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Physics of Fluids / Volume 23 / Issue 9 / ARTICLES / Turbulent Flows

Phys. Fluids 23, 095106 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3632090 (11 pages)

On the probability distribution function of the velocity field and its derivative in multi-scale turbulence

Garrett H. Good1 and Zellman Warhaft1,2

1Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
2Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

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(Received 21 May 2011; accepted 3 August 2011; published online 16 September 2011)

Using a combination of active and passive grids, we produce an inhomogeneous turbulent flow with strongly non-Gaussian velocity probability distribution (density) functions (pdfs). This new, multi-scale flow shares features with the turbulent jet in freestream turbulence, the near field of turbulence-generating grids, and atmospheric flows. In particular, we study unskewed velocity distributions with both super- and sub-Gaussian tails and demonstrate the linear dependence of the normalized odd and even moments of the distributions on the first and second spatial derivatives of the turbulence r.m.s. fields, respectively. We also note bimodal behavior of the pdfs. The experiments demonstrate a clear effect of the flow organization and the large-scale intermittency on the velocity derivative pdfs and the small scales of the turbulence. The work is motivated by the complex wind fields, and associated, intermittent high stresses, encountered by wind turbines. We also draw comparisons to recent studies of multi-scale turbulence produced by fractal grids.

© 2011 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE
  3. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
    1. Flow characterization
    2. Flow evolution and turbulent shear structures
    3. Velocity moments and intermittency
    4. Probability and spectral density functions
  4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

fractals, Gaussian distribution, jets, turbulence, wind turbines

PACS

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3632090

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

1070-6631 (print)  
1089-7666 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
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