Turbulent kinetic energy distribution across the interface between a porous medium and a clear region

For hybrid media, involving both a porous substrate and an unobstructed flow region, difficulties arise due to the proper mathematical treatment given at the macroscopic interface. The literature proposes a jump condition in which shear stresses on both sides of the interface are not of the same value. This paper presents numerical solutions for such hybrid medium, considering here a channel partially filled with a porous layer through which an incompressible fluid flows in turbulent regime. Here, diffusion fluxes of both momentum and turbulent kinetic energy across the interface present a discontinuity in their values, which is based on a certain jump coefficient. Effects of such parameter on mean and turbulence fields around the interface region are numerically investigated. Results indicate that depending on the value of the stress jump parameter, a substantially different structure for the turbulent field is obtained. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.