Rough wall boundary layer measurements to accompany the paper 'Characteristics of the Pressure Fluctuations Generated by Turbulent Boundary Layers over Rough Surfaces'

This data set accompanies the paper 'Characteristics of the Pressure Fluctuations Generated by Turbulent Boundary Layers over Rough Surfaces', Joseph L., Molinaro N., Devenport W. and Meyers T., Journal of Fluid Mechanics, in press, 2019. Most flows of practical interest are turbulent in nature, typically occurring next to a rigid surface such as a submarine hull or aircraft wing. This boundary layer now is of engineering importance because its pressure fluctuations are the source of unwanted structural vibrations and undesired acoustic noise. From a purely scientific perspective, it is useful to study the turbulent pressure fluctuations in order to learn more about the workings of the region of the flow closest to the surface. The present data was collected with the goal of exploring the nature of the rough-wall turbulent boundary layer through wind tunnel experiments. Experiments were carried out in high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers over rough surfaces of diverse geometries. Roughness configurations varied in element height, distribution (random versus ordered), shape, and spacing. Rough surfaces comprising of two superposed element geometries were also tested. All flows were free of transitional effects with momentum thickness Reynolds numbers upwards of 40000 and boundary layer thickness to roughness height ratios above 73. The data include velocity and pressure fluctuations, and the boundary layer parameters derived from these.