Supersonic turbulent channel flows over spanwise-oriented grooves

Abstract

In the present study, we perform direct numerical simulations to study the influences of the spanwise-oriented grooves, which are emulated by the reasonably designed “relaxed” boundary conditions, on the kinetic and thermodynamic statistics in a supersonic turbulent channel flow at the Mach number of 1.5 and Reynolds number of 3000. The phase averaged flow fields show that the relaxed boundary induces compressive and expansive waves that travel across the whole channel and are reflected by the upper wall. These waves are isentropic in the average sense except in the viscous sublayer. In the near-wall region, vortices and streaks that constitute the self-sustaining cycles are less populated and less meandering, while in the outer region, especially near the channel center, the velocity divergence is as strong as the vorticity. The temperature, density, and pressure fluctuations are enhanced by these waves. The correlations between the velocity and temperature are altered, due to the counter effects caused by the vortical motions and isentropic waves.