Numerical study of turbulent channel flow laden with finite-size non-spherical particles

Abstract

We present interface-resolved numerical simulations of turbulent channel flow laden with non-spherical rigid and neutrally-buoyant particles. We first focus on the case of oblate particles of aspect ratio 1/3 at volume fractions up to 15% and show that the turbulent drag is decreasing when increasing the particle volume fraction although the effective viscosity of the suspension actually increases. We relate the observed drag reduction to turbulence attenuation and to particle migration away from the near-wall region. Particles tend to align parallel to the wall with rotation rates significantly lower than those reported for spheres. In the second part of the study, we examine the effect of the particle slenderness on the observed drag reduction and show that the drag increases for flatter particles.