Scaling of wall pressure and the streamwise turbulence intensity peak in compressible wall flows

Journal Article (2026)
Author(s)

A.M. Hasan (TU Delft - Energy Technology)

Pedro Costa (TU Delft - Energy Technology)

Johan Larsson (University of Maryland)

Rene Pecnik (TU Delft - Energy Technology)

DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2025.11096 Final published version
More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Journal title
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Volume number
1027
Article number
A26
Downloads counter
23
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Abstract

This paper develops scaling laws for wall-pressure root mean square and the streamwise turbulence intensity peak, accounting for both variable-property and intrinsic compressibility effects – those associated with changes in fluid volume due to pressure variations. To develop such scaling laws, we express the target quantities as an expansion series in powers of an appropriately defined Mach number. The leading-order term is represented using the scaling relations developed for incompressible flows, but with an effective Reynolds number. Higher-order terms capture intrinsic compressibility effects and are modelled as constant coefficients, calibrated using flow cases specifically designed to isolate these effects. The resulting scaling relations are shown to be accurate for a wide range of turbulent channel flows and boundary layers.