Experiments on the flow past a circular cylinder at very high Reynolds number

Measurements on a large circular cylinder in a pressurized wind tunnel at Reynolds numbers from 10^6 to 10^7 reveal a high Reynolds number transition in which the drag coefficient increases from its low supercritical value to a value 0.7 at R = 3.5 × 10^6 and then becomes constant. Also, for R > 3.5 × 10^6, definite vortex shedding occurs, with Strouhal number 0.27

On the problem of turbulence

A central theme in the history of the turbulence problem is about the method of ‘closure’ in the models and ‘theories’ which have been proposed. Closure has invariably been by empirical calibration with experimental data. In this note we draw attention to a paper by Morris, Giridharan and Lilley, in which for the first time empiricism is obviated. For the turbulent mixing layer, this is accomplished by including in its description the mechanism for production of turbulent shear stress (i.e. turbulent momentum transfer), by large-scale instability waves. Some implications for the theory of turbulent shear flows are discussed

The compressible turbulent shear layer: an experimental study

The growth rate and turbulent structure of the compressible, plane shear layer are investigated experimentally in a novel facility. In this facility, it is possible to flow similar or dissimilar gases of different densities and to select different Mach numbers for each stream. Ten combinations of gases and Mach numbers are studied in which the free-stream Mach numbers range from 0.2 to 4. Schlieren photography of 20-ns exposure time reveals very low spreading rates and large-scale structures. The growth of the turbulent region is defined by means of Pitot-pressure profiles measured at several streamwise locations. A compressibility-effect parameter is defined that correlates and unifies the experimental results. It is the Mach number in a coordinate system convecting with the velocity of the dominant waves and structures of the shear layer, called here the convective Mach number. It happens to have nearly the same value for each stream. In the current experiments, it ranges from 0 to 1.9. The correlations of the growth rate with convective Mach number fall approximately onto one curve when the growth rate is normalized by its incompressible value at the same velocity and density ratios. The normalized growth rate, which is unity for incompressible flow, decreases rapidly with increasing convective Mach number, reaching an asymptotic value of about 0.2 for supersonic convective Mach numbers

An experimental study of geometrical effects on the drag and flow field of two bluff bodies separated by a gap

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the shielding effects of various disks placed coaxially upstream of an axisymmetric, flat-faced cylinder. Remarkable decrease of the drag of such a system was observed for certain combinations of the basic geometric parameters, namely the diameter and gap ratios. For such optimum shielding the stream surface which separates from the disk reattaches smoothly onto the front edge of the cylinder, in what is close to a ‘free-streamline’ flow; alternatively, the flow may be viewed as a cavity flow. For the optimum as well as other geometries, flow pictures, pressure distributions and some LDV measurements were also obtained. From these, several flow regimes depending on the gap/diameter parameters were identified. Variations on the axisymmetric disk–cylinder configuration included a hemispherical frontbody, rounding of the front edge of the cylinder and a change from circular to square cross-section

On the Effect of Air Pressure on Strouhal Number

The experimental measurements of reference 1 show an effect of free-stream pressure on Reynolds Number relation for a vortex-shedding cylinder

Some Measurements of Flow in a Rectangular Cutout

The flow in a rectangular cavity, or slot, in the floor or a wind tunnel is described by the results or pressure and velocity measurements. Pressure distributions on the cavity walls as well as measurements of friction are presented. The effects of varying depth-breadth ratio are shown

The effect of a density difference on shear-layer instability

Measurements of mass flow rate and mean density have been made in separated laminar boundary layers with large transverse density gradients. Two-dimensional shear layers were formed by exhausting a half-jet of one gas into a reservoir of another gas with a different molecular weight. Two freons with a density ratio of 1-98 and unusual properties which permitted the measurement of the mass flow rate with a single hot wire were used. A n analysis of the mass flow rate fluctuations showed that a negative density gradient (i.e. light gas flowing into heavy) increases the amplification rate of the instability oscillations and reduces the frequency and wave number. Opposite trends were observed when the density gradient was positive. These findings are in agreement with recent theoretical predictions

On density effects and large structure in turbulent mixing layers

Plane turbulent mixing between two streams of different gases (especially nitrogen and helium) was studied in a novel apparatus. Spark shadow pictures showed that, for all ratios of densities in the two streams, the mixing layer is dominated by large coherent structures. High-speed movies showed that these convect at nearly constant speed, and increase their size and spacing discontinuously by amalgamation with neighbouring ones. The pictures and measurements of density fluctuations suggest that turbulent mixing and entrainment is a process of entanglement on the scale of the large structures; some statistical properties of the latter are used to obtain an estimate of entrainment rates. Large changes of the density ratio across the mixing layer were found to have a relatively small effect on the spreading angle; it is concluded that the strong effects, which are observed when one stream is supersonic, are due to compressibility effects, not density effects, as has been generally supposed

Structure of Turbulent Shear Flows: A New Look

The problem of turbulent now continues to be an outstanding one in technology and in physics. Of the nine Dryden research lectures so far, four have been on some aspect of the turbulence problem. At meetings such as this one the turbulence problem is always the subject of some sessions and lurks in the background of many others; for example, separated now, combustion, jet noise, chemical lasers, atmospheric problems, etc. It is continually the subject of conferences, workshops and reviews. In his time Hugh Dryden wrote several reviews of turbulent now. In reading some of them again, one statement particularly relevant to the present lecture caught my attention: "-it is necessary to separate the random processes from the nonrandom processes. It is not yet fully clear what the random elements are in turbulent now." Neither is it fully clear what the nonrandom, orderly elements are, but some of them are beginning to be recognized and described. Generally the picture one has had of turbulence is of chaos and disorder, implicit in the name. Although it was known that organized motion could exist, superimposed on the background of "turbulence," for example, vortex shedding from a circular cylinder up to Reynolds numbers of 10^7, such examples were regarded as special cases closely tied to their particular geometric origins and not characteristic of "well-developed" turbulence. It was known that large structures are important in the development of turbulent shear flows and that these ought to possess some definable features. But even when the concept of a characteristic "big eddy" was explored, it was usually in the context of a statistical quantity. The earliest and most decisive attempts to define the form of such large eddies were made by Townsend and his students. In recent years it has become increasingly evident that turbulent shear flows do contain structures or eddies whose description is more deterministic than had been thought, possessing identifiable characteristics, existing for significant lifetimes, and producing recognizable and important events. More accurate descriptions of their properties, how they fit into the complete description of a turbulent flow, to what extent are they central to its development, and how they can be reconciled with the apparent chaos and disorder, are problems which are becoming of interest to an increasing number of researchers. It is the purpose of this lecture to describe some of these new developments. The discussion will draw largely on experiences from our own laboratory; it is not intended to be a complete survey. Other discussions of these ideas can be found in various recent publications