Turbulent flow and organized motions over a two-dimensional rough wall

Particle image velocimetry measurements at relatively low Reynolds number in a turbulent boundary layer over a two-dimensional roughened surface are presented and compared to those for a smooth wall. The main goal of the study was to give a contribution to the understanding of the behavior of the turbulent organized motions, when the influence of the wall roughness on the turbulent structures may be expected to be noticeable, i.e., for relatively high roughness and relatively low Reynolds number. In addition, the flow behavior with respect to the wall similarity hypothesis in the case of moderately large values of the roughness height k and moderately low Reynolds number was tested. The behavior of the turbulent coherent motions appears to be similar for the two flows in the outer layer. Quantitative differences, observed mainly in the roughness sublayer, are enlightened comparing spatial velocity correlations and vortex population density and strength in the wall-normal-streamwise plane and in planes parallel to the wall. Mean flows expressed in velocity defect law, inner scaled streamwise Reynolds normal stress, and Reynolds shear stresses profiles show excellent agreement in the outer layer between the rough wall and the smooth surface. Wall normal Reynolds normal stress profiles, instead, show some small discrepancy, but within the measurement uncertainty.