Influence of the Side Walls on the Turbulent Center-Plane Boundary-Layer in a Square Duct

Abstract

Measurements in the entry region of a square duct (specifically, a wind-tunnel working section) show that the direct effect of stress-induced secondary flows in the corners on the center-plane boundary layer is negligible for boundary layers thinner than about one-fourth of the duct width. Further, the effects of streamwise pressure gradient and of quasi-collinear lateral convergence tend to cancel so that the velocity profiles and skin friction are quite close to those on a flat plate. This shows that the boundary layer on the floor of a wind tunnel of constant, square cross section can be used to simulate a flat-plate flow even when the boundary layer thickness is as large as one-fourth of the tunnel height.