Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure all three instantaneous components of the velocity field in streamwise–spanwise planes of a turbulent boundary layer at Reτ=1060 (Reθ=2500). Datasets were obtained in the logarithmic layer and beyond. The vector fields in the log layer (z+=92 and 150) revealed signatures of vortex packets similar to those proposed by Adrian and co-workers in their PIV experiments. Groups of legs of hairpin vortices appeared to be coherently arranged in the streamwise direction. These regions also generated substantial Reynolds shear stress, sometimes as high as 40 times −uw. A feature extraction algorithm was developed to automate the identification and characterization of these packets of hairpin vortices. Identified patches contributed 28% to −uw while occupying only 4% of the total area at z+=92. At z+=150, these patches occupied 4.5% of the total area while contributing 25% to −uw. Beyond the log layer (z+=198 and 530), the spatial organization into packets is seen to break down.

Large-scale secondary flows can sometimes appear in turbulent boundary layers formed over rough surfaces creating low-and high-momentum pathways along the surface (Barros & Christensen 2014). We experimentally investigate the dependence of these secondary flows on surface/flow conditions by measuring the flows over streamwise strips of roughness with systematically-varied spanwise spacing. We find that the large-scale secondary flows are accentuated when the spacing of the roughness elements is roughly proportional to the boundary layer thickness, and do not appear for cases with finer spacing. Cases with coarser spacings also generate δ-scale secondary flows with tertiary flows in the spaces in between. These results show that the ratio of the spanwise length scale of roughness heterogeneity to the boundary layer thickness is a critical parameter for the occurrence of these secondary motions in turbulent boundary layers over rough walls.

In this study we examine the impact of the strength of the large-scale motions on the amplitude and frequency of the small scales in high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers. Time series of hot-wire data are decomposed into large- and small-scale components, and the impact of the large scale on the amplitude and frequency of the small scales is considered. The amplitude modulation effect is examined by conditionally averaging the small-scale intensity (${ u}_{S}^{2} $) for various values of the large-scale fluctuation (${u}_{L} $). It is shown that ${ u}_{S}^{2} $ increases with increasing value of ${u}_{L} $ in the near-wall region, whereas, farther away from the wall, ${ u}_{S}^{2} $ decreases with increasing ${u}_{L} $. The rate of increase in small-scale intensity with the strength of the large-scale signal is neither symmetric (about ${u}_{L} = 0$) nor linear. The extent of the frequency modulation is examined by counting the number of occurrences of local maxima or minima in the small-scale signal. It is shown that the frequency modulation effect is confined to the near-wall region and its extent diminishes rapidly beyond ${y}^{+ } = 100$. A phase lag between the large- and small-scale fluctuations, in terms of amplitude modulation, has also been identified, which is in agreement with previous studies. The phase lag between large- and small-scale fluctuations for frequency modulation is comparable to that of amplitude modulation in the near-wall region. The combined effect of both amplitude and frequency modulation is also examined by computing conditional spectra of the small-scale signal conditioned on the large scales. In the near-wall region, the results indicate that the peak value of pre-multiplied spectra increases with increasing value of ${u}_{L} $, indicating amplitude modulation, while the frequency at which this peak occurs also increases with increasing value of ${u}_{L} $, revealing frequency modulation. The overall trends observed from the conditional spectra are consistent with the results obtained through statistical analyses. Finally, a physical mechanism that can capture most of the above observations is also presented.

Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are made in streamwisespanwise and inclined cross-stream planes (inclined at 45 • and 135 • to the principal flow direction) of a turbulent boundary layer at moderate Reynolds number (Re τ ∼ 1100). Two-point spatial velocity correlations computed using the PIV data reveal results that are consistent with an earlier study in which packets of hairpin vortices were identified by a feature-detection algorithm in the log region, but not in the outer wake region. Both streamwise-streamwise (R uu) and streamwise-wall-normal (R uw) correlations are significant for streamwise displacements of more than 1500 wall units. Zero crossing data for the streamwise fluctuating component u reveal that streamwise strips between zero crossings of 1500 wall units or longer occur more frequently for negative u than positive u, suggesting that long streamwise correlations in R uu are dominated by slower streamwise structures. Additional analysis of R ww correlations suggests that the long streamwise slow-moving regions contain discrete zones of strong upwash over extended streamwise distances, as might occur within packets of angled hairpin vortices. At a wall-normal location outside of the log region (z/δ = 0.5), the correlations are shorter in the streamwise direction and broader in the spanwise direction. Correlations in the inclined cross-stream plane data reveal good agreement with the streamwise-spanwise plane. R uu in the 45 • plane is more elongated along the in-plane wall-normal direction than in the 135 • plane, which is consistent with the presence of hairpin packets with a low-speed region lifting away from the wall.

An array of surface hot-film shear-stress sensors together with a traversing hot-wire probe is used to identify the conditional structure associated with a large-scale skin-friction event in a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer. It is found that the large-scale skin-friction events convect at a velocity that is much faster than the local mean in the near-wall region (the convection velocity for large-scale skin-friction fluctuations is found to be close to the local mean at the midpoint of the logarithmic region). Instantaneous shear-stress data indicate the presence of large-scale structures at the wall that are comparable in scale and arrangement to the superstructure events that have been previously observed to populate the logarithmic regions of turbulent boundary layers. Conditional averages of streamwise velocity computed based on a low skin-friction footprint at the wall offer a wider three-dimensional view of the average superstructure event. These events consist of highly elongated forward-leaning low-speed structures, flanked on either side by high-speed events of similar general form. An analysis of small-scale energy associated with these large-scale events reveals that the small-scale velocity fluctuations are attenuated near the wall and upstream of a low skin-friction event, while downstream and above the low skin-friction event, the fluctuations are significantly amplified. In general, it is observed that the attenuation and amplification of the small-scale energy seems to approximately align with large-scale regions of streamwise acceleration and deceleration, respectively. Further conditional averaging based on streamwise skin-friction gradients confirms this observation. A conditioning scheme to detect the presence of meandering large-scale structures is also proposed. The large-scale meandering events are shown to be a possible source of the strong streamwise velocity gradients, and as such play a significant role in modulating the small-scale motions.

The relationship between the upstream boundary layer and the low-frequency, large-scale unsteadiness of the separated flow in a Mach 2 compression ramp interaction is investigated by performing wide-field particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser scattering (PLS) measurements in streamwise–spanwise planes. Planar laser scattering measurements in the upstream boundary layer indicate the presence of spanwise strips of elongated regions of uniform momentum with lengths greater than 40δ. These long coherent structures have been observed in a Mach 2 supersonic boundary layer (Ganapathisubramani, Clemens & Dolling 2006) and they exhibit strong similarities to those that have been found in incompressible boundary layers (Tomkins & Adrian 2003; Ganapathisubramani, Longmire & Marusic 2003). At a wall-normal location of y/δ=0.2, the inferred instantaneous separation line of the separation region is found to oscillate between x/δ=−3 and −1 (where x/δ=0 is the ramp corner). The instantaneous spanwise separation line is found to respond to the elongated regions of uniform momentum. It is shown that high- and low-momentum regions are correlated with smaller and larger size of the separation region, respectively. Furthermore, the instantaneous separation line exhibits large-scale undulations that conform to the low- and high-speed regions in the upstream boundary layer. The low-frequency unsteadiness of the separation region/shock foot observed in numerous previous studies can be explained by a turbulent mechanism that includes these elongated regions of uniform momentum.

The scale interactions occurring within a turbulent boundary layer are investigated in the presence of free-stream turbulence. The free-stream turbulence is generated by an active grid. The free stream is monitored by a single-component hot-wire probe while a second probe is roved across the height of the boundary layer at the same streamwise location. Large-scale structures occurring in the free-stream are shown to penetrate the boundary layer and increase the streamwise velocity fluctuations throughout. It is speculated that depending on the extent of the penetration, i.e. based on the level of freestream turbulence, the near-wall turbulence production peaks at different wall-normal locations than the expected location of y + ≈15 for a canonical turbulent boundary layer.It is shown that the large-scales dominating the log region have a modulating effect on the small-scales in the near wall region; this effect becomes more significant with increasing turbulence in the free-stream, i.e. similarly increasing Re λ0 . This modulating interaction and its Reynolds number trend have similarities with canonical turbulent boundary layers at high Reynolds numbers where the interaction between the large-scales and the envelope of the small-scales exhibit a pure amplitude modulation (Hutchins & Marusic 2007a;Mathis et al. 2009). This similarity has encouraging implications toward generalising scale interactions in turbulent boundary layers.

An experimental investigation of a turbulent boundary-layer flow over a heterogeneous surface is carried out to examine the mean flow and turbulence characteristics, and to document the variation of skin friction that might affect the applicability of traditional scaling and similarity laws. The heterogeneity is imposed along the spanwise direction and consists of streamwise-aligned smooth raised strips whose spanwise spacing $S$ is comparable to the boundary-layer thickness ($S/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}=O(1)$). Single-point velocity measurements alongside direct skin-friction measurements are used to examine the validity of Townsend’s similarity hypothesis. The skin-friction coefficients reveal that the drag of the heterogeneous surface increased up to 35 % compared to a smooth wall, while velocity measurements reveal the existence of a log layer but with a zero-plane displacement and a roughness function that vary across the spanwise direction. Lack of collapse in the outer region of the mean velocity and variance profiles is attributed to the secondary flows induced by the heterogeneous surfaces. Additionally, the lack of similarity also extends to the spectra across all scales in the near-wall region with a gradual collapse at small wavelengths for increasing $S$. This suggests that the effect of surface heterogeneity is not necessarily felt at the smaller scales other than to reorganise their presence through turbulent transport.