Evaluating turbulent channel flows with rough walls: Homogeneous roughness parameterization for use in a map-based turbulence model

This work is focused on modeling the effects of homogeneous roughness on low-order velocity statistics in turbulent channel flows. Hydrodynamic effects due to the roughness are characterized on the basis of volume-averaging theory (VAT) and a discrete roughness element method. This theory exploits the homogeneous character of the roughness in order to reduce the complexity of the flow to its one-dimensional statistics. The formulated VAT-based roughness forcing is best suited for drag dominated surfaces. Turbulence modeling closure is achieved with a map-based turbulence model, the One-Dimensional Turbulence (ODT) model. This avoids the prescription of laws of the wall or other ad-hoc scalings, unlike in more traditional filter-based turbulence models. The modeling framework is applied on selected Reynolds number flows for likewise selected roughness topologies. Results are compared to direct numerical simulation (DNS) data available from the literature. Among others, model results are compared with those of a previously formulated parametric forcing approach (PFA) for roughness drag which involved a costly coefficient calibration linked to the roughness topology model. In ODT, the only calibration process required is the same one involved for the turbulence model parameters, i.e., similar to the ODT model application for smooth-wall flows. Despite all of the inherently implied shortcomings of a 1-D model, some appealing properties of ODT are discussed. Notably, the model is able to predict the roughness function, as well as the wall-normal profile of the Reynolds shear stress across the entire boundary layer thickness.