Turbulence modeling over riblets via domain transformation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a domain transformation and perturbation analysis to improve the modeling of turbulence over riblets, enabling efficient prediction of drag reduction and flow mechanisms at high Reynolds numbers.

Contribution

It develops a flexible, simulation-free approach using domain transformation and perturbation analysis to predict turbulence behavior over complex riblet geometries.

Findings

Successfully predicts drag reduction trends for various riblet shapes.

Identifies Kelvin-Helmholtz rollers over large scalloped riblets.

Shows riblets suppress streamwise-elongated near-wall flow structures.

Abstract

Numerical and experimental studies have demonstrated the drag-reducing potential of carefully designed streamwise-elongated riblets in lowering skin-friction drag. To support the systematic design of such surface corrugations, recent efforts have integrated simplified versions of the governing equations with innovative methods for representing the effects of rough boundaries on flow dynamics. Notably, the statistical response of the eddy-viscosity-enhanced linearized Navier-Stokes equations has been shown to effectively capture the ability of riblets in suppressing turbulence, quantify the influence of background turbulence on the mean velocity, and reproduce established drag-reduction trends. In this paper, we enhance the flexibility and computational efficiency of this simulation-free approach by implementing a domain transformation for surface representation, along with a perturbation analysis on a small geometric parameter of the riblets. While domain transformation complicates the differential equations, it provides accurate boundary representations and facilitates the analysis of complex riblet shapes at high Reynolds numbers by enabling perturbation analysis to simplify the dimensional complexity of the governing equations. Our method successfully predicts drag reduction trends for triangular and scalloped riblets, consistent with existing literature. We further utilize our framework to investigate flow mechanisms influenced by riblets and extend our study to channel flows with friction Reynolds numbers up to 2003. Our findings reveal the emergence of K-H rollers over large and sharp scalloped riblets, contributing to the degradation of drag reduction in these geometries. Additionally, we examine the impact of riblets on near-wall flow structures, focusing on their suppression of streamwise-elongated structures in flows over large riblets.