Turbulent Flow
Basics of Turbulent Flow
• Turbulent flow results from instability of laminar flow due to the formation of
eddies that causes turbulence.
• Turbulent flow parameters can be described in terms of mean and fluctuating
portions.
• Whether a flow is laminar or turbulent depends of the relative importance of fluid
friction (viscosity) and flow inertia. The ratio of inertial to viscous forces is the
Reynolds number ().
where,
= dynamic viscosity of the fluid
= kinematic viscosity of the fluid
U = characteristic velocity scale
L = characteristic length scale
Characteristics of Turbulent Flow
1. Reynolds’ decomposition: The eddies formed in the turbulent flow spreads over the whole cross-section.
Due to these eddies large scale momentum and energy transfer takes place and fluid parameters start
varying in space and time. Hence it is convenient to assume that the flow parameter is a combination of
time average component and a randomly fluctuating component. This is commonly called a Reynolds’
decomposition.
For example, the longitudinal velocity (u) measured at a point in turbulent flow can be expressed as:
Where mean component of longitudinal velocity
fluctuating component of longitudinal velocity
The time average value (mean component)over the time interval t to t+T is defined as
Where T is much longer than any turbulence time scale, but much shorter than the time-scale for mean flow
unsteadiness, e.g. wave or tidal fluctuation.
If the time average values do not change with time, then such a flow is called quasi-steady or stationary
turbulent flow.
If the time average values depend on time, then such a flow is called quasi-unsteady or non-stationary
turbulent flow.
2. Turbulence Strength is defined as root mean square of velocity fluctuations in the flow. It
measures the overall level of turbulence in the flow
Turbulence Strength
3. Scale of turbulence is defined as the mean eddy size which is the product of mean component of
velocity and mean period of velocity reversals. It refers to the size of the largest eddies or
coherent structures in a turbulent flow. It measures the spatial extent of the turbulence.
Scale of turbulence = mean eddy size =
Where = Mean period of velocity reversals
4. Kinetic energy of turbulence
5. Intensity of turbulence is defined as the ratio of the root mean square of the velocity fluctuations
to the mean flow velocity.
Turbulence Intensity
Turbulent Shear Stress
• Turbulent flow shear stress is larger than laminar flow shear stress because of the irregular,
random motion.
• The apparent shear stress is the sum of a laminar portion and a turbulent portion. It is observed
that the apparent shear stress on plane A–A is given by
where is turbulent shear stress and is given by
Terms of the form (or etc.) are called Reynolds stresses
Fig.:Turbulent flow as a series of
random, three-dimensional eddies
• Boussinesq’s Theory
A model for the shear stress for turbulent flow is given in terms of the eddy viscosity, η,
The eddy viscosity is a function of both the fluid and the flow conditions.
• Prandtl’s Mixing length hypothesis
Prandtl proposed that the turbulent process could be viewed as the random transport of bundles of
fluid particles over a certain distance,, the mixing length, from a region of one velocity to another
region of a different velocity that the eddy viscosity was given by
Thus, the turbulent shear stress is
Near the wall it is assumed that , where y is distance from the wall.
Hence
where K is Karman’s constant and equal to 0.4
Hence wall shear stress is
Turbulent Velocity Profile
As we know that wall shear stress is
Where = = shear velocity/friction velocity
Hence
Integrating above equation
Applying boundary condition, at y =,
Hence
At y=0, u=
• There is a head loss in any pipe, no matter how smooth the surface is made. This is a result of the
no-slip boundary condition that requires any fluid to stick to any solid surface it flows over. There
is always some microscopic surface roughness that produces the no-slip behavior (and thus f ≠ 0)
on the molecular level, even when the roughness is considerably less than the viscous sublayer
thickness. Such pipes are called hydraulically smooth.