Introduction to Turbulent Flows

The variables such as velocity and temperature fluctuate with time when the flow is turbulent.

These variables can be express in the following way :

where the primes denote the fluctuating components and where the mean values, indicated by the
over -bar, are defined, for the case where the mean flow is steady by:

Here t is a suitably long integration time. A solution for the mean values of the flow variables is
then sought. In order to illustrate the main features of the analysis of turbulent flow, attention
will be restricted to two-dimensional boundary layer flows and to axially symmetric pipe flows. It
will also be assumed that the fluid properties are constant and that the mean flow is steady.

Variation of temperature with time in turbulent flow.

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GOVERNING EQUATIONS

The equations governing two-dimensional, constant fluid property turbulent boundary layer flow
are :

As discussed above, this set of three equations contains, in addition to the three mean flow
variables , the two turbulence quantities Now since the
molecular shearing stress, Tm, and the molecular heat transfer, qm, are given by:

and

Eqs. (5.4) and (5.5) can be written as:

A consideration of the right-hand sides of these two equations indicates that the turbulence terms
in these equations have, the form of additional shearing stress and heat transfer terms although they
arise, thus :

and

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Thus the momentum and energy equations (5.8) and (5.9) can be written as:

In most turbulent flows, ↊T is much greater than ↊m and qT is much greater than qm over most
of the flow field although this will not be the case near the wall. By analogy with the form of the
molecular shearing stress and molecular heat transfer rate relations, as given in Eqs. (5.6) and
(5.7), it is often convenient to ex press the turbulent shearing stress and turbulent heat transfer in
terms of the velocity and temperature gradients in the following way:

and

where € is known as the eddy viscosity and €H is known as the eddy diffusivity (sometimes named
eddy conductivity). It must, of course, be clearly understood that € and €H are not, like v and α ,
properties of the fluid involved alone but depend primarily on the turbulence structure at the
point under consideration and hence on the mean velocity and temperature at this point and the
derivatives of these quantities as well as on the type of flow being considered. The use of € and €H
does not, in itself, constitute the use of an empirical turbulence model. It is only when attempts are
made to describe the variation of € and €H through the flow field on the basis of certain usually
rather limited experimental measurements that the term eddy viscosity turbulence model is
applicable. In fact, even when advanced turbulence models are used, it is often convenient to
express the end results in terms of the eddy viscosity and eddy diffusivity. If Eqs. (5.14) and (5.15)
are used to describe ↊T and qT , the momentum and energy equations (5.8) and (5.9) can be
rewritten in the following way because the fluid properties are being assumed constant:

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Now it will be noted that the Prandtl number is defined such that:

By analogy with this, it is often convenient to define the following:

PrT then being termed the turbulent Prandtl number. In order to avoid confusion, Pr is then
sometimes referred to as the molecular Prandtl number. Using these expressions, the energy
equation (5.17) can be written as:

In turbulent pipe flow it is again also often convenient to write the turbulence quantities in terms of
the eddy viscosity and diffusivity and when this is done the momentum and energy equations
become:

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EXAMPLE: Consider fully developed flow in a plane duct, i.e., essentially fully developed
Flow between parallel plates. If the velocity distribution in the flow near the center line
can be approximately represented by:

where is the mean center line velocity, y is the distance from the wall, and w is the half-width
of the duct, find the variation of and in this portion of the flow.

Solution : The flow situation being considered is shown in below figure . In fully developed
flow, will not depend on z and hence by virtue of the continuity equation will be 0. Therefore,
for the fully developed flow, the momentum equation gives:

But is a constant in fully developed flow, i.e., is independent of z. Therefore, the

above equation indicates that the total shear stress, i.e., , varies linearly with y. But, on
the center line, i.e., at , so the total shear stress is zero on the center line. Therefore, if
the wall shear stress is it follows that :

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MIXING LENGTH TURBULENCE MODELS

In the mixing length theory it is assumed basically that "lumps" of fluid ate carried transversely
across the fluid flow by the turbuI.ent eddies and during this motion they preserve their initial
momentum and enthalpy. The motion continues over a transverse distance, em, after which the
"lumps" interact with other fluid "lumps"giving rise to the observed velocity and temperature
fluctuations in turbulent flow.
In order to derive an expression for the turbulence terms using this idea, consider a two-
dimensional flow and consider conditions on three planes 0, 1, and 2 shown in Figure 5.3, planes 1
and 2 lying at a distance Lm from plane O. If the mixing length, L m, is assumed to be small
compared to the overall extent of the flow then the velocity on plane 1, i.e., u1, will be related to

that on plane 0, ie., uo, by:.

Therefore, when the fluid "lump" originating on plane 1 arrives on plane 0 it has, since its x-
momentum is assumed to have been conserved during this motion, a ve locity excess that is given
by:

Similarly a fluid "lump" originating on plane 2 arrives on plane 0 with a velocity excess which is
given by:

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In the mixing length model it is next assumed that the magnitude of the velocity fluctuation at 0 is
proportional to the average of

In the mixing length model it is next assumed that the transverse velocity fluctuation v' arises
because of the "collision" of the fluid "lumps" arriving on plane 0 from planes 1 and 2 with
different momentums. In order to satisfy continuity

Fig . Planes in flow considered in mixing length analysis.

requirements, it follows that:

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In writing these equations, account has been taken of the fact that the sign of de pends on the
sign of . Hence has been used instead of . The above equation
for the turbulent shear stress is conveniently written as:

where the constants of proportionality have been combined with

to give is what is conventionally termed the "mixing length"'.

A comparison of Eqs. (5.14) and (5.32) shows that the eddy viscosity and mixing length are related
by:

EXAMPLE . Consider flow in the outer portion of the turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate. If
the velocity distribution in this flow is approximately given by:

where u1 is the free-stream velocity, y is the distance from the wall, and δ is the local boundary
layer thickness, find the variation of in this portion of the flow by assuming that the mixing
length is a constant and equal to 0.098 δ .

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ANALOGY SOLUTIONS FOR HEAT TRANSFER
IN TURBULENT FLOW

In outlining the main steps in obtaining an analogy solution, attention will here be given to two-
dimensional flow. The "total" shear stress and "total" heat transfer rate are made up of the
molecular and turbulent contributions, i.e.:

which can be written as:

Eqs. (5.73) and (5.74) are rearranged to give:

and these equations are then integrated outward from the wall, i.e., y = 0, to some point in the flow
at distance y from the wall. This gives:

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 NEAR-WALL REGION

y being measured from the wall into the flow. Further, because the sublayer is normally very thin,
the variations of the shear stress, ↊ and q, through this layer are usually negligible; i.e., in the sub
layer it can be assumed that:

Substituting these values into Eqs. (5.19) and (5.80) and integrating the resultant equations outward
from the wall gives:

The velocity and temperature distributions in the sublayer are thus linear. If the following are
defined:

. u* being termed the "friction velocity", then the velocity distribution in the sublayer as given in
Eq. (5.82) can be written as:

For y* > 5 the turbulence stress and heat transfer rate become important. However, near the wall
the total shear stress and total heat transfer rate will remain effectively constant and equal to the
wall shear stress and wall heat transfer rate, respectively.

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Kv being a constant termed the von Karman constant. Using the assumptions discussed above then
gives:

If it is further assumed that , the above equation becomes:

Integrating this equation gives:

where C is a constant whose value cannot directly be determined because this ex pression, which is
based on the assumption that , does not apply very near the wall. With Kv set equal to
0.4 and C set equal to 5.5, Eq. (5.89) provides a good description of the mean velocity distribution
for y+ > 30 . Between y+ = 5 and y+ = 30, where both the molecular and the turbulent stresses are
important" experiments indicate that the velocity distribution is given by:

This region between y+ = 5 and y+ = 30 is termed the "buffer" region. The velocity variations
given by Eqs. (5.85) and (5.90) are also shown in Figure

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