An Experimental Study of a Turbulent Wall Jet on Smooth and Transitionally Rough Surfaces

The effect of surface roughness on the mean velocity and skin friction characteristics of a plane turbulent wall jet was experimentally investigated using laser Doppler anemometry. The Reynolds number based on the slot height and exit velocity of the jet was approximately Re = 7500. A 36-grit sheet was used to create a transitionally rough flow (44 < k_s⁺< 70). Measurements were carried out at downstream distances from the jet exit ranging from 20 to 80 slot heights. Both conventional and momentum-viscosity scaling were used to analyze the streamwise evolution of the flow on smooth and rough walls. Three different methods were employed to estimate the friction velocity in the fully developed region of the wall jet, which was then used to calculate the skin friction coefficient. This paper provides new experimental data for the case of a plane wall jet on a transitionally rough surface and uses it to quantify the effects of roughness on the momentum field. The present results indicate that the skin friction coefficient for the rough-wall case compared to a smooth wall increases by as much as 140%. Overall, the study suggests that for the transitionally rough regime considered in the present study, roughness effects are significant but mostly confined to the inner region of the wall jet.