New expressions for the surface roughness length and displacement height in the atmospheric boundary layer

An alternative model for the prediction of surface roughness length is developed. In the model a new factor is introduced to compensate for the effects of wake diffusion and interactions between the wake and roughness obstacles. The experiments are carried out by the use of the hot wire anemometry in the simulated atmospheric boundary layer in a wind tunnel. Based on the experimental data, a new expression for the zero-plane displacement height is proposed for the square arrays of roughness elements, which highlights the influence of free-stream speed on the roughness length. It appears that the displacement height increases with the wind speed while the surface roughness length decreases with Reynolds number increasing. It is shown that the calculation results based on the new expressions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.     

Study on the mixing of fluid in curved microchannelswith heterogeneous surface potentials

In this paper the mixing of a sample in the curved microchannel with heterogeneous surface potentials is analysed numerically by using the control-volume-based finite difference method. The rigorous models for describing the wall potential and external potential are solved to get the distribution of wall potential and external potential, then momentum equation is solved to get the fully developed flow field. Finally the mass transport equation is solved to get the concentration field. The results show that the curved microchannel has an optimized capability of sample mixing and transport when the heterogeneous surface is located at the left conjunction between the curved part and straight part. The variation of heterogeneous surface potential $\psi_{\rm n}$has more influence on the capability of sample mixing than on that of sample transport. The ratio of the curved microchannel's radius to width has a comparable effect on the capability of sample mixing and transport. The conclusions above are helpful to the optimization of the design of microfluidic devices for the improvement of the efficiency of sample mixing.     

Effect of Surface Roughness and Reynolds Number on Self-Similarity of Velocity Profile in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Self-similarity of power law velocity profile of a simulated atmospheric boundary layer is studied experimentally. The results demonstrate that the self-similarity maintains very well along the streamwise direction for the same rough surface but changes significantly with the surface roughness at the same position. The self-similarity of the vertical velocity profiles is affected by enhancement of the free stream velocity when the roughness concentration is relatively denser.