave been performed to determine the optimal initial perturbation. Optimalrefers to perturbations which can gain the maximum energy from the flow overa period of time. In other words this method seeks to determine theworst-casescenario in terms of perturbation growth. Here, power-iterationtechnique hasbeen applied to the Navier-Stokes equations and their adjoint to determine theoptimal initial perturbation. Recent advances in super-computers have enabled advance computational methods to increasingly contribute to design of aircrafts, in particular for turbulent flows with regions of separation. In this work we investigate theturbulentflow on an infinite wing at a moderate chord Reynolds number of Re= 400,000 using a well resolved direct numerical simulation. A conventional NACA4412 has been chosen for this work. The turbulent flow is characterizedusing statistical analysis and following time history data in regions with interesting flow features. In the later part of this work, direct numerical simulation has been chosen as a tool to mainly investigate the effect of freestream turbulence on the transition mechanism of flow from laminar to turbulent around a turbine blade. / <p>QC 20151125</p>

The stability and the receptivity of three-dimensional flat plate boundary layers is studied employing parabolised stability equations. These allow for computationally efficient parametric studies. Two different sets of equations are used. The stability of modal disturbances in the form of crossflow vortices is studied by means of the well-known classical parabolised stability equations (PSE). A new method is developed which is applicable to more general vortical-type disturbances. It is based on a modified version of the classical PSE and describes both modal and non-modal growth in three-dimensional boundary layers. This modified PSE approach is used in conjunction with a Lagrange multiplier technique to compute spatial optimal disturbances in three-dimensional boundary layers. These take the form of streamwise oriented tilted vortices initially and develop into streaks further downstream. When entering the domain where modal disturbances become unstable optimal disturbances smoothly evolve into crossflow modes. It is found that non-modal growth is of significant magnitude in three-dimensional boundary layers. Both the lift-up and the Orr mechanism are identified as the physical mechanisms behind non-modal growth. Furthermore, the modified PSE are used to determine the response of three-dimensional boundary layers to vortical free-stream disturbances. By comparing to results from direct numerical simulations it is shown that the response, including initial transient behaviour, is described very accurately. Extensive parametric studies are performed where effects of free-stream turbulence are modelled by filtering with an energy spectrum characteristic for homogeneous isotropic turbulence. It is found that a quantitative prediction of the boundary layer response to free-stream turbulence requires detailed information about the incoming turbulent flow field. Finally, the adjoint of the classical PSE is used to determine the receptivity of modal disturbances with respect to localised surface roughness. It is shown that the adjoint approach yields perfect agreement with results from Finite-Reynold-Number Theory (FRNT) if the boundary layer is assumed to be locally parallel.  Receptivity is attenuated if nonlocal and non-parallel effects are accounted for. Comparisons to direct numerical simulations and extended parametric studies are presented.

Turbulent flow and transition are some of the most important phenomena of fluid mechanics and aerodynamics and represent a challenging engineering problem for aircraft manufacturers looking to improve aerodynamic efficiency. Laminar flow technology has the potential to provide a significant reduction to aircraft drag by manipulating the instabilities within the laminar boundary layer to achieve a delay in transition to turbulence. Currently prediction and simulation of laminar-turbulent transition is con- ducted using either a low-fidelity approach involving the stability equations or via a full Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). The work in this thesis uses an alternative high-fidelity simulation method that aims to bridge the gap between the two simulation streams. The methodology uses an LES approach with a low-computational cost sub-grid scale model (WALE) that has inherent ability to reduce its turbulent viscosity contribution to zero in laminar regions. With careful grid spacing the laminar regions can be explicitly modelled as an unsteady Navier-Stokes simulation while the turbulent and transitional regions are simulated using LES. The methodology has been labelled as an unsteady Navier-Stokes/Large Eddy Simulation (UNS/LES) approach. Two test cases were developed to test the applicability of the method to simulate and control the crossflow instability. The first test case replicated the setup from an experiment that ran at a chord-based Reynolds number of 390, 000. Two methods were used to generate the initial disturbance for the crossflow vortices, firstly using a continuous suction hole and secondly an isolated roughness element. The results for this test case showed that the approach was capable of modelling the full transition process, from explicitly modelling the growth of the initial amplitude of the disturbances to final breakdown to turbulence. Results matched well with the available experimental data. The second test case replicated an experimental setup using a custom- designed aerofoil run at a chord-based Reynolds number of 2.4 million. The test case used Distributed Roughness Elements (DRE) to induce crossflow vortices at both a critical and a control wavelength. By forcing the crossflow vortices at a stable (control) wavelength a delay in laminar-turbulent transition can be achieved. The results showed that the UNS/LES approach was capable of capturing the initial disturbance amplitudes due to the roughness elements and their growth rates matched well with experimental data. Finally, downstream a transitional region was assessed with low-freestream turbulence provided using a modified Synthetic Eddy Method (SEM). The full laminar-turbulent transition pro- cess was simulated and results showed significant promise. In conclusion, the method employed in this thesis showed promising results and demonstrated a possible route to high-fidelity transition simulation run at more realistic flow conditions and geometries than DNS. Further work and validation is required to test the secondary instability region and the final breakdown to turbulence.

Rotating-disk flow has been investigated not only as a simple model of cross flow instability to compare with swept-wing flow but also for industrial flow applications with rotating configurations. However the exact nature of laminar-turbulent transi- tion on the rotating-disk flow is still major problem and further research is required for it to be fully understood, in particular, the laminar-turbulent transition process with absolute instability. In addition the studies of the rotating-disk turbulent boundary- layer flow are inadequate to understand the physics of three-dimensional turbulent boundary-layer flow. In present thesis, a rotating-rotating disk boundary-layer flow has been inves- tigated experimentally using hot-wire anemometry. A glass disk with a flat surface has been prepared to archieve low disturbance rotating-disk environment. Azimuthal velocity measurements using a hot-wire probe have been taken for various conditions. To get a better insight into the laminar-turbulent transition region, a new way to describe the process is proposed using the probability density function (PDF) map of azimuthal fluctuation velocity. The effect of the edge of the disk on the laminar-turbulent transition process has been investigated. The disturbance growth of azimuthal fluctuation velocity as a function of Reynolds number has a similar trend irrespective of the various edge conditions. The behaviour of secondary instability and turbulent breakdown has been in- vestigated. It has been found that the kinked azimuthal velocity associated with secondary instability just before turbulent breakdown became less apparent at a cer- tain wall normal heights. Furthermore the turbulent breakdown of the stationary mode seems not to be triggered by its amplitude, however, depend on the appearance of the travelling secondary instability. Finally, the turbulent boundary layer on a rotating disk has been investigated. An azimuthal friction velocity has been directly measured from the azimuthal velocity profile in the viscous sub-layer. The turbulent statistics normalized by the inner and outer sclaes are presented. / QC 20120529

A focus has been put on the stability characteristics of different flow types existing on air vehicles. Flow passing over wings and different junctions on an aircraft face numerous local features, ranging from different pressure gradients, to interacting boundary layers. Primarily, stability characteristics of flow over a wing subject to negative pressure gradient is studied. The current numerical study conforms to an experimental study conducted by Saric and coworkers, in their Arizona State University wind tunnel experiments. Within that framework, a passive control mechanism has been tested to delay transition of flow from laminar to turbulence. The same control approach has been studied here, in addition to underling mechanisms playing major roles in flow transition, such as nonlinear effects and secondary instabilities. Another common three-dimensional flow feature arises as a result of streamlines passing through a junction, the so called corner-flow. For instance, this flow can be formed in the junction between the wing and fuselage on a plane. A series of direct numerical simulations using linear Navier-Stokes equations have been performed to determine the optimal initial perturbation. Optimal refers to a perturbation which can gain the maximum energy from the flow over a period of time. Power iterations between direct and adjoint Navier- Stokes equations determine the optimal initial perturbation. In other words this method seeks to determine the worst case scenario in terms of perturbation growth. Determining the optimal initial condition can help improve the design of such surfaces in addition to possible control mechanisms. / <p>QC 20130604</p> / RECEPT

This thesis deals with the instabilities of the incompressible boundary-layer flow that is induced by a disk rotating in otherwise still fluid. The results presented are mostly limited to linear instabilities derived from direct numerical simulations (DNS) but with the objective that further work will focus on the nonlinear regime, providing greater insights into the transition route to turbulence. The numerical code Nek5000 has been chosen for the DNS using a spectral-element method in an effort to reduce spurious effects from low-order discretizations. Large-scale parallel simulations have been used to obtain the present results. The known similarity solution of the Navier–Stokes equation for the rotating-disk flow, also called the von Karman flow, is investigated and can be reproduced with good accuracy by the DNS. With the addition of small roughnesses on the disk surface, convective instabilities appear and data from the DNS are analysed and compared with experimental and theoretical data. A theoretical analysis is also presented using a local linear-stability approach, where two stability solvers have been developedbased on earlier work. A good correspondence between DNS and theory is found and the DNS results are found to explain well the behaviour of the experimental boundary layer within the range of Reynolds numbers for small amplitude (linear) disturbances. The comparison between the DNS and experimental results, presented for the first time here, shows that the DNS allows (for large azimuthal domains) a range of unstable azimuthal wavenumbers β to exist simultaneously with the dominantβ varying, which is not accounted for in local theory, where β is usually fixed for each Reynolds number at which the stability analysis is applied. Furthermore, the linear impulse response of the rotating-disk boundary layer is investigated using DNS. The local response is known to be absolutely unstable. The global response is found to be stable if the edge of the disk is assumed to be at infinity, and unstable if the domain is finite and the edge of the domain is placed such that there is a large enough pocket region for the absolute instability to develop. The global frequency of the flow is found to be determined by the edge Reynolds number. / <p>QC 20140708</p>