The effect of surface roughness on the turbulence structure of a plane wall jet

In this paper, an experimental investigation of the turbulence characteristics of a plane wall jet over smooth and rough surfaces, using laser Doppler anemometry (LDA), is reported. The Reynolds number based on the slot height and exit velocity of the jet was approximately Re = 7500. A 36-grit sheet was used as the rough surface, creating a transitionally rough flow regime (44 < k(s)(+) < 70). Both inner and outer scales were used to analyze the effects of surface roughness on the Reynolds stress profiles. Comparisons between the present results and other LDA and hot-wire anemometry studies for a smooth surface indicate a similar behavior for the Reynolds stress profiles. However, the magnitudes of the peak values of the Reynolds stress were higher than in most previous studies due to the lower slot Reynolds number. The present results indicate that surface roughness does not appear to significantly modify the Reynolds stress profiles in the outer region of the jet except for a reduction in the level. In contrast, surface roughness modifies both the shape and magnitudes of the Reynolds stress profiles in the inner layer. Due to the much higher friction velocity for a rough surface, the magnitudes of both the streamwise and wall-normal Reynolds stress decrease in the inner region when normalized using inner scales compared to the smooth-wall values. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3614478]