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Turbulent-Resistance Model for Organized Rough Walls

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Abstract

A resistance model for organized rough walls of varying geometry in fully-developed turbulent boundary layers is proposed. For a given flow, the shear stress on rough walls varies with the surface geometry. The model normalizes the roughness shear stress by its theoretical maximum. Based on an analysis of measurable drag on individual roughness elements, the expression for the normalized roughness shear stress is deduced and expressed as a simple function of the roughness density with one empirical coefficient, which varies with the element geometry and array layout. Two reduction mechanisms for the drag on the roughness elements are distinguished, and three types of rough walls are categorized according to the effective ranges of the physical mechanisms. The resistance model is validated by comparison with existing measurements. The directly and indirectly measured drag on roughness elements from classical laboratory experiments and recent simulations are reproduced by this model, providing a convenient method for comparing distinctive experiments and simulations, which is important for the categorization of organized rough walls and the formulation of a unified roughness model.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 11490553, 11232006 and 11121202).

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Correspondence to Zhuoqun Li.

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Li, Z. Turbulent-Resistance Model for Organized Rough Walls. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 174, 393–410 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-019-00489-6

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