Secondary Flows and Near-Wall Turbulence in Channel Flow with Longitudinal Ribs

Abstract

This study employs the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to investigate secondary flows and near-wall turbulence induced by two types of surface-mounted longitudinal ribs, namely rectangular and triangular, in a channel flow. The friction Reynolds number, based on friction velocity and channel height H, is set at 220. The rib aspect ratio W/h, where W and h represent the width and height of the rib, is 2, and the rib spacing, S is 0.6H. The results indicate formation of two counter-rotating vortices between the adjacent ribs for both the cases considered. The roughness function is higher with the rectangular rib as compared to that of the triangular rib. At the location of the mid-plane on the rectangular ribs, the wall shear stress is relatively lower as compared to that of the location of mid-plane between the ribs. Conversely, for the case of triangular rib, the opposite pattern is observed. Normal Reynolds stress exhibits strong anisotropic behaviour near the wall for both the cases, overlapping above 0.4H. Between 0.4H and 0.8H, the variation in normal Reynolds stresses is linear. Near the wall, higher production of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and normal Reynolds stresses are observed with the triangular rib as compared to those of the rectangular rib. The ratio of production to dissipation is unity in the log-law region.