Characterization of low levels of turbulence generated by grids in the settling chamber of a laminar wind tunnel

AbstractWind tunnel investigations of how Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) airfoils respond to atmospheric turbulence require the generation of turbulence, whose relevant characteristics resemble those in the atmosphere. The lower, convective part of the atmospheric boundary layer is characterized by low to medium levels of turbulence. The current study focuses on the small scales of this turbulence. Detailed hot-wire measurements have been performed to characterize the properties of the turbulence generated by grids mounted in the settling chamber of the Laminar Wind Tunnel (LWT). In the test section, the very low base turbulence level of Tuu ≅ 0.02% (10 ≤ f ≤ 5000 Hz) is incrementally increased by the grids up to Tuu ≅ 0.5%. The turbulence spectrum in the u-direction shows the typical suppression of larger scales due to the contraction between grids and test section. Still, the generated turbulence provides a good mapping of the spectrum measured in flight for most of the frequency range 500 ≤ f ≤ 3000 Hz, where Tollmien-Schlichting (TS)-amplification occurs for typical NLF airfoils. The spectra in v and w-direction exhibit distinct inertial subranges with slopes being less steep compared to the − 5/3 slope of the Kolmogorov spectrum. The normalized spectra in u-direction collapse together well for all grids, whereas in v- and w-directions the inertial- and dissipative subranges are more clearly distinguished for the coarser grids. It is demonstrated that the dissipation rate ε is a suitable parameter for comparing the wind tunnel turbulence with the atmospheric turbulence in the frequency range of interest. By employing the grids, turbulence in the range 4.4 × 10–7 ≤ ε ≤ 0.40 m2/s3 at free-stream velocity U∞ = 40 m/s can be generated in the LWT, which covers representative dissipation rates of free flight NLF applications. In the x-direction, the spectra of the v and w-components develop progressively more pronounced inertial- and dissipative subranges, and the energy below f ≈ 400 Hz decreases. In contrast, the spectral energy of the u-component increases across the whole frequency range, when moving downstream. This behavior can be explained by the combination of energy transport along the Kolmogorov cascade and the incipient return to an isotropic state. Graphic Abstract