Differentially heated turbulent channel flow two-point correlations

Abstract

This study analyzes the behavior of a differentially heated channel flow by means of a direct numerical simulations (DNS) with variable thermophysical properties under low-speed conditions focusing on the impact of the temperature gradient on the turbulence structures near the channel walls. The simulations were conducted at a mean friction Reynolds number of Retm = 400 with a temperature ratio between the walls of Thot/Tcold = 2. Results show significant differences between the hot and cold walls that lead to an increased heat transfer at the hot wall and a higher turbulent production in the cold wall.

This work has been partially financially supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, Spain (ref. PID2020116937RB-C21 and PID2020-116937RB-C22). The corresponding first author gratefully acknowledges the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the Banco Santander for the financial support of her predoctoral grant FPI-UPC.

Postprint (published version)