Coherent structures in marginally turbulent square duct flow

Abstract

Direct numerical simulation of fully developed turbulent flow in a straight square duct was performed in order to determine the minimal requirements for self-sustaining turbulence. It was found that turbulence can be maintained for values of the bulk Reynolds number above approximately 1100, corresponding to a friction-velocity-based Reynolds number of 80. The minimum value for the streamwise period of the computational domain measures around 190 wall units, roughly independently of the Reynolds number. Furthermore, we present a characterization of the marginal state, where coherent structures are found to have significant relevance to the appearance of secondary flow of Prandtl’s second kind.