Proceedings of TURBOEXPO 2004: International Gas Turbine Congress 14-17 June, 2004, Vienna, Austria

GT-2004-53352
TRANSITION ON CONCAVE SURFACES
Antonis Dris and Mark W. Johnson Department of Engineering University of Liverpool Liverpool L69 3GH, UK

ABSTRACT Boundary layer measurements have been made on the concave surfaces of two constant curvature blades using hot wire anemometry. All the current experiments were performed with negligible streamwise pressure gradient. Grids were used to produce a range of freestream turbulence levels between 1% and 4%. The freestream velocity increases with distance from a concave wall according to the free vortex condition making the determination of the boundary layer edge difficult. A flat plate equivalent boundary layer procedure was adopted therefore to overcome this problem. The Taylor-Goertler (T-G) vortices resulting from the concave curvature were found to make the laminar and turbulent boundary layer profiles fuller and to increase the skin friction coeffiicent by up to 40% compared with flat plate values. This leads to a more rapid growth in boundary layer thickness. The evolution in the intermittency through transition is very similar to that for a flat plate, however the shape factors are depressed slightly throughout the flow due to the fuller velocity profiles. For all the current experiments, curvature promoted transition. This was very marked at low freestream turbulence level but remained significant even at the highest levels. It appears that the velocity fluctuations associated with the T-G vortices enhance the freestream turbulence resulting in a higher effective turbulence level. A new empirical correlation for start of transition based on this premise is presented. The ratio of end to start of transition momentum thickness Reynolds numbers was found to be approximately constant. INTRODUCTION The majority of boundary layer research has concentrated on flows on flat plates. Reasonably accurate predictive techniques now exist for attached flows [1,2,3] and much progress has been made over the last few years in understanding and predicting separated flow transition [4,5]. Concave curvature is known [6,7,8] to modify boundary layer development in the laminar, transitional and turbulent regimes because of the presence of Taylor-Goertler (T-G) vortices, which result from the instability induced by the streamline 1

curvature. Generally the spanwise locations of the T-G vortices are only fixed for low Goertler numbers (low curvatures). At higher Goertler numbers (above about 20) the vortices meander across the span. T-G vortices lead to spanwise variations due to the upwash and downwash regions, such that the boundary layer thickness at the upwash location may be as much as double that at the downwash location [9]. The skin fricton coefficient is also lowered at the upwash and raised at the downwash location, although overall the skin friction is increased because of the increased momentum transport resulting from the vortices. The boundary layer profile is also fuller particularly at the downwash location. This has important implications for the boundary layer profile stability. The upwash boundary layer profile has a less stable shape and is also thicker and hence undergoes transition earlier. Transition at the downwash locations follows quickly though through spreading of turbulence from neighbouring upwash positions. The objective of the current work was to determine the effect of curvature on boundary layer growth rates and transition. Blades with a constant radius of curvature were chosen for the work for simplicity. EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS The measurements were performed on the concave surfaces of two blades with constant radii of 0.5m and 1.02m and chords of 0.78m and 1.01m respectively. Each blade had an elliptical leading edge and a span of 0.6m and was placed in the purpose built exit section of a wind tunnel as shown in Figure 1. The section wall opposite the concave surface was shaped such that the streamwise pressure gradient on the concave surface was negligible. A baffle plate behind the blade was adjusted such that the incidence angle at the blade leading edge was negligibly small. The freestream turbulence level was varied between 1% and 4% using turbulence generating grids placed upstream of the blade. Measurements were taken with a miniature hot wire boundary layer probe which was traversed through the boundary layer using a computer controlled traverse system. Boundary layer traverses consisted of a minimum of 50 spatial

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further viscous dissipation such that the normal pressure gradient is relieved. The Bernoulli and continuity equations together with the free vortex condition lead to
ym

u2 = u2 + 2 e m
ye

X
0

u2 m r y m dy m
ym

(1)

and

X u e dy e = X u m dy m
0 0

(2)

Figure 1. Schematic of concave blade working section. data points which were distributed logarithmically to ensure high resolution near the wall. At each measurement point, data samples, typically of 150,000 measurements, were taken from the hot wire signal at a frequency of 10 kHz using an Amplicon A-D card. This voltage data was then linearised to obtain the instantaneous velocities using the hot wire calibration data. The turbulent intermittency was computed in real time using Fasihfar and Johnsons [10] algorithm. The experimental uncertainties in the mean and rms velocities were estimated as 1% and 2% respectively. The uncertainty in the intermittency is more difficult to establish, but is probably around 2%. Further details of the experimental arrangement can be found in Hachem [11] or Dris [12]. Data processing On a concave surface with a constant radius of curvature r, the freestream velocity U varies with the distance y from the wall according to the free vortex condition U(r y ) =constant. The fact that the velocity continues to increase beyond the boundary layer edge means that this point can not be identified as simply as for a flat plate boundary layer. To overcome this problem the flat plate equivalent boundary layer (FPEBL) was determined from the experimental velocities for each boundary layer using the technique due to Riley et al. [9]. The FPEBL is the boundary layer which would be formed if the boundary layer on the concave surface were to flow on to a flat plate with no

where the m and e subscripts refer to the measured and FPEBL values respectively. These equations are integrated numerically to obtain the FPEBL. An example of a measured and FPEBL profile are shown in Figure 2. The boundary layer integral parameters were evaluated from the FPEBL profile. The turbulent intermittency was determined from the digitised hot wire signal following the procedure devised by Fasihfar and Johnson [10]. The start and end of transition locations were identified using the method defined by Narasimha [13] and more recently described by Gostelow [14]. RESULTS Mean velocity profiles Figure 3 shows typical boundary layer profiles through transition on a concave surface. Both the fully laminar ( = 0) and fully turbulent ( = 1) profiles are fuller than the laminar Pohlhausen and turbulent one seventh power law profiles also shown in this figure. Although this type of distortion occurs on flat plates due to high levels of freestream turbulence, the effect measured here is much greater. This is a result which has been observed in other studies (e.g. Volino and Simon [15] ) and is due to the T-G vortices which enhance the momentum transport within the boundary layer. The action of the T-G vortices continues downstream of the transition region. These vortices have fixed spanwise locations at low (less than about 20)

Figure 3. Boundary layer profiles through transition.

0.5 Goertler numbers= U r [16], however in the present study the vortices meandered in the spanwise direction such that separate up and downwash profiles could not be measured.

Figure 2. Measured and flat plate equivalent boundary layer profiles. 2

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Boundary layer development

growth rate of the pre-transitional boundary layer increases with increased blade curvature. The empirical correlation
6 Re = 0.664 Re 0.5 1 + 0.036 10 x Re r

(3)

was found to be a reasonable fit to the data as shown in the figure. This formula reduces to the Blasius formula for a flat plate where Re r is infinite.

Figure 4. Laminar Boundary Layer development.

Figure 7. Comparison of skin friction coefficient with flat plate value for turbulent flow. Figure 5 shows the skin friction coefficient variation through transition. Curvature increases skin friction which is indicative of the fuller profiles. Figures 6 and 7 compare Cf with the flat plate value for the laminar and turbulent profiles, respectively. Cf is enhanced by up to 40% for both laminar and turbulent flow, however for laminar flow the enhancement does not alter with Re, whereas the enhancement decreases with Re in turbulent flow. This suggests that in a laminar flow the T-G vortices have a fixed strength which is only dependent on the amount of curvature, whereas in turbulent flow the vortex structure is increasingly disrupted by the turbulence. The empirical relationships derived from these results were, for the laminar layer
6 Cf = 1 + 0.036 10 C f FP Re r 2

Figure 5. Skin friction coefficient development through transition.

(4)

and for the turbulent layer

6 Cf = 1 + 0.09 10 exp(0.04 Re ) C f FP Re r

(5)

Figure 6. Comparison of skin friction coeffiecient with the flat plate value for laminar flow. Hachem and Johnson [16] identified the blade radius Reynolds number Re r = Ur as a suitable parameter for determining the effect of curvature. Figure 3 shows how the

Equation 4 leads to equation 3 when substituted into the boundary layer momentum integral equation for a zero pressure gradient boundary layer. These expressions can only be considered as approximate because of the degree of scatter in the data. Transition Figure 8 shows the evolution of the near wall turbulence level through transition, which is very similar to that on a flat plate. The near wall location is defined here as being at a 3

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[17]). This is due to the extra fluctuation level resulting from the meandering T-G vortices. The changes in shape factor H through transition are depicted in Figure 9. There is only moderate deviation from the flat plate values. The variation in the laminar region can be most likely attributed to minor deviations from a zero streamwise pressure gradient. It is apparent that the H values decrease slightly with increasing curvature due to the fuller velocity profiles. Some of the measured intermittencies are compared with the Narasimha concentrated breakdown distribution in Figure 10. This distribution matches the data except in the low intermittency range where the measured values are higher. This result is also typical of flat plate results (Johnson and Ercan [18]). The start of transition Re values are plotted in Figure 11. The data of Liepmann [19] and Tani and Aihara [20] show how

Figure 8. Variation in the near wall turbulence level through transition.

Figure 11. Start of transition.

Figure 9. Shape factor variation through transition.

Figure 12. End of transition. even modest curvature strongly promotes transition at low freestream turbulence levels. The current data indicate that although curvature promotes transition the effect at higher freestream turbulence levels is less dramatic. This suggests that the velocity fluctuations associated with the T-G vortices

Figure 10. Intermittency evolution. height of 10% of the boundary layer thickness. One significant difference is that the turbulence in the turbulent layer is slightly higher than the value of 26% found on flat plates (Klebanoff 4

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may combine with the freestream turbulence to enhance the effective turbulence level. The empirical formula

Re

Start

= 400(Tu + 9.9x10 4 Re 0.84 Tu 0.26 ) r

0.625

(6)

Subscripts e Flat Plate Equivalent FP Flat plate value m Measured REFERENCES 1. Abu-Ghannam, B.J. and Shaw, R., Natural Transition of Boundary Layers - The effects of Turbulence, Pressure Gradient and Flow History, Jnl. of Mech. Engg. Sci., Vol. 22, 1980, p 213. 2. Johnson, M.W. and Ercan, A.H., A Physical model for Bypass Transition, Intl. Jnl. of Heat and Fluid Flow, Vol. 20, 1999, p 95. 3. Solomon, W.J., Walker, G.J. and Gostelow, J.P., Transition length prediction for flows with rapidly changing pressure gradients, ASME Jnl. of Turbomachinery, Vol. 118, 1995, p 185. 4. Vicedo, J., Vilmin, S., Dawes, W.N. and Savill, A.M., Intermittency Transport Modelling of Separated Flow Transition, ASME paper GT-2003-38719, 2003. 5. Redford, J.A. and Johnson, M.W., Predicting transitional separation bubbles, ASME paper GT-2004-53353, 2004. 6. Kim J. and Simon T. W., Free-stream turbulence and concave curvature effects on heated transitional boundary layers, Vol. 1, final report, NASA CR 187150, 1991. 7. Kim J., Simon T. W. and Russ S. G., Free-stream turbulence and concave curvature effects on heated transitional boundary layers, ASME Jnl. of Heat Transfer, Vol. 114, 1992, p 338. 8. Schultz M. P. and Volino R. J., Effects of concave curvature on boundary layer transition under high free-stream turbulence conditions, ASME paper GT-2001-0191, 2001. 9. Riley S., Johnson M. W. and Gibbings J. C., Boundary layer transition on strongly concave surfaces, ASME paper 89-GT-321, 1989. 10. Fasihfar A. and Johnson M. W., An improved boundary layer transition correlation, ASME paper 92-GT-245, 1992. 11. Hachem F., Boundary layer transition on concave surfaces, PhD thesis, Dept. of Engineering, University of Liverpool, 1989. 12. Dris A., Boundary layer transition on a flat plate and concave surfaces, PhD thesis, Dept. of Engineering, University of Liverpool, 2003. 13. Narasimha R., On the distribution of intermittency in the transition region of a boundary layer, Jnl. of Aeronautical Sc., Vol. 24, 1957, p 711. 14. Gostelow, J.P. and Walker, G.J., Similarity behaviour in transitional boundary layers over a range of adverse pressure gradients and turbulence levels, ASME Jnl. of Turbomachinery, Vol. 113, 1991, p 617. 15. Volino R. J. and Simon T. W., Measurements in a transitional boundary layer with Grtler vortices, ASME Jnl. of Turbomachinery, Vol. 119, 1997, p 562. 16. Hachem F. and Johnson M. W., A boundary layer transition correlation for concave surfaces, ASME paper 90-GT-222, 1990. 17. Klebanoff P. S., Characteristics of turbulence in boundary layers with zero pressure gradient, National Bureau of Standards, NACA TN No. 3178, 1954.

is found to be a reasonable fit to the data. This equation is an adaption of the Mayle [21] equation where the turbulence term has been enhanced by the curvature. The end of transition momentum thickness Reynolds number is plotted in Figure 12. The Abu-Ghannam and Shaw correlation

Re

End

= 2.667 Re
End

Start

(7)

over estimates the value for Re with Re

End

. A better fit was obtained

CONCLUSIONS 1. A flat plate equivalent boundary layer profile has been used in evaluating integral parameters to overcome the difficulty that the freestream velocity increases with distance from a concave wall. 2. Velocity profiles on concave surfaces are fuller then on flat plates both in the laminar and turbulent flow regions due to the additional momentum transport generated by the T-G vortices. 3. The skin friction coefficient is increased by the T-G vortices. This leads to boundary layer growth rates up to 40% higher than on a flat plate. 4. The shape factor is decreased slightly in all flow regions by curvature. 5. The fluctuation velocity and intermittency variations through transition are very similar to those on a flat plate. 6. Concave curvature promotes transition. This effect is extremely strong at low freestream turbulence levels but more modest at higher levels. FUTURE WORK Hot wire signals obtained in the current work have been used to determine the receptivity of the pre-transitional boundary layer to freestream turbulence using the near wall gain defined by Johnson and Ercan. These results will be used to extend the transition model originated by Johnson and Ercan for flat plates to concave surfaces. NOMENCLATURE Cf Skin friction coefficient r Blade radius H Shape factor Rer Blade radius Reynolds number Rex Surface length Reynolds number Re Momentum thickness Reynolds number u Local velocity U Freestream velocity y Wall normal coordinate Intermittency Boundary layer momentum thickness Kinematic viscosity Distance from start of transition non-dimensionalised with the distance between the 25% and 75% intermittency points 5

= 1.85 Re

Start

(8)

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18. Johnson, M.W. and Ercan, A.H., Predicting Bypass Transition: A Physical Model versus Empirical Correlations, Proc. ASME paper 97-GT-475, 1997. 19. Liepmann H. W., Investigations on laminar boundary-layer stability and transition on curved boundaries, NACA Wartime Report W-107, 1943. 20. Tani, I. and Aihara Y., Grtler vortices and boundary layer transition, Z. Angew. Math. Phys., Vol. 20, p 609, 1969. 21. Mayle R. E., The role of laminar-turbulent transition in gas turbine engines, ASME Jnl. of Turbomachinery, Vol. 113, 1991, p 509.

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