The effect of slip surfaces on the laminar–turbulent separatrix of plane Poiseuille flow is studied by direct numerical simulation. In laminar flows, the inclusion of the slip surfaces results in a drag reduction of over 10 %, which is in good agreement with previous studies and the theory of laminar slip flows. Turbulence lifetimes, the likelihood that turbulence is sustained, is investigated for transitional flows with various slip lengths. We show that slip surfaces decrease the likelihood of sustained turbulence compared to the no-slip case, and the likelihood is further decreased as slip length is increased. A more deterministic analysis of the effects of slip surfaces on a transition to turbulence is performed by using nonlinear travelling-wave solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations, also known as exact coherent solutions. Two solution families, dubbed P3 and P4, are used since their lower-branch solutions are embedded on the boundary of the basin of attraction of laminar and turbulent flows (Park & Graham, J. Fluid Mech. , vol. 782, 2015, pp. 430–454). Additionally, they exhibit distinct flow structures – the P3 and P4 are denoted as core mode and critical-layer mode, respectively. Distinct effects of slip surfaces on the solutions are observed by the skin-friction evolution, linear growth rate and phase-space projection of transitional trajectories. The slip surface appears to modify the transition dynamics very little for the core mode, but quite considerably for the critical-layer mode. Most importantly, the slip surface promotes different transition dynamics – an early and bypass-like transition for the core mode and a delayed and H- or K-type-like transition for the critical-layer mode. We explain these distinct transition dynamics based on spatio-temporal and quadrant analyses. It is found that slip surfaces promote the prevalence of strong wall-toward motions (sweep-like events) near vortex cores close to the channel centre, inducing an early transition, while long sustained ejection events are present in the region of the $$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6EC}$$ -shaped vortex cores close to the critical layer, resulting in a delayed transition. This should motivate flow control strategies to fully exploit these distinct transition dynamics for transition to turbulence.
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On Stokes' second problem solutions in cylindrical and Cartesian domains
It is well known that drag created by turbulent flow over a surface can be reduced by oscillating the surface in the direction transverse to the mean flow. Efforts to understand the mechanism by which this occurs often apply the solution for laminar flow in the infinite half-space over a planar, oscillating wall (Stokes’ second problem) through the viscous and buffer layer of the streamwise turbulent flow. This approach is used for flows having planar surfaces, such as channel flow, and flows over curved surfaces, such as the interior of round pipes. However, surface curvature introduces an additional effect that can be significant, especially when the viscous region is not small compared to the pipe radius. The exact solutions for flow over transversely oscillating walls in a laminar pipe and planar channel flow are compared to the solution of Stokes’ second problem to determine the effects of wall curvature and/or finite domain size. It is shown that a single non-dimensional parameter, the Womersley number, can be used to scale these effects and that both effects become small at a Womersley number of greater than about 6.51, which is the Womersley number based on the thickness of the Stokes’ layer of the classical solution.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1944568
- PAR ID:
- 10388145
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physics of fluids
- Volume:
- 34
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1527-2435
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 103615
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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