PIV Study of Turbulent Flow in Porous Media

This paper reports on an experimental study of turbulent flow through model two-dimensional porous media bounded on one side by a solid plane wall and on the other side by a zone of clear fluid. The porous media comprised of square arrays of transparent circular acrylic rods that were inserted into holes drilled onto pairs of removable plates. The removable plates were then inserted into groves made in the side walls of the test channel. The rod diameter and/or center-to-center spacing between adjacent rods were varied to simulate porosities that ranged from 0.56 to 0.89. A particle image velocimetry technique was used to conduct detailed velocity measurements in the flow within the porous media and the adjacent clear zone. From these measurements, the slip velocity and profiles of the spatially averaged mean velocities and Reynolds stresses were obtained to study the effects of porosity on the velocity field.