Direct numerical simulation of turbulence over anisotropic porous media

To investigate which component of the anisotropic permeability tensor of porous media influences turbulence over porous walls, direct numerical simulation of anisotropic porous-walled channel flows is performed by the D3Q27 multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method. The presently considered anisotropic permeable walls have square pore arrays aligned with the Cartesian axes. Vertical, streamwise and spanwise pore arrays are systematically introduced to the walls to impose anisotropic permeability. Simulations are carried out at a friction Reynolds number of 111 and 230, which is based on the averaged friction velocity of the porous bottom and the smooth top walls. It is found that streamwise and spanwise permeabilities enhance turbulence whilst vertical permeability itself does not. In particular, the enhancement of turbulence is remarkable over porous walls with streamwise permeability. Over streamwise permeable walls, development of high- and low-speed streaks is prevented whilst large-scale intermittent patched patterns of ejection motions are induced. It is revealed by two-point correlation analysis that streamwise permeability allows the development of streamwise large-scale perturbations induced by Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Spectral analysis reveals that this perturbation contributes to the enhancement of the Reynolds shear stress, leading to significant skin friction of the porous interface. Through the comparison between the two different Reynolds-number cases, it is found that, as the Reynolds number increases, the streamwise perturbation becomes larger and more organized. Consequently, owing to the enhancement of the large-scale perturbation, a significant Reynolds-number dependence of the skin friction of the porous interface can be observed over the streamwise permeable wall. It is also implied that the wavelength of the perturbation can be reasonably scaled by the outer-layer length scale.