Direct numerical simulation of the incompressible temporally developing turbulent boundary layer

Abstract

We perform a direct numerical simulation investigation of the incompressible temporally developing turbulent boundary layer. The flow is the turbulent counterpart to the laminar Rayleigh problem or Stokes' first problem, in which a fluid at rest is set into motion by a wall moving at constant velocity. The physics contained in the idealised, short-domain, temporally developing boundary layer may prove useful in the study of wall turbulence at a manageable computational cost. This is in contrast to the considerable cost associated with long domains required for simulating the spatially developing boundary layer from trip to fully developed wall turbulence. Comparisons of the skin-friction coe..