A Numerical Investigation to Study Roughness Effects in Oscillatory Flows

Abstract

Effects of roughness on the near-bed turbulence characteristics in oscillatory flows are studied by means of particle-resolved direct numerical simulations (DNS). Two particle sizes of diameter 375 and 125 in wall units corresponding to the large size gravel and the small size sand particle, respectively, in a very rough turbulent flow regime are reported. A double-averaging technique is employed to study the nature of the wake field, i.e., the spatial inhomogeneities at the roughness length scale. This introduced additional production and transport terms in double-averaged Reynolds stress budget, indicating alternate pathways of turbulent energy transfer mechanisms. Budgets of normal components of Reynolds stress reveal redistribution of energy from streamwise component to other two components and is attributed to the work of pressure in both flow cases. It is shown that the large diameter gravel particles significantly modulate the near-bed flow structures, leading to pronounced isotropization of the near-bed flow; while in the sand case, elongated horseshoe structures are found as a result of high shear rate. Effect of mean shear rate on the near-bed anisotropy is significant in the sand case, while it is minimal for the gravel-bed. Redistribution of energy in the gravel case showed reduced dependence on the flow oscillations, while for the sand particle it is more pronounced towards the end of an acceleration cycle.