Extended self-similarity in moment-generating-functions in wall-bounded turbulence at high Reynolds number

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that extended self-similarity (ESS) enhances the power-law scaling analysis of moment generating functions in wall-bounded turbulence, revealing broader self-similar regions and improving measurement precision at high Reynolds numbers.

Contribution

It introduces the application of ESS to MGFs in wall turbulence, extending the known scaling regions and providing a theoretical model for large and small-scale velocity fluctuations.

Findings

ESS improves the scaling of MGFs across wider regions.

Scaling of large-scale velocity fluctuations depends on Re_τ^{1/2}.

A theoretical model reproduces empirical scaling behaviors.

Abstract

In wall-bounded turbulence, the moment generating functions (MGFs) of the streamwise velocity fluctuations $\left<\exp(qu_z^+)\right>$ develop power-law scaling as a function of the wall normal distance $z/\delta$. Here $u$ is the streamwise velocity fluctuation, $+$ indicates normalization in wall units (averaged friction velocity), $z$ is the distance from the wall, $q$ is an independent variable and $\delta$ is the boundary layer thickness. Previous work has shown that this power-law scaling exists in the log-region {\small $3Re_\tau^{0.5}\lesssim z^+$, $z\lesssim 0.15\delta$}, where $Re_\tau$ is the friction velocity-based Reynolds numbers. Here we present empirical evidence that this self-similar scaling can be extended, including bulk and viscosity-affected regions $30<z^+$, $z<\delta$, provided the data are interpreted with the Extended-Self-Similarity (ESS), i.e. self-scaling of the MGFs as a function of one reference value, $q_o$. ESS also improves the scaling properties, leading to more precise measurements of the scaling exponents. The analysis is based on hot-wire measurements from boundary layers at $Re_\tau$ ranging from $2700$ to $13000$ from the Melbourne High-Reynolds-Number-Turbulent-Boundary-Layer-Wind-Tunnel. Furthermore, we investigate the scalings of the filtered, large-scale velocity fluctuations $u^L_z$ and of the remaining small-scale component, $u^S_z=u_z-u^L_z$. The scaling of $u^L_z$ falls within the conventionally defined log region and depends on a scale that is proportional to {\small $l^+\sim Re_\tau^{1/2}$}; the scaling of $u^{S}_z$ extends over a much wider range from $z^+\approx 30$ to $z\approx 0.5\delta$. Last, we present a theoretical construction of two multiplicative processes for $u^L_z$ and $u^S_z$ that reproduce the empirical findings concerning the scalings properties as functions of $z^+$ and in the ESS sense.