Particle image velocimetry and filtered Rayleigh scattering experiments were performed over a range of Reynolds numbers to study the scaling and structure of a smooth, flat-plate turbulent boundary layer with a free stream Mach number of 7.5. The measurements indicate few, if any, dynamic differences due to Mach number. Mean and fluctuating streamwise velocities in the outer layer show strong similarity to incompressible flows at comparable Reynolds numbers when scaled according to van Driest and Morkovin. In addition, correlation lengths and structure angles based on velocity statistics were found to be less sensitive to compressibility than indicated by previous studies based on density fields or mass-weighted statistics, suggesting that the density and velocity fields obey different scaling. Finally, the boundary layer displays uniform momentum zones, with the number of these zones similar to incompressible boundary layers at comparable Reynolds numbers.
The effects of stable thermal stratification on turbulent boundary layers are experimentally investigated for smooth and rough walls. For weak to moderate stability, the turbulent stresses are seen to scale with the wall shear stress, compensating for changes in fluid density in the same manner as done for compressible flows. This suggests little change in turbulent structure within this regime. At higher levels of stratification turbulence no longer scales with the wall shear stress and turbulent production by mean shear collapses, but without the preferential damping of near-wall motions observed in previous studies. We suggest that the weakly stable and strongly stable (collapsed) regimes are delineated by the point where the turbulence no longer scales with the local wall shear stress, a significant departure from previous definitions. The critical stratification separating these two regimes closely follows the linear stability analysis of Schlichting (Z. Angew. Math. Mech., vol. 15 (6), 1935, pp. 313–338) for both smooth and rough surfaces, indicating that a good predictor of critical stratification is the gradient Richardson number evaluated at the wall. Wall-normal and shear stresses follow atmospheric trends in the local gradient Richardson number scaling of Sorbjan (Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 136, 2010, pp. 1243–1254), suggesting that much can be learned about stratified atmospheric flows from the study of laboratory scale boundary layers at relatively low Reynolds numbers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.