Effect of gravity on the development of homogeneous shear turbulence laden with finite-size particles

ABSTRACT

Fully resolved simulations of homogeneous shear turbulence (HST) laden with sedimenting spherical particles of finite size have been performed to clarify the effects of gravity on the development of particle-laden turbulent shear flows. We consider turbulence in a horizontal flow subjected to vertical or horizontal shear. Numerical results show that the development of HST laden with finite-size particles are significantly altered by gravity. The effects of gravity lead to a slower increase in the Taylor-microscale Reynolds number, whose value is found to be well correlated with the average particle Reynolds number. The gravity also causes a slower increase in the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) through the enhancement of energy dissipation. The change in the Reynolds shear stress (RSS) due to particles also significantly contributes to the relative change in TKE. In vertically sheared cases, RSS has high values between counter-rotating trailing vortices behind the particles, which causes a transient relative increase in TKE. In horizontally sheared cases, on the other hand, RSS is reduced in the wakes of particles, which contributes to a significant relative reduction in TKE.

KEYWORDS:

• Turbulence modulation
• finite-size particle
• homogeneous shear turbulence
• gravity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.