Supercomputer Studies of Turbulent Transport
T. J. Hanratty,* D. Papavassiliou, Y. Na, I. Iliopoulos
National Science Foundation, CTS 92-09877

We are exploring new methods of interpreting turbulent transport of molecular species or particles that describe the field as resulting from a distribution of sources and sinks. These studies are carried out with a supercomputer simulation of turbulent flow in a channel and are made possible by the development of particle-tracking routines. Of particular interest is the effect of molecular transport on turbulent mixing, the effect of gravity on particle transport in dispersed flows, and aerosol impaction on walls. Direct numerical simulations of turbulent heat transfer in a channel have been carried out for Prandt numbers varying between 0.05 and 10.