Experimental Study on Turbulent Characteristics in a Flow with Suspended Particles

Abstract

Characteristics of turbulence in a flow with suspensions of neutrally buoyant and sinking particles are investigated experimentally. The turbulent field generated by an oscillating grid was adopted for measurements. Since there is no mean shear flow in it, the steady state can be easily attained.
A variety of sedimentation velocities of particles are provided by using salt water, the density of which can be easily controlled. The turbulence is measured by LDV and the effect of sedimentation velocity of particles on turbulent properties are discussed. It should be noticed that increasing sedimentation velocity of particles results into smaller turbulent intensity.