Tomographic PIV investigation of coherent structures in a turbulent boundary layer flow

Tomographic particle image velocimetry was used to quantitatively visualize the three-dimensional coherent structures in the logarithmic region of the turbulent boundary layer in a water tunnel. The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness is Re (theta) = 2 460. The instantaneous velocity fields give evidence of hairpin vortices aligned in the streamwise direction forming very long zones of low speed fluid, which is flanked on either side by high-speed ones. Statistical support for the existence of hairpins is given by conditional averaged eddy within an increasing spanwise width as the distance from the wall increases, and the main vortex characteristic in different wall-normal regions can be reflected by comparing the proportion of ejection and its contribution to Reynolds stress with that of sweep event. The pre-multiplied power spectra and two-point correlations indicate the presence of large-scale motions in the boundary layer, which are consistent with what have been termed very large scale motions (VLSMs). The three dimensional spatial correlations of three components of velocity further indicate that the elongated low-speed and high-speed regions will be accompanied by a counter-rotating roll modes, as the statistical imprint of hairpin packet structures, all of which together make up the characteristic of coherent structures in the logarithmic region of the turbulent boundary layer (TBL).