Structure of turbulent boundary layers on smooth and rough walls

Abstract

The structure of turbulent boundary layers which develop with zero pressure gradient on a smooth wall and a k -type rough wall was examined using arrays of X-wires. Although the data were obtained only on two orthogonal planes, the technique provides some information on the three-dimensionality of the large-scale structures. The major effect of the roughness is to tilt the inclination of the structures towards the wall-normal direction. This is caused by the reduced damping of the wall-normal velocity fluctuations close to the rough surface and the break-up of structures whose scales are comparable to the size of the roughness elements. Both effects cause a reduction in the streamwise lengthscales, as suggested by all the measured two-point correlations. The correlations also show that the roughness tends to reduce the overall anisotropy of the large-scale motion. There is evidence to suggest that the magnitude of the vorticity field is larger over the rough wall.