Influence of active control on STG-based generation of streamwise vortices in near-wall turbulence

Near-wall streamwise vortices are closely related to the generation of high skin friction in wall-bounded turbulent flows. A common feature of controlled, friction-reduced turbulent flows is weakened near-wall streamwise vortices. In the present study, the streak transient growth (STG) mechanism for generating near-wall streamwise vortices by Schoppa & Hussain (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 453, 2002, pp. 57-108) is employed, and the opposition control proposed by Choi, Moin & Kim (J. Fluid M e c h., vol. 262, 1994, pp. 75-110) is imposed during the transient growth process of perturbations to determine how active control affects the generation of quasi-streamwise vortices. In the transient growth stage, when the detection plane is located near the wall (y(d)(+) = 15), the control can suppress the production of streamwise vorticity by weakening the near-wall vertical velocity; when the detection plane moves away from the wall (y(d)(+) = 28), the control has the opposite effect. In the vortex generation stage, the control cannot change the dominance of the stretching effect. Controls imposed at different stages reveal the importance of the STG stage in vortex generation. Strengthened out-of-phase control and lessened in-phase control are proposed as an extension of the original opposition-control scheme. Application in a fully developed turbulent channel flow shows that strengthened y(d)(+) = 10 control can yield an even higher drag reduction rate than the original y(d)(+) = 15 control. Moreover, lessened y(d)(+) = 28 control can also achieve drag reduction and turbulence suppression.