Direct numerical simulation of 3-dimensional axial turbulent boundary layers with spanwise curvature

Abstract

Direct numerical simulation has been used to study turbulent boundary layers with convex curvature. A direct numerical simulation program has been developed to solve incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in generalized coordinates with the finite volume method. We considered two boundary layer thicknesses. When the curvature effect is small, mean velocity statistics show little difference with those of a plane channel flow. Turbulent intensity decreases as curvature increases. Contours suggest that streamwise vorticities are strong where large pressure fluctuations exist.