Three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers (3DTBL) are seen quite commonly in nature as well as in the engineering applications. Despite this, very few high Reynolds number studies have been carried out on these boundary layers, particularly focusing on eddy structure, eddy scales and their interactions. The current study focused on developing, characterizing and evaluating an experimental framework to study high Reynolds number #3DTBL on a rotating disk with the long-term goal of carrying out high-fidelity measurements. The rotating disk flow is characterized by weak centrifugal pumping which sets up the cross flow that leads to turbulence. The tangential and radial velocities were measured using hot-wire anemometry. The mean flow, turbulent intensity, energy spectra, skewness and kurtosis of the flow have been analyzed and compared with 2DTBL measurements. It was found that the measurements collapsed well for z/9 > 0.3-0.4 in outer scaling. Closer to the wall and in inner scaling, collapse of the data was not achieved. The main associated errors were the disk flatness, signal attenuation caused by spatial and temporal resolution challenges and hot-wire conduction close to the wall. The encountered challenges and steps taken to address these are discussed in detail.
","abstract_html":"<p>Three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers (3DTBL) are seen quite commonly in nature as well as in the engineering applications. Despite this, very few high Reynolds number studies have been carried out on these boundary layers, particularly focusing on eddy structure, eddy scales and their interactions. The current study focused on developing, characterizing and evaluating an experimental framework to study high Reynolds number #3DTBL on a rotating disk with the long-term goal of carrying out high-fidelity measurements. The rotating disk flow is characterized by weak centrifugal pumping which sets up the cross flow that leads to turbulence. The tangential and radial velocities were measured using hot-wire anemometry. The mean flow, turbulent intensity, energy spectra, skewness and kurtosis of the flow have been analyzed and compared with 2DTBL measurements. It was found that the measurements collapsed well for z/9 > 0.3-0.4 in outer scaling. Closer to the wall and in inner scaling, collapse of the data was not achieved. The main associated errors were the disk flatness, signal attenuation caused by spatial and temporal resolution challenges and hot-wire conduction close to the wall. The encountered challenges and steps taken to address these are discussed in detail.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Digre, Daniel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z","subjects":["turbulence","boundary layer","rotating disk","Aerospace Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/208","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Digre, Daniel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["turbulence","boundary layer","rotating disk","Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/208"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers (3DTBL) are seen quite commonly in nature as well as in the engineering applications. Despite this, very few high Reynolds number studies have been carried out on these boundary layers, particularly focusing on eddy structure, eddy scales and their interactions. The current study focused on developing, characterizing and evaluating an experimental framework to study high Reynolds number #3DTBL on a rotating disk with the long-term goal of carrying out high-fidelity measurements. The rotating disk flow is characterized by weak centrifugal pumping which sets up the cross flow that leads to turbulence. The tangential and radial velocities were measured using hot-wire anemometry. The mean flow, turbulent intensity, energy spectra, skewness and kurtosis of the flow have been analyzed and compared with 2DTBL measurements. It was found that the measurements collapsed well for z/9 > 0.3-0.4 in outer scaling. Closer to the wall and in inner scaling, collapse of the data was not achieved. The main associated errors were the disk flatness, signal attenuation caused by spatial and temporal resolution challenges and hot-wire conduction close to the wall. The encountered challenges and steps taken to address these are discussed in detail.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Three-Dimensional Turbulent Boundary Layer on a Rotating Disk"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Digre, Daniel"],"dc:description.abstract":["Three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers (3DTBL) are seen quite commonly in nature as well as in the engineering applications. Despite this, very few high Reynolds number studies have been carried out on these boundary layers, particularly focusing on eddy structure, eddy scales and their interactions. The current study focused on developing, characterizing and evaluating an experimental framework to study high Reynolds number #3DTBL on a rotating disk with the long-term goal of carrying out high-fidelity measurements. The rotating disk flow is characterized by weak centrifugal pumping which sets up the cross flow that leads to turbulence. The tangential and radial velocities were measured using hot-wire anemometry. The mean flow, turbulent intensity, energy spectra, skewness and kurtosis of the flow have been analyzed and compared with 2DTBL measurements. It was found that the measurements collapsed well for z/9 > 0.3-0.4 in outer scaling. Closer to the wall and in inner scaling, collapse of the data was not achieved. The main associated errors were the disk flatness, signal attenuation caused by spatial and temporal resolution challenges and hot-wire conduction close to the wall. The encountered challenges and steps taken to address these are discussed in detail.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/208"],"dc:subject":["turbulence","boundary layer","rotating disk","Aerospace Engineering"],"dc:title":["The Three-Dimensional Turbulent Boundary Layer on a Rotating Disk"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z"}