It has been suggested that hairpin vortices may play a key role in developing and sustaining the turbulence process in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. To examine this suggestion, a study was done of the hairpin vortices generated by the interaction of a hemisphere protuberancee within a developing laminar boundary layer. Under the proper conditions, hairpin vortices are shed extremely periodically, which allows detailed examination of their behaviour. Shedding characteristics of the hemispheres were determined using hot-film-anemometry techniques. The flow patterns created by the presence of the hairpin vortices have been documented using flow visualization and hot-film-anemometry techniques, and cross-compared with the patterns observed in the near-wall of a fully turbulent boundary layer. In general, it has been observed that many of the visual patterns observed in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer can also be observed in the wake of the hairpin-shedding hemisphere, which appears supportive of the importance of hairpin vortices in the near-wall turbulence production process. Furthermore, velocity measurements indicate the presence of strong inflexional profiles just downstream of the hairpin-vortex generation region which evolve into fuller profiles with downstream distance, eventually developing a remarkable similarity to a turbulent-boundary-layer velocity profile.

It has been suggested that hairpin vortices are a major sustaining flow structure involved in the perpetuation of turbulent boundary layers, although their origin within the boundary layer is unclear. One hypothesis is that hairpin structures are formed by the breakdown of the low-speed streak structures which develop adjacent to the surface beneath turbulent boundary layers. To examine this hypothesis, a water-channel study has been done which utilizes injection through surface slots in a flat plate to create artificial low-speed streak-type regions beneath a laminar boundary layer. Under appropriate conditions, these synthesized low-speed streaks develop a three-dimensional, shear-layer instability which breaks down to form a hairpin-vortex street. Employing both flow visualization and anemometry measurements, the characteristics of these hairpin structures and the parameters influencing their generation have been examined. The hairpin streets were determined to develop in a very periodic and repeatable manner within a definite range of flow parameters. Detailed flow patterns obtained using dye and hydrogen bubbles, both individually and collectively, indicate a remarkable similarity with previously observed patterns in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. In addition, the development of the hairpin structures is observed to be quite sensitive to external forcing, as well as exhibiting a tendency for organized development of larger, more complex structures through a pairing-type process. Velocity measurements indicate the initial presence of strong inflexional profiles which evolve rapidly to velocity and turbulence-intensity profiles commensurate with those associated with turbulent boundary layers, but which do not exhibit the marked spreading associated with turbulence.

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