Significant effort has been placed on the development of surfaces which reduce the amount of drag experienced by a fluid as it passes over the surface. Alterations to the fluid itself, as well as the chemical and physical composition of the surface have been investigated with varying success. Investigations into turbulent drag reduction have been mostly limited to those involving bubbles and riblets. Superhydrophobic surfaces, which combine hydrophobic surface chemistry with a regular array of microfeatures, have been shown to provide significant drag reduction in the laminar regime, with the possibility of extending these results into turbulent flows. Direct numerical simulations are used to investigate the drag reducing performance of superhydrophobic surfaces in turbulent channel flow. Slip velocities, wall shear stresses, and Reynolds stresses are considered for a variety of superhydrophobic surface microfeature geometry configurations at friction Reynolds numbers of Re = 180, Re = 395, and Re = 590. This work provides evidence that superhydrophobic surfaces are capable of reducing drag in turbulent flow situations by manipulating the laminar sublayer and turbulent energy cascade. For the largest micro-feature spacing of 90 microns an average slip velocity over 80% of the bulk velocity is obtained, and the wall shear stress reduction is found to be greater than 50%. The simulation results suggest that the mean velocity profile near the superhydrophobic wall continues to scale with the wall shear stress, but is offset by a slip velocity that increases with increasing micro-feature spacing.

Non-spherical particles are present all around us, in biological, industrial and environmental processes. Making predictions of their impact on us and systems in our vicinity can make life better for everyone here on earth. For example, the ash particles from a volcano eruption are non-spherical and their spreading in the atmosphere can hugely impact the air traffic, as was also proven in 2010. Furthermore, the orientation of the wood fibres in a paper sheet influences the final properties of the paper, and the cause of a specific fibre orientation can be traced back to the fluid flows during the manufacturing process of the paper. In this thesis, experimental and numerical work is presented with the goal to understand and utilize the behavior of elongated particles in fluid flows. Two different experimental setups are used. The first one, a turbulent half channel flow, aims at increasing the understanding of how particles with non-zero inertia behave in turbulence. The second setup is an attempt to design a flow field with the purpose to align nanofibrils and create high performance cellulose filaments. Experiments were performed in a turbulent half channel flow at different flow set- tings with dilute suspensions of cellulose acetate fibres having three different aspect ratios (length to width ratio). The two main results were firstly that the fibres agglom- erated in streamwise streaks, believed to be due to the turbulent velocity structures in the flow. Secondly, the orientation of the fibres was observed to be determined by the aspect ratio and the mean shear, not the turbulence. Short fibres were oriented in the spanwise direction while long fibres were oriented in the streamwise direction. In order to utilize the impressive properties (stiffness comparable to Kevlar) of the cellulose nanofibril in a macroscopic material, the alignment of the fibrils must be controlled. Here, a flow focusing device (resulting in an extensional flow), designed to align the fibrils, is used to create a cellulose filament with aligned fibrils. The principle is based on a separation of the alignment and the assembly of the fibrils, i.e. first align the fibrils and then lock the aligned structure. With this process, continuous filaments were created, with properties similar to that of the wood fibre at the same fibril alignment. However, the highest alignment (lowest angle) of the fibrils in a filament created was only 31o from the filament axis, and the next step is to increase the alignment. This thesis includes modeling of the alignment process with the Smoluchowski equation and a rotary diffusion. Finding a model that correctly describes the alignment process should in the end make it possible to create a filament with fully aligned fibrils. / <p>QC 20140908</p>

Flush-mounted cavity hot-wire probes have been around since two decades, but have typically not been applied as often compared to the traditional wall hot-wires mounted several wire diameters above the surface. While the latter suffer from heat conduction from the hot wire to the substrate in particular when used in air flows, the former is belived to significantly enhance the frequency response of the sensor. The recent work using a cavity hotwire by Gubian et al. (2019) came to the surprising conclusion that the magnitute of the fluctuating wall-shear stress τ+w,rms reaches an asymptotic value of 0.44 beyond the friction Reynolds number Re τ ∼ 600. In an effort to explain this result, which is at odds with the majority of the literature, the present work combines direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a turbulent channel flow with a cavity modelled using the immersed boundary method, as well as an experimental replication of the study of Gubian et al. in a turbulent boundary layer to explain how the contradicting results could have been obtained. It is shown that the measurements of the mentioned study can be replicated qualitatively as a result of measurement problems. We will present why cavity hot-wire probes should neither be used for quantitative nor qualitative measurements of wall-bounded flows, and that several experimental short-comings can interact to sometimes falsely yield seemingly correct results.

Flow induced self-oscillations cause acoustic pressure oscillations of large amplitude in pipe flows. If Reynolds number is treated as a parameter, these floinduced oscillations occur only at discrete and critical values of Reynolds number. However, for a small range of Reynolds numbers around such a critical value, such periodic oscillations may appear intermittently. If intermittency, which is a precursor to these self-oscillations, can be detected, prediction of an impending instability may be possible. In experiments done by Vineeth and Sujith (Int. J. Aeroacoustics, 2016) on flow in a duct orifice arrangement, where flow enters through the duct inlet, and leaves into the atmosphere through the orifice exit, “whistling” was observed at a Reynolds number of 4200 (based on the orifice thickness and flow speed within the orifice), where large amplitude pressure oscillations were observed. At slightly lower Reynolds numbers, bursts of relatively smaller amplitudes of pressure oscillations were observed to appear intermittently. For a similar configuration, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) have been carried out with explicit filtering as a sub­ grid scale model here. Both whistling and intermittency are observed in the simulations. As air flows from the duct into the orifice, it turns sharply around the corner at the duct­ orifice interface. Due to this sharp turn, flow separation occurs, and hence, a shear layer is formed at the mouth of the orifice. The mechanism of whistling is found to be this shear layer within the orifice flapping about and hitting the trailing edge of the orifice periodically, thus causing the shear layer to break and roll up into a vortex. At Reynolds numbers where intermittency is observed, the shear layer is found to very mildly come in contact with the edges of the orifice walls, thus disturbing it. In the simulations, time series data of pressure are recorded at various probe locations. In a given time series, if scale invariance behaviour exists, it can be quantified by measuring the Hurst exponent. The numerical value of the Hurst exponent is an index of “long range or short range dependence” in a time series. Hurst exponent is measured in the time series data obtained. It is found to drop to zero as the flow approaches the state of a self-sustained oscillation, since the growth rates of all the long term as well as short term trends in the time series vanish. A loss of multifractality in the time series is also observed as the flow approaches whistling. As a part of the this thesis, new, split high resolution schemes of high order are designed following the Hixon Turmel Proposal.

Les écoulements turbulents de gaz denses, qui sont d’un grand intérêt pour un large éventail d'applications, sont le siège de phénomènes physiques encore peu connus et difficiles à étudier par des approches expérimentale. Dans ce travail, nous étudions pour la première fois l’influence des effets de gaz denses sur la structure de la turbulence compressible à l’aide de simulations numériques. Le fluide considéré est le PP11, un fluorocarbure lourd, dont le comportement thermodynamique a été représenté à l’aide de différentes lois d’état, afin de quantifier la sensibilité des solutions aux choix de modélisation. Nous avons considéré d’abord la décroissance d’une turbulence homogène isotrope compressible. Les fluctuations de température sont négligeables, alors que celles de la vitesse du son sont importantes à cause de leur forte dépendance de la densité. Le comportement particulier de la vitesse du son modifie de manière significative la structure de la turbulence, conduisant à la formation de shocklets de détente. L’analyse de la contribution des différentes structures à la dissipation d’énergie et à la génération d’enstrophie montre que, pour un gaz dense, les régions de forte dilatation jouent un rôle similaire à celles de forte compression, contrairement aux gaz parfaits, dans lesquels le comportement est fortement dissymétrique. Ensuite, nous avons mené des simulations numériques pour une configuration de canal plan en régime supersonique, pour plusieurs valeurs des nombres de Mach et de Reynolds. Les résultats confirment la validité de l’hypothèse de Morkovin. L’introduction d’une loi d’échelle semi-locale prenant en compte le variations de densité et viscosité, permet de comparer les profils des grandeurs turbulentes (contraintes de Reynolds, anisotropie, budgets d’énergie) avec ces observés en gaz parfait. Les variables thermodynamiques, quant à elles, présentent une évolution très différente pour un gaz parfait et pour un gaz dense, la chaleur spécifique élevée de ce dernier conduisant à un découplage des effets dynamiques et thermiques et à un comportement proche de celui d’un fluide incompressible avec des propriétés variables. / Dense gas turbulent flows, of great interest for a wide range of engineering applications, exhibit physical phenomena that are still poorly understood and difficult to reproduce experimentally. In this work, we study for the first time the influence of dense gas effects on the structure of compressible turbulence by means of numerical simulations. The fluid considered is PP11, a heavy fluorocarbon, whose thermodynamic behavior is described by means of different equations of state to quantify the sensitivity of solutions to modelling choices. First, we considered the decay of compressible homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Temperature fluctuations are found to be negligible, whereas those of the speed of sound are large because of the strong dependence on density. The peculiar behavior of the speed of sound significantly modifies the structure of the turbulence, leading to the occurrence of expansion shocklets. The analysis of the contribution of the different structures to energy dissipation and enstrophy generation shows that, for a dense gas, high expansion regions play a role similar to high compression ones, unlike perfect gases, in which the observed behaviour is highly asymmetric. Then, we carried out numerical simulations of a supersonic turbulent channel flow for several values of Mach and Reynolds numbers. The results confirm the validity of the Morkovin' hypothesis. The introduction of a semi-local scaling, taking into account density and viscosity variations across the channel, allow to compare the wall-normal profiles of turbulent quantities (Reynolds stresses, anisotropy, energy budgets) with those observed in ideal gases. Nevertheless, the thermodynamic variables exhibit a different evolution between perfect and dense gases, since the high specific heats of the latter lead to a decoupling of dynamic and thermal effects, and to a behavior close to that of variable property incompressible fluids.

Large-eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of different mathematical models for scalar variance and its dissipation rate as applied to both a non-reacting bluff-body turbulent flow and an extension to a reacting case. In the conserved scalar formalism, the mean value of a thermo-chemical variable is obtained through the PDF-weighted integration of the local description over the conserved scalar, the mixture fraction. The scalar variance, one of the key parameters for the determination of a presumed β-function PDF, is obtained by solving its own transport equation with the unclosed scalar dissipation rate modelled using either an algebraic expression or a transport equation. The proposed approach is first applied to URANS and then extended to LES. Velocity, length and time scales associated with the URANS modelling are determined using the standard two-equation k-ε transport model. In contrast, all three scales required by the LES modelling are based on the Smagorinsky subgrid scale (SGS) algebraic model. The present study proposes a new algebraic and a new transport LES model for the scalar dissipation rate required by the transport equation for scalar variance, with a time scale consistent with the Smagorinsky SGS model.

Large-eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of different mathematical models for scalar variance and its dissipation rate as applied to both a non-reacting bluff-body turbulent flow and an extension to a reacting case. In the conserved scalar formalism, the mean value of a thermo-chemical variable is obtained through the PDF-weighted integration of the local description over the conserved scalar, the mixture fraction. The scalar variance, one of the key parameters for the determination of a presumed β-function PDF, is obtained by solving its own transport equation with the unclosed scalar dissipation rate modelled using either an algebraic expression or a transport equation. The proposed approach is first applied to URANS and then extended to LES. Velocity, length and time scales associated with the URANS modelling are determined using the standard two-equation k-ε transport model. In contrast, all three scales required by the LES modelling are based on the Smagorinsky subgrid scale (SGS) algebraic model. The present study proposes a new algebraic and a new transport LES model for the scalar dissipation rate required by the transport equation for scalar variance, with a time scale consistent with the Smagorinsky SGS model.

Une voie prometteuse pour améliorer le rendement des centrales solaires à tour consiste à chauffer de l'air pressurisé à haute température afin d'alimenter un cycle thermodynamique de Brayton. Pour cela, il est indispensable de concevoir des récepteurs solaires performants,permettant de forts transferts de chaleur vers le fluide. Le développement de tels récepteurs passe par une compréhension fine de leurs écoulements internes. Il s'agit d'écoulements complexes, combinant de hauts niveaux de turbulence et un fort gradient de température entre la paroi irradiée par le flux solaire concentré et la paroi arrière isolée. On se propose dans ce travail de réaliser une étude amont numérique et expérimentale de ce type d'écoulements.D'une part, des mesures de vitesse par SPIV (vélocimétrie par images de particules stéréoscopique) sont effectuées dans une soufflerie de canal plan turbulent lisse dont la cellule de mesure est représentative d'un récepteur solaire surfacique. On observe en particulier l'influence d'un chauffage asymétrique sur les statistiques de la turbulence. Ces mesures sont d'autre part complétées par des simulations fines LES (simulation des grandes échelles)menées dans les conditions de la soufflerie. Pour finir, une simulation LES d'un canal plan texturé sur une paroi par une géométrie innovante est conduite. Cette architecture interne du récepteur combine des générateurs de tourbillon et des riblets afin d'intensifier les échanges de chaleur vers le fluide. / A promising line of research to increase the efficiency of solar tower power plants consists in heating pressurized air to high temperatures in order to fuel a Brayton thermodynamic cycle. This requires to design effective solar receivers that allow for intense heat transfers toward the fluid. To develop such receivers, an in-depth understanding of their internal flows is needed. These are complex flows, combining strong turbulence and strong temperature gradient between the concentrated sun irradiated wall and the back insulated wall.The aim of this work is to investigate numerically and experimentally such flows.On one hand, velocities are measured by SPIV (Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry) in a turbulent channel flow wind tunnel whom measurement cell is similar to a surface solar receiver. The influence of an asymmetric heating on the turbulence statistics are especially investigated. These measurements are supplemented by Large Eddy Simulations run under the same conditions as the wind tunnel. Finally, a Large Eddy Simulation is run in a channel flow textured on one wall by an innovative geometry. This internal receiver design combines vortex generators and riblets in order to enhance the heat transfers.

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