ME438 Combustion MIDTERM 6 MAY 2021

Instructor: Dr Iskender Gökalp

Teaching assistant: Kaan Gürel

One of the main physical ideas to represent a turbulent flow is to model it

by a spectrum of eddies. An eddy is a flow structure represented by a
vortical flow element convected by the mean flow, for which the average
rotational velocity and diameter characterize the relevant velocity and
length scales. The magnitude of the vortical velocity of an eddy is a
measure of the intensity of the turbulent fluctuations. To estimate the
length scales of the eddies, a normalized space correlation can be
defined based on the velocities at two adjacent points in the flow, x and
x + r, where r is a spatial distance in the direction of x.

The model also assumes that the turbulence energy is extracted from the
mean flow energy by some large scale eddies and is transmitted to
smaller scales by the energy dissipation process which cascades the
energy from large eddies to smaller and smaller eddies. At the smaller
eddy end of the spectrum, these eddies are so small that they are
dissipated by the viscosity. This dissipation process occurs at a
constant rate for each eddy scale. This is called the dissipation rate of
the turbulence kinetic energy ki (for a given eddy “i”) divided by the
characteristic time scale ti (a kind of eddy turn over time) of the same
eddy (in all relations/equations below the sign “∞” should be understood
as “proportional to”):

ki ∞ ui2 ti ∞ ℓi / ui ɛ ∞ ui3 / ℓi

For the large energetic eddies, we introduce a length scale ℓi = L, we call

the integral length scale, and the corresponding velocity fluctuation
ui = u, therefore : ɛ ∞ u3 / L

For the smallest eddies that are dissipated by viscosity, we introduce a

length scale we call the Kolmogorov length scale ℓk
3
and the corresponding Kolmogorov velocity scale uk, so that ɛ = uk / ℓk

The energy cascade (or the energy transfer from large scales to small
scales), is only determined by two parameters: the dissipation rate ɛ and
the kinematic viscosity ν

1
QUESTION1: By using the Buckinghan PI theorem, determine the
expressions of the

Kolmogorov length scale, ℓk

Kolmogorov time scale, tk

Kolmogorov velocity scale, uk

only in terms of ɛ and ν

QUESTION2: Using the above relations and the expression of the

dissipation rate for the integral scale

ɛ ∞ u3 / L

demonstrate the power law between the ratio of the integral length
scale and the Kolmogorov length scale, L / ℓk, and the turbulent
Reynolds number based on the integral length scale and its associated
fluctuation velocity, ReL = u L / ν , such as

L / ℓk ∞ (ReL)n , n being the power to determine

QUESTION3: Demonstrate the following relationship

ReL = Da2 . Ka2

between the Damköhler number (Da) defined as the ratio between the
integral time scale tL and the chemical time scale (or the characteristic
laminar flame time scale) tF,

the Karlovitz number (Ka) defined as the ratio between the chemical
time scale tF and the Kolmogorov time scale tk

and the turbulent Reynolds number based on the integral length scale,
ReL