Title: Suspensions of finite-size neutrally-buoyant spheres in turbulent duct flow,
Abstract: We study the turbulent square duct flow of dense suspensions of
neutrally-buoyant spherical particles. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) are
performed in the range of volume fractions $\phi=0-0.2$, using the immersed
boundary method (IBM) to account for the dispersed phase. Based on the
hydraulic diameter a Reynolds number of $5600$ is considered. We report flow
features and particle statistics specific to this geometry, and compare the
results to the case of two-dimensional channel flows. In particular, we observe
that for $\phi=0.05$ and $0.1$, particles preferentially accumulate on the
corner bisectors, close to the duct corners as also observed for laminar square
duct flows of same duct-to-particle size ratios. At the highest volume
fraction, particles preferentially accumulate in the core region. For channel
flows, in the absence of lateral confinement particles are found instead to be
uniformily distributed across the channel. We also observe that the intensity
of the cross-stream secondary flows increases (with respect to the unladen
case) with the volume fraction up to $\phi=0.1$, as a consequence of the high
concentration of particles along the corner bisector. For $\phi=0.2$ the
turbulence activity is strongly reduced and the intensity of the secondary
flows reduces below that of the unladen case. The friction Reynolds number
increases with $\phi$ in dilute conditions, as observed for channel flows.
However, for $\phi=0.2$ the mean friction Reynolds number decreases below the
value for $\phi=0.1$.