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In a novel application of the temporal numerical simulation, an investigation ofturbulence modeling techniques is carried for the turbulent wall jet over aconvex surface (Coanda wall jet.) The simultaneous presence of multipleinstability mechanisms and the interaction with the turbulence dynamics at thesolid boundary produces a unique combination of different large turbulentcoherent structures that constitutes both a consistent challenge for numericalsimulations and an ideal test bed for turbulence models.The Temporal Direct Numerical Simulation (TDNS) of the Coanda wall jetrestricts the focus from the global turbulent Coanda wall jet to a smaller, localportion of the flow and offers a wide array of advantages to the present work. Inparticular, the size of the computational domain can be arbitrarily chosen inboth the spanwise and the streamwise directions. This allows to either suppressor enhance individual physical mechanisms and, consequently, to selectivelyreproduce different large coherent structures within the local flow. In the firstpart, temporal numerical simulations are employed to reproduce four differentflow scenarios of the local Coanda wall jet with a level of numerical resolutionthat, because of the reduced size of the computational domain, cannot be matchedby standard DNS of the entire physical flow (spatial DNS, or SDNS.)The TDNS of these four flow scenarios are then used in the second part for ana--posteriori analysis of different turbulence models in order to addresscommon shortcomings shown by Hybrid Turbulence Models (HTM). For each flowscenario, the turbulent flow field is deliberately decomposed in resolved andunresolved flows by the application of different filters in space correspondingto different grid resolution. The behavior of turbulence models can be reproducedfrom the resolved flow and compared to the turbulent stress tensor directlycalculated from the unresolved part of the flow field. Starting from the RANSlimit, turbulence models with different levels of complexity are studied.Successively, the performance of these models is analyzed at intermediatenumerical resolutions between RANS, LES, and DNS. Finally, an improvedformulation of the Flow Simulation Methodology (FSM) is proposed.

Trailing edge noise control is an important problem associated mainly with wind turbines. As turbulence in the air flows over a wind turbine blade, it impacts the trailing edge and scatters, producing noise. Traditional methods of noise control involve modifying the physical trailing edge, or the scattering efficiency. Recently, inspired by the downy covering of owl feathers, researchers developed treatments that can be applied to the trailing edge to significantly reduce trailing edge noise. It was hypothesized that the noise reduction was due to manipulating the incoming turbulence, rather than the physical trailing edge itself, representing a new method of noise control. However, only acoustic measurements were reported, meaning the associated flow physics were still unknown. This thesis describes a comprehensive wall jet experiment to measure the flow effects near the bio-inspired treatments, termed “finlets” and “rails,” and relate those flow effects to the noise reduction. This was done using far-field microphones, a single hot-wire probe, and surface pressure fluctuation microphones. The far-field noise results showed that each treatment successfully reduced the noise, by up to 7 dB in some cases. The surface pressure measurements showed that the spanwise coherence was slightly reduced when the treatments were applied to the trailing edge. The velocity measurements clearly established the presence of a shear layer near the top of the treatments. As a whole, the dataset led to the shear-sheltering hypothesis: the bio-inspired treatments are effective based on reducing the spanwise pressure correlation and by sheltering the trailing edge from turbulent structures with the shear layer they create. / Master of Science / This thesis describes a project aimed at developing a technology inspired by the silent flight of owls, with the end goal of using this technology to reduce the noise generated by wind turbines. Specifically, the phenomenon known as "trailing edge noise" is the primary source of wind turbine noise, and is the noise source of interest here. It occurs when air turbulence (which can be thought of as unsteady air fluctuations) crashes into the rear (trailing) edge of wind turbine blades, scattering and producing noise. Typically, methods of reducing this noise source involve changing the shape of the trailing edge; this may not always be practical for existing wind turbines. Recently, inspired by the downy covering of owl feathers, researchers developed treatments that can be applied directly to the trailing edge, significantly reducing trailing edge noise. This bio-inspired concept was verified with numerous acoustic measurements. Based on those measurements, researchers hypothesized that the noise reduction was achieved by manipulating the incoming turbulence before it scattered off the trailing edge, rather than by changing the existing wind turbine blade, representing a new method of trailing edge noise control. However, as only acoustic measurements (not flow measurements) were reported, the changes in turbulence could not be examined. With the above motivation in mind, this thesis describes a comprehensive wind tunnel experiment to measure the changes in the aerodynamics and turbulence near the bio-inspired treatments, and relate those changes to the reduction in trailing edge noise. This was done using a hot-wire probe to measure the aerodynamics, as well as microphones to measure the radiated noise and surface pressure fluctuations. As a whole, the experimental results led to the shear-sheltering hypothesis: the bio-inspired treatments are effective based on the creation of a shear layer (a thin region between areas with different air speeds) which shelters the trailing edge from some turbulence, as well as by de-correlating surface pressure fluctuations along the trailing edge.