Abstract/Summary

Oscillating-grid turbulence (OGT) is an experimental tool that has been widely used to study the role of turbulent fluctuations under conditions of small mean flow. We report experiments to investigate the structure of the turbulent flow produced by an oscillating grid, using velocity measurements obtained through the application of two-dimensional particle image velocimetry in the vertical plane through the centre of the grid. Ensemble averages of the fluid velocity measurements at specific stages of the grid’s oscillation indicate that mean flow is induced in OGT by the merging of grid-induced jets close to the tank sidewalls. The installation of an open-ended ‘inner box’ (with its top edge positioned just below the bottom of the grid’s oscillation) is shown to inhibit the merging of the jets, thereby resulting in a reduction in the magnitude of the mean flow within the interior of the inner box region. Measurements of the time-averaged root-mean-square turbulent velocity components and the time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy flux indicate that the installation of the inner box results in turbulence that is in good agreement with the well-established models of OGT across the central 50% of the inner box’s width, but that distinct anisotropic regions exist adjacent to the vertical sidewalls. We anticipate that this simple amendment to reduce the mean flow present in OGT can be readily used in future work that utilises OGT to isolate the effects of turbulent fluctuations from those of the mean flow.