Statistics of particle accumulation in spatially developing turbulent boundary layers

We present the results of a Direct Numerical Simulation of a particle-laden spatially developing turbulent boundary layer up to Re θ = 2500. Two main features differentiate the behavior of inertial particles in a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer from the more commonly studied case of a parallel channel flow. The first is the variation along the streamwise direction of the local dimensionless parameters defining the fluid-particle interactions. The second is the coexistence of an irrotational free-stream and a near-wall rotational turbulent flow. As concerns the first issue, an inner and an outer Stokes number can be defined using inner and outer flow units. The inner Stokes number governs the near-wall behavior similarly to the case of channel flow. To understand the effect of a laminar-turbulent interface, we examine the behavior of particles initially released in the free stream and show that they present a distinct behavior with respect to those directly injected inside the boundary layer. A region of minimum concentration occurs inside the turbulent boundary layer at about one displacement thickness from the wall. Its formation is due to the competition between two transport mechanisms: a relatively slow turbulent diffusion towards the buffer layer and a fast turbophoretic drift towards the wall. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.