Characterisation of rough-wall drag in compressible turbulent boundary layers

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Auteurs principaux: Wangsawijaya, Dea Daniella, Baidya, Rio, Scharnowski, Sven, Ganapathisubramani, Bharath, Kähler, Christian
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Wangsawijaya, Dea Daniella
Baidya, Rio
Scharnowski, Sven
Ganapathisubramani, Bharath
Kähler, Christian
author_facet Wangsawijaya, Dea Daniella
Baidya, Rio
Scharnowski, Sven
Ganapathisubramani, Bharath
Kähler, Christian
contents In compressible turbulent boundary layers (TBLs), roughness drag is typically characterised by first applying a velocity transformation to account for compressibility, after which the momentum deficit $ΔU^+$ (Hama, 1954) and the equivalent sand-grain roughness $k_s$ are inferred. In practice, $k_s$ is often obtained from measurements at a single Mach number $M$ and Reynolds number $Re$, effectively forcing the roughness into the $ΔU^+$--$\log(k_s)$ relation of Nikuradse (1933). This raises a key question: if a rough surface has a known $k_s$ in incompressible flow, under what conditions can this value be used in compressible flows? This question is explored using data obtained through a series of experiments of TBLs on rough walls (P60- and P24-grit sandpapers) over $0.3 \leq M \leq 2.9$ and $7427 \leq Re_τ \leq 30292$, including independent variation of $Re_τ$ at $M=2$. Results show that $ΔU^+$ is largely insensitive to the velocity transformation, but the fully rough regime exhibits a Mach-number-dependent shift in the logarithmic relation. Three empirical scalings are examined: an equivalent incompressible $k_s$, a viscosity-scaled roughness $k_{*} = k/ν_\infty^+$ with $ν_\infty^+ = ν_\infty/ν_w$, and a correction factor $\sqrt{1/F_c}$ where $F_c$ depends on $T_\infty/T_w$. The last provides the most consistent improvement across datasets, although all corrections remain empirical and rely on smooth-wall compressibility transformations. This paves the way for future work to develop custom transformation for a rough-wall TBL that can account for roughness properties and other parameters including wall conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_24288
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Characterisation of rough-wall drag in compressible turbulent boundary layers
Wangsawijaya, Dea Daniella
Baidya, Rio
Scharnowski, Sven
Ganapathisubramani, Bharath
Kähler, Christian
Fluid Dynamics
In compressible turbulent boundary layers (TBLs), roughness drag is typically characterised by first applying a velocity transformation to account for compressibility, after which the momentum deficit $ΔU^+$ (Hama, 1954) and the equivalent sand-grain roughness $k_s$ are inferred. In practice, $k_s$ is often obtained from measurements at a single Mach number $M$ and Reynolds number $Re$, effectively forcing the roughness into the $ΔU^+$--$\log(k_s)$ relation of Nikuradse (1933). This raises a key question: if a rough surface has a known $k_s$ in incompressible flow, under what conditions can this value be used in compressible flows? This question is explored using data obtained through a series of experiments of TBLs on rough walls (P60- and P24-grit sandpapers) over $0.3 \leq M \leq 2.9$ and $7427 \leq Re_τ \leq 30292$, including independent variation of $Re_τ$ at $M=2$. Results show that $ΔU^+$ is largely insensitive to the velocity transformation, but the fully rough regime exhibits a Mach-number-dependent shift in the logarithmic relation. Three empirical scalings are examined: an equivalent incompressible $k_s$, a viscosity-scaled roughness $k_{*} = k/ν_\infty^+$ with $ν_\infty^+ = ν_\infty/ν_w$, and a correction factor $\sqrt{1/F_c}$ where $F_c$ depends on $T_\infty/T_w$. The last provides the most consistent improvement across datasets, although all corrections remain empirical and rely on smooth-wall compressibility transformations. This paves the way for future work to develop custom transformation for a rough-wall TBL that can account for roughness properties and other parameters including wall conditions.
title Characterisation of rough-wall drag in compressible turbulent boundary layers
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24288