Roughness-induced critical phenomenon analogy for turbulent friction factor explained by a co-spectral budget model

Abstract

Drawing on an analogy to critical phenomena, it was shown that the Nikuradse turbulent friction factor ($f_t$) measurements in pipes of radius $R$ and wall roughness $r$ can be collapsed onto a one-dimensional curve expressed as a conveyance law $f_t Re^{1/4}=g_o(\chi)$, where $Re$ is a bulk Reynolds number, $\chi =Re^{3/4}\left({r}/{R}\right)$. The implicit function $g_o(.)$ was conjectured based on matching two asymptotic limits of $f_t$. However, the connection between $g_o(.)$ and the phenomenon it proclaims to represent - turbulent eddies - remains lacking. Using models for the wall-normal velocity spectrum and return-to-isotropy for pressure-strain effects to close a co-spectral density budget, a derivation of $g_o(.)$ is offered. The proposed method explicitly derives the solution of the conveyance law and provides a physical interpretation of $\chi$ as a dimensionless length scale reflecting the competition between viscous sublayer thickness and characteristic height of roughness elements. The application of the proposed method to other published measurements spanning roughness and Reynolds numbers beyond the original Nikuradse range is further discussed.