Transport of Turbulence Across Permeable Interface in a Turbulent Channel Flow: Interface-Resolved Direct Numerical Simulation

Abstract

AbstractTurbulence transportation across permeable interfaces is investigated using direct numerical simulation, and the connection between the turbulent surface flow and the pore flow is explored. The porous media domain is constructed with an in-line arranged circular cylinder array. The effects of Reynolds number and porosity are also investigated by comparing cases with two Reynolds numbers ($$Re\approx 3000,6000$$ R e ≈ 3000 , 6000 ) and two porosities ($$\varphi =0.5,0.8$$ φ = 0.5 , 0.8 ). It was found that the change of porosity leads to the variation of flow motions near the interface region, which further affect turbulence transportation below the interface. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget shows that turbulent diffusion and pressure transportation work as energy sink and source alternatively, which suggests a possible route for turbulence transferring into porous region. Further analysis on the spectral TKE budget reveals the role of modes of different wavelengths. A major finding is that mean convection not only affects the distribution of TKE in spatial space, but also in scale space. The permeability of the wall also have an major impact on the occurrence ratio between blow and suction events as well as their corresponding flow structures, which can be related to the change of the Kármán constant of the mean velocity profile.