Generation, Evolution, and Characterization of Turbulence Coherent Structures

Turbulence stands as one of the most complicated and attractive physical phenomena. The accumulated knowledge has shown turbulent flow to be composed of islands of vortices and uniform-momentum regions, which are coherent in both time and space. Research has been concentrated on these structures, their generation, evolution, and interaction with the mean flow. Different theories and conceptual models were proposed with the aim of controlling the boundary layer flow and improving numerical simulations. Here, we review the different classes of turbulence coherent structures and the presumable generation mechanisms for each. The conceptual models describing the generation of turbulence coherent structures are generally classified under two categories, namely, the bottom-up mechanisms and the top-down mechanisms. The first assumes turbulence to be generated near the surface by some sort of instabilities, whereas the second assigns an active role to the large outer layer structures, perhaps the turbulent bulges. Both categories of models coexist in the flow with the first dominating turbulence generation at low Reynolds number and the second at high Reynolds number, such as the case in the atmospheric boundary layer

Modulation of the atmospheric turbulence coherent structures by mesoscale motions

The precise modeling of turbulence is indispensable for weather forecasting and environmental heat-removal and pollution-dispersion assessment. Models rely on correlations derived from field measurements. Unfortunately, the readings are usually contaminated with mesoscale motions which alter turbulence statistics and mislead the characterization of turbulence coherent structures, the drivers of the heat and mass transport process. This article depicts the interference of the mesoscales in turbulence statistics and coherent structure detection. Atmospheric measurements were taken at EKOMAR on the east coast of Malaysia. Two ultrasonic anemometers at heights of 1.7 and 12 m were utilized. Twelve samples from the convective atmospheric boundary layer were analyzed. Spectral and auto-correlation analysis were conducted to assess the weight of the mesoscales relative to the shear coherent structure scales. The structure inclination angle and timescale were calculated for the wind speed signal with and without the mesoscale scales filtered out. It was found that these interfering structures largely shifts the calculated length- and time-scales of the coherent structures. The improper filtration of the signal may delete part of the coherent structures and hence worsen the situation

Flow structure in modern cities: wind tunnel investigation

Natural ventilation dominates the heat dissipation and pollutant dispersion in modern cities. Investigations into the flow structure and urban heat island in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) have been conducted by a few researchers. However, these studies were mainly accomplished by means of computational fluid dynamics. The critical problem with computational analysis is the lack of verification. As such, in this research, experimental tools such as the wind tunnel, hotwire anemometry, Pitot tube, and pressure and temperature sensors were utilized. The aim was to assess the ventilation performance of different city models with a height-to-width ratio that was similar to that of the KLCC. Several steps had to be performed before starting the study, among these being the building of the model. A 6×6 array of uniform acrylic blocks (50×50×100 mm) were arranged in line at equal distances. Three arrangements, representing different building densities (35, 25 and 15 %), were examined in the current research. The freestream wind speed was fixed at 5 m/s. The flow was found to be comprised of vortical structures, and attained an energetic turbulence in the downstream of the building areas as compared to the free flow areas. This study suggests keeping the plane area ratio in high-rise building cities within a 15-25% range. The study is beneficial to town planners as the construction of more skyscrapers is being planned

Computational fluid dynamics simulation on the heat sink performance of a graphics processing unit thermal management

The article focuses on the numerical investigation of temperature distribution in a central processing units (CPU) case with different time interval such as t = 100 s, 200 s, 300 s, 400 s, 500 s. Heat sink performance of a graphics processing unit (GPU) thermal management and impacts of different shape and velocity on the thermal performance are considered. In this study, three heat sink models are designed (A, B, and C) based on the volume area of heat sink. This study emphasizes the heat transfer phenomena caused by a GPU in a computer case in both steady state and transient state. A CFD software STAR – CCM + is used to carry out to study the fluid flow and heat transfer simulation of graphics card heat sink in a computer case and the same time an enhanced method of reducing the temperature of GPU is proposed. The results show that heat sink B with the least volume area, has the fastest rate of heat exchange followed by heat sink C and heat sink A. Likewise, the result indicates an inverse relationship between the volume and the total surface of the heat sink and the final temperature of the graphics card chip. As the total volume and surface of the heat sink increases, the rate of heat transfer increases via faster rate of conduction between graphics card chip to heat sink meanwhile the cooling of the heat sink is aided by wind inlet via convection

Wind Turbulence Statistics of the Atmospheric Inertial Sublayer under Near-Neutral Conditions

The inertial sublayer comprises a considerable and critical portion of the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The mean windward velocity profile is described comprehensively by the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, which is equivalent to the logarithmic law of the wall in the wind tunnel boundary layer. Similar logarithmic relations have been recently proposed to correlate turbulent velocity variances with height based on Townsend’s attached-eddy theory. The theory is particularly valid for high Reynolds-number flows, for example, atmospheric flow. However, the correlations have not been thoroughly examined, and a well-established model cannot be reached for all turbulent variances similar to the law of the wall of the mean-velocity. Moreover, the effect of atmospheric thermal condition on Townsend’s model has not been determined. In this research, we examined a dataset of free wind flow under a near-neutral range of atmospheric stability conditions. The results of the mean velocity reproduce the law of the wall with a slope of 2.45 and intercept of −13.5. The turbulent velocity variances were fitted by logarithmic profiles consistent with those in the literature. The windward and crosswind velocity variances obtained the average slopes of −1.3 and −1.7, respectively. The slopes and intercepts generally increased away from the neutral state. Meanwhile, the vertical velocity and temperature variances reached the ground-level values of 1.6 and 7.8, respectively, under the neutral condition. The authors expect this article to be a groundwork for a general model on the vertical profiles of turbulent statistics under all atmospheric stability conditions

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially