Development of turbulent boundary layers past a step change in wall roughness

Abstract

In this study, the development of a boundary layer past a change in surface roughness (from rough to smooth, $\text{R}\rightarrow \text{S}$) is examined. Measurements of the flow were made by hot wires, whereas the friction velocity was estimated by Preston tube measurements. By means of a diagnostic plot of the turbulence intensity, it is shown that above the internal layer the flow exhibits characteristics of a rough, wall-bounded flow, whereas near the wall the turbulence intensity is similar to that of an isolated smooth wall. Similarly, viscous scaling of the mean streamwise velocity shows an excessive wake region downstream of the $\text{R}\rightarrow \text{S}$ wall surface change that diminishes with the fetch from the surface change. Above the internal layer a second peak in the streamwise Reynolds stress was associated with the upstream rough-wall flow. Examination of the turbulent spectra revealed the presence of large-scale motions within this region that gradually diminish in strength with increasing distance from the change in surface roughness. The magnitude of the near-wall peak failed to collapse to that of a comparable smooth-wall boundary layer under viscous scaling, however, the wall-normal location of the peak appears to be at $y^{+}\approx 15$ at all downstream distances. A new mixed scaling is proposed for the near-wall peak based on the corrected wake deficit and the friction velocity. This shows the importance of outer region to the growth of near-wall peak in this non-equilibrium boundary layer.