Effect of Very-Large-Scale Motions on One- and Two-Point Statistics in Turbulent Pipe Flow Investigated by Direct Numerical Simulations

Abstract

Very-large-scale motions appear in the bulk region of turbulent pipe flow. They become increasingly energetic with the Reynolds number and interact with the near-wall turbulence. These structures appear either in the shape of positive (high-speed) or negative (low-speed) streamwise velocity fluctuation. The impact of the sign of the structures on the pipe flow turbulence is analysed in this study by means of conditionally averaged one- and two-point statistics, using data from direct numerical simulations of turbulent pipe flow in a flow domain of length L=42R and friction Reynolds numbers of 180≤Reτ≤1500. Conditionally averaged two-point velocity correlations reveal that low-speed motions are longer and more energetic than their high-speed counterparts. The latter are predominately responsible for the Reynolds number dependency of turbulence statistics in the vicinity of the wall, which is in good agreement with observations of the so-called amplitude modulation in wall-bounded turbulence.