A spectral-scaling based extension to the attached eddy model of wall-turbulence

TL;DR

This paper extends the attached eddy model of wall turbulence by including additional eddy types, improving predictions of spectral energy distributions across a wide range of Reynolds numbers.

Contribution

The study introduces an extended AEM incorporating wall-incoherent and superstructure eddies, enhancing spectral predictions over the traditional model.

Findings

Extended AEM captures a broader range of energetic scales.

Model better predicts Reynolds number scaling trends.

Improved understanding of spectral self-similarity and $k^{-1}$ law.

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2-D) spectra of the streamwise velocity component, measured at friction Reynolds numbers ranging from 2400 to 26000, are used to refine a model for the logarithmic region of turbulent boundary layers. Here, we focus on the attached eddy model (AEM). The conventional AEM assumes the boundary layer to be populated with hierarchies of self-similar wall-attached ($Type\,A$) eddies alone. While $Type\,A$ eddies represent the dominant energetic large-scale motions at high Reynolds numbers, the scales that are not represented by such eddies are observed to carry a significant proportion of the total kinetic energy. Therefore, in the present study, we propose an extended AEM that incorporates two additional representative eddies. These eddies, named $Type\,C_A$ and $Type\,SS$, represent the self-similar but wall-incoherent low-Reynolds number features, and the non-self-similar wall-coherent superstructures, respectively. The extended AEM is shown to better predict a greater range of energetic length scales and capture the low- and high-Reynolds number scaling trends in the 2-D spectra of all three velocity components. A discussion on spectral self-similarity and the associated $k^{-1}$ scaling law is also presented.