Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Open Channel Flow

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent open channel flow with friction Reynolds numbers of $Re_{\tau}=200,400,600$ are performed. Their results are compared with closed channel data in order to investigate the influence of the free surface on turbulent channel flows. The free surface affects fully developed turbulence statistics in so far that velocities and vorticities become highly anisotropic as they approach it. While the vorticity anisotropy layer scales in wall units, the velocity one is found to scale ith outer flow units and exhibits much larger extension. Furthermore the influence of the free surface on coherent very large-scale motions (VLSM) is discussed through spectral statistics. It is found that the spanwise extension increases by a factor of two compared to closed channel flows independent of the Reynolds number. Finally instantaneous realizations of the flow fields are investigated in order to elucidate the turbulent mechanisms, which are responsible for the behaviour of a free surface in channel flows.