Turbulence Prof. E.G.

Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

Chapter 1

Lecture 4

Introduction - 4
Topics

1.3.1 Statistical features (contd..)

(II) Moments of U
(III) Central moments
Example 1.1
Example 1.2

(II) Moments of U
The mean values of the various powers of U are called moments.
The first moment or the mean is :
t0 +T  (1.19)
1
U =
T 
t0
U dt =  U P(U)dU


The fluctuating part of U is : u = U - U .

Then, in the case of a stationary random phenomenon, the average of u’ is :

t0  T   

   
1
u = U-U dt = U-U P U dU   UP(U)dU-U  P(U)dU = U-U = 0 (1.20)
T t0   

Average of the nth power of U is called nth moment i.e.:

The nth moment of U is :
t0 +T 
1
  U P U dU
n
U = Un dt = n
(1.20a)
T t0 

Some properties of averages:

At this stage, the following properties of the averaging process can be noted.
Let, P = P +p' & Q=Q + q' be the two stationary random fluctuating quantities. Then
from Eq.(1.20) :
p = 0 , q = 0
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Chapter-1

Hence,
P+Q = (P+p)+(Q+q) = (P+Q)+(p +q) = P+Q (1.21)

cP = cP , where, c is a constant. (1.22)

(1.22)

PQ = P+p Q+q  
= PQ+Pq +p'Q+p'q' = PQ+p'q' (1.23)
(1.23)

P P  x + x  -P(x) P  x  x   P  x  P
= Lim x  0   (1.24)
x x x x
Note : The term pq appears in Eq.(1.23) as a result of averaging over product of two
fluctuating quantities. In chapter 3, it will be shown that this gives rise to Reynolds
stresses and turbulent heat fluxes.

(III) Central moments :

The moments of u’ are called the central moments. The first central moment is u . For a
stationary random phenomenon :
u = 0 (1.25)
The second central moment is :
t0 +T 
1
u2 =  u2dt =  u P(U)dU
2
(1.26)
T t0 

This moment is also denoted by σ 2 and is called ‘variance’.

The square root of u2 i.e. u2 or  is called ‘standard deviation’ or r.m.s value.

The third central moment is :

t0 +T 

 U-U P(U)dU
1

3
u =
3 3
(U-U) dt = (1.27)
T t0 -

u3 is zero if the probability distribution of U (i.e. P(U)) is symmetric about U . This is the
case with Gaussian PDF. A non-zero value is indicative of the asymmetry of P(U) about
U . To characterize it, a non-dimensional term, called skewness and denoted by S, is
defined as :

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

u3
S= 3 (1.28)
σ
A PDF displays skewness, when the signal is such that the magnitudes of the peak
values of the signal on one side of the average are more than those on the other side.
Figure 1.10 shows the Gaussian distribution and the PDF of a turbulent signal.
The peak of the PDF of the turbulent signal is to the right of the mean value. It is shown
in example 1.7 that the skewness in this case is negative. Figure 1.11 shows the PDF of
( u / t ). In this case, the peak of PDF is to the left of mean. In example 1.7 it is shown
that the skewness is positive in this case.

The fourth central moment is:

t0 +T 

 U-U  U-U P U dU

1 4 4
u =
4
dt = (1.29)
T t0 

The fourth moment is indicative of the flatness of the P(U) curve. A non-dimensional
term, called flatness factor or kurtosis, which is denoted by K, is defined as :

u 4
K= (1.30)
σ4
For a Gaussian PDF, the value of K is 3.0. A signal for which K > 3, the peak values of
the signal are much farther from the mean value of the signal and the PDF has long
tails.
Figure1.10 shows the PDF of u’ signal. In this case, the peak value of the PDF is lower
than that of the Gaussian distribution. In example 1.7, it is shown that in this case, K <
3. Figure 1.11 shows the PDF of ( u / t ) signal. In this case, the peak value of the PDF
is higher than that of the Gaussian distribution. In example 1.7, it is shown that in this
case, K > 3 and the PDF has tails longer than the Gaussian distribution. Figures E1.7c
and E1.7k of example 1.7 show the signals of u’ and ( u / t ). The differences in these
two signals are indicative of the features mentioned in this paragraph.
Example 1.1 To illustrate some of the observations made in this section, consider a
simple case of a signal with sinusoidal variation as shown in Fig.1.13. It may be noted
that sinusoidal variation is not a turbulent flow signal.

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

Let, U = Ub + uf sin ωt
Then, dU = ωuf cosωt dt

Since, the signal is sinusoidal, only one cycle needs to be considered to obtain the
expression for PDF. Consider an interval ΔU . In a cycle, the signal lies between U and
U + ΔU during two intervals viz. Δt1 + Δt 2 as shown in Fig.1.13.

ΔU
Δt1 =
ωuf cosωt

-ΔU
Δt 2 = , note that ΔU is negative in this case.
ωuf cos  π - ωt 

Hence,  Δt = Δt +Δt
1 2

ΔU  1 1 
 Δt = ωu   
 cosωt cos  π -ωt  
f 

2π
Now, from Fig.1.13, T =
ω

Hence, P(U)ΔU =
 Δt = ω ΔU 
 1
 
1 


T 2π ω uf  cosωt cos  π -ωt  
 

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

1  2  1
Or P(U) =  =
2 π uf  cosωt  π uf cosωt

2
 U-Ub 
Noting that cosωt = 1- sin ωt = 1- 
2
 ,
 uf 
1 1
P(U) = = for Ub -uf  <U< Ub +uf 
π u2f - U-Ub 
2 2
 U-Ub 
π uf 1-  
 uf 
Thus, the variations for P(U) in different intervals are as follows :
for U < (Ub - uf) : P(U) = 0
for U = (Ub - uf) : P(U) = 
1
for (Ub - uf) < U < (Ub + uf) : P(U) =
π u2f - U-Ub 
2

U = Ub + uf : P(U) = 
for U > (Ub + uf) : P(U) = 0
1
Note : (1) for U = Ub , P(U) =
πuf
(2) The variation of P(U) vs U is shown in Fig.1.14. It may be recalled that a sinusoidal
signal is not a turbulent signal and PDF has this peculiar shape.

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

Some of the properties of P(U) stated earlier can be verified as follows.


(A) Property :  P(U)dU = 1


Verification :
 Ub -uf Ub +uf 
 P(U)dU = 

P(U)dU+ 
Ub -uf
P(U)dU+ 
Ub +uf
P(U)dU (1.32a)

First and third terms on r.h.s of Eq.(1.32a) are zero as P(U) is zero for
U < (Ub - uf) and for U > (Ub + uf)
 Ub +uf
Hence,  P U dU  U -u P(U)dU
 b f

In this interval,
dU
P(U)dU =
π uf cosωt
ωuf cosωt dt ω
 = dt
π uf cosωt π

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

π
 2ω
ω
Hence,  P(U)dU =  π π
dt
-
2ω

π
ω 2ω ω π π 
= [t] = + = 1 as it should be (Eq.1.16).
π π π  2ω 2ω 

2ω


(B) Property : U =  U P U dU


Verification :
π
Ub +uf 2ω
ω
U=  U P(U)dU =  U
U -u π
b +uf sinωt 
π
dt
b f 
2ω

π π
2ω 2ω
ω ω
= U
π
b
π
dt  ω u f
π
sinωt dt
-
2ω 2π

π
π
ω ω  - cosωt  2ω
= Ub  t  2ω
π + uf  ω  π
π 
2ω π 
2ω

= Ub as it should be.
(C) Property :
 
u =  u'P(U)dU =  U-U  P(U)dU
 
b

π
π
2ω
ω ω
= π
uf sin ωt dt = uf [cosωt] π = 0 as it should be.
π π
2ω

2ω

2ω

2π
ω
1
Alternatively, u =
T  u sin ωt dt
0
f , which is evidently zero.


(D) Property : u =  U-U 
2 2
b P(U)dU


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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

π π
2ω
 1 cos 2ωt 
2ω
ω 2 ω
= π π
uf sin2 ωt dt = u2f
π π  2  2  dt
 
2ω 2ω

π
ω 1 1  2ω 1 2
 u2f  2 t - 4ω sin2 ωt  -π = 2 uf
π
2ω

Hence, u2 = 0.707 uf

Note : The r.m.s value of a sinusoidal function with amplitude uf is 0.707 uf.

Example 1.2
For the following set of ten values of U and V given in the table E2.2, obtain

u2 v2 u3 u4

U,V, , , , ;
   
3/2 2
U U u2 u2

Note : The last two quantities are skewness and kurtosis.

Solution :
This example with just ten samples is only for illustration. Calculations in a real flow are
presented in example 1.7.
The processing of the data and determination of desired quantities is presented below.

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Chapter-1

u= v =
Realization U V U- U V- V u2 v2 u3 u4 uv
1 20.4 2 -0.24 0.57 0.0576 0.3249 -0.0138 0.00332 -0.13
2 19.6 3 -1.04 1.57 1.0816 2.4649 -1.1249 1.16986 -1.63
3 19.2 0 -1.44 -1.43 2.0736 2.0449 -2.9860 4.29982 2.05
4 18 1.4 -2.64 -0.03 6.9696 0.0009 -18.400 48.5753 0.07
5 22 1.2 1.36 -0.23 1.8496 0.0529 2.5155 3.42102 -0.31
6 22.4 0.4 1.76 -1.03 3.0976 1.0609 5.4518 9.59513 -1.81
7 22.1 3.2 1.46 1.77 2.1316 3.1329 3.1121 4.54372 2.58
8 21.5 1.6 0.86 0.17 0.0289 0.0289 0.6361 0.54701 0.14
9 21.2 0.5 0.56 -0.93 0.8649 0.8649 0.1756 0.09834 -0.52
10 20 1 -0.64 -0.43 0.1849 0.1849 -0.2621 0.16777 0.27

Table E2.2 Sample values of U and V and processing of this data

The following quantities are obtained from the above table.

 U = 206.4, hence, U = 20.64 as there are ten samples.

 V = 14.3, hence, V = 1.43

 u = 0,  v = 0

u2
 u2 =18.724, hence, u2 = 1.8724 and U
= 0.0663

v 2
 v2 =10.161,hence, v2 = 1.0161 and U
= 0.0488

u3
 u3 = 10.8955,hence, S = = -0.425
 
3/2
u2

u4
 u4 = 72.4213 hence, K = = 2.066
 
2
u2

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

Note: Since, the number of samples is limited, the values of S and K are not
representative of a real turbulent signal. See also example 1.7.

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Turbulence Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Chapter-1

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