Experimental investigation of particle dynamics in particle-laden turbulent boundary layer

In a horizontal wind tunnel, experiments were performed on both particle-free and particle-laden flows at the same incoming velocity. Glass micro-spheres were carried by air along the turbulent boundary layer at a high Reynolds number (Re_τ=3200). The Stokes numbers of the solid particles considered were O(10) and O(10²). Under a similar volume fraction, Φ_v=O(10⁻⁵), the velocity and spatial distribution of solid inertial particles were investigated using simultaneous particle image/tracking velocimetry measurements and time-resolved particle imaging. This allowed for the exploration of particle dynamics and their corresponding spatial structure in the particle-laden turbulent boundary layer. The results showed that particle–wall (P-W) interaction occurs in both types of particle-laden flows. However, the particle Stokes number directly affects the intensity of the P-W interaction, significantly altering the behavior and spatial organization of particles. The results from the Voronoi tessellation technique confirmed that preferential clustering still happens for the small particle case. In particular, the premultiplied spectra for the particle concentration showed that the temporal pattern of particle clustering presents a similar time-scale to very large-scale motion (around 22δ, where δ is the boundary layer thickness) in the near-wall region.