Engineering Commons^™

Studies Of Boundary Layer Transition From Laminar To Turbulent, Elizabeth Spaulding

Honors Theses

In engineering applications, there is a strong desire to reduce energy losses due to turbulent energy production. However, the theoretical understanding of turbulent and transition flow is still lacking due to the absence of an exact mathematical solution for turbulent flow. In the current project, transition and turbulent behavior in wall-bounded flow is studied, with an emphasis on concepts from boundary layer theory. Organized structures, such as streaks, waves, and vortices, which occur in such flows, are analyzed. Especially for near-wall structures, control strategies for suppressing such structures are discussed. Using mathematical equations which govern fluid flow, models for different …