A multi-scale approach for wall-bounded WCSPH--RANS simulations

Abstract

Achieving sufficient near-wall resolution remains challenging for wall-bounded turbulence simulations using weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (WCSPH), as local particle refinement imposes restrictive time-step requirements. This work proposes a multi-scale near-wall approach within the Reynolds-averaged Navier--Stokes (RANS) framework to improve near-wall predictions without refining the SPH particle distribution. A local one-dimensional sublayer solver based on the simplified steady $k$--$ω$ equations is coupled with each wall-adjacent fluid particle. A local flow-rate constraint and a friction-velocity-based iteration scheme are developed to close and solve the sublayer system, while a two-way shear-stress coupling with local feedback improves consistency between the two scales. The proposed approach is evaluated using turbulent straight-channel flows over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and a wavy-channel flow involving separation and recirculation. The results demonstrate improved near-wall velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and friction-coefficient predictions, satisfactory convergence, and good agreement with reference solutions. In particular, the approach improves the convergence of near-wall predictions where conventional wall treatments struggle to provide consistent results, and agrees closely with reference solutions at Reynolds numbers as high as $8.0 \times 10^{7}$ without near-wall particle refinement. For separated flow, convergence comparable to that of locally refined finite-volume simulations is obtained using an approximately uniform particle distribution. These improvements are achieved with limited computational overhead, supporting the application of particle-based methods to engineering flows involving wall-bounded turbulence.