On the behaviour of solid particles in a horizontal boundary layer with turbulence and saltation effects

A horizontal turbulent boundary layer of air carrying heavy solid particles is investigated experimentally. Mean and r.m.s. velocities of air and particles are measured by LDA, and particle mass flux distributions are obtained by means of a sampling method. The influence of the saltation mechanism is revealed by the large particle r.m.s. velocity in the near-wall region, and by the velocity lag of the particles in the outer region of the boundary layer, which is shown to be closely related to their free fall velocity. The present original results are discussed and compared with available experimental data concerning other kinds of horizontal flows.