An Experimental and Numerical Comparison of Turbulent Flow Over a Step

Abstract

An experimental investigation was made of air flow in a four inch square duct over a single four inch high rearward-facing step. The Reynolds number based on step height was 1.68 x 100,000 and the boundary layer approaching the step was turbulent. The pressure coefficient (Cp) distribution was found to be in relatively good agreement with similar measurements published in the literature. A laser Doppler velocimeter was used to measure an ensemble of 4500 individual velocities at angles of 0 deg, + 30 deg, and -30 deg to the duct axis from which the following mean velocities and turbulence parameters at 180 points in the flow field were derived. The results, in general, compare favorably with those found in the literature. A two-dimensional numerical prediction of the flow field was made using the k approx epsilon turbulence model. The comparison with the experimental results illustrates the three-dimensionality of the flow.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1980
Accession Number
ADA097141

Entities

People

  • H. Doyle Thompson
  • Robin J. Bremmer
  • W. H. Stevenson

Organizations

  • Purdue University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Flow Fields
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanics
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Reynolds Number
  • Secondary Flow
  • Turbulent Flow
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Regression Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Pulsed-Laser Deposition