Energy-based decomposition of friction drag in turbulent square-duct flows

The generation of friction drag in turbulent duct flows has direct connection with statistical quantities and corresponding turbulence dynamics in the duct cross-section. In this study, we generalize the RD identity (Renard and Deck, 2016) to a ‘two-dimensional’ form which we exploit to decompose the mean friction drag in turbulent square-duct flows into contributions associated with viscosity, turbulence and cross-stream convection. The friction Reynolds number of the duct flows ranges from 220 to 2000. The scaling, spatial distribution and local normalization of the contributions to friction are investigated and compared with those in pipe and channel flows. As in other canonical flows, we find logarithmic growth of the turbulent contribution in contrast to the viscous one, the former thus becoming dominant at high enough Reynolds numbers. Whereas cross-stream convection has no net effect on friction, its contribution may be locally comparable to the other two, hence may be responsible for redistribution of friction along the duct perimeter.