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Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent flow in a rotating channel with a sudden expansion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2014
Abstract
The effects of spanwise rotation on the channel flow across a symmetric sudden expansion are investigated using direct numerical simulation. Four rotation regimes are considered with the same Reynolds number $\mathit{Re}=5000$ and expansion ratio
$\mathit{Er}=3/2$. Upstream from the expansion, inflow turbulent conditions are generated realistically for each rotation rate through a very simple and efficient technique of recycling without the need for any precursor calculation. As the rotation is increased, the flow becomes progressively asymmetric with stabilization (destabilization) effects on the cyclonic (anticyclonic) side, respectively. These rotation effects, already present in the upstream channel, lead further downstream to an increase (reduction) of the separation size behind the cyclonic (anticyclonic) step. In the cyclonic separation, the free-shear layer created behind the step corner leads to the formation of large-scale spanwise vortices that become increasingly two-dimensional as the rotation is increased. Conversely, in the anticyclonic region, the turbulent structures in the separated layer are more elongated in the streamwise direction and also more active in promoting reattachment. For the highest rotation rate, a secondary separation is observed further downstream in the anticyclonic region, leading to the establishment of an elongated recirculation bubble that deflects the main flow towards the cyclonic wall. The highest level of turbulent kinetic energy is obtained at high rotation near the cyclonic reattachment in a region where stabilization effects are expected. The phenomenological model of absolute vortex stretching is found to be useful in understanding how the rotation influences the dynamics in the various regions of the flow.
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- © 2014 Cambridge University Press
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