Velocity Fluctuations in a Particle-Laden Turbulent Flow over a Backward-Facing Step

Dilute gas-particle turbulent flow over a backward-facing step is numerically simulated. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used for the continuous phase and a Lagrangian trajectory method is adopted for the particle phase. Four typical locations in the flow field are chosen to investigate the two-phase velocity fluctuations. Time-series velocities of the gas phase with particles of different sizes are obtained. Velocity of the small particles is found to be similar to that of the gas phase, while high frequency noise exists in the velocity of the large particles. While the mean and rms velocities of the gas phase and small particles are correlated, the rms velocities of large particles have no correlation with the gas phase. The frequency spectrum of the velocity of the gas phase and the small particle phase show the -5/3 decay for higher wave number, as expected in a turbulent flow. However, there is a "rising tail' in the high frequency end of the spectrum for larger particles. It is shown that large particles behave differently in the flow field, while small particles behave similarly and dominated by the local gas phase flow.