The minimal channel: A fast and direct method for characterising roughness

Abstract

Roughness only alters the near-wall region of turbulent flow and leaves the outer-layer unaffected, making it a prime candidate for the minimal-span channel framework which only captures the near-wall flow. Recently, Chung et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 773, 2015, pp. 418-431) showed that the minimal-span channel can accurately characterise the hydraulic behaviour of roughness. Following on from this, we aim to further optimise the minimal-span channel framework by primarily noting that the outer layer it produces is inherently incorrect, and as such modifications to this region can be made to improve performance. Firstly, a half-height channel with slip wall is shown to reproduce the near-wal..