Direct numerical simulation has been performed to explore the turbulence near a freely deformable interface in a countercurrent air–water flow, at a shear Reynolds number $\Re_{\star}=171$. The deformations of the interface fall in the range of capillary waves of waveslope $ak=0.01$, and very small phase speed-to-friction velocity ratio, $c/u_{\star}$. The results for the gas side are compared to open-channel flow data at the same shear Reynolds number, placing emphasis upon the influence of the waves in the interfacial viscosity-affected region, and away from it in the outer core flow. Comparison shows a similarity in the distribution of the turbulence intensities near the interface, confirming that for the range of flow conditions considered, the lighter phase perceives the interface like a flexible solid surface, at least in the limit of non-breaking waves. Overall, in a time-averaged sense, the interfacial motion affects the turbulence in the near-interface region; the most pertinent effect is a general dampening of the turbulent fluctuating field which, in turn, leads to a reduction in the interfacial dissipation. Furthermore, the turbulence is found to be less anisotropic at the interface than at the wall. This is confirmed by the analysis of the pressure–rate-of-strain tensor, where the effect of interfacial motion is shown to decrease the pressure strain correlation in the direction normal to the interface and in the spanwise direction. The analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stress budgets reveals that the interface deformations mainly affect the so-called boundary term involving the redistribution of energy, i.e. by the action of pressure, turbulent fluctuations and molecular viscosity, and the dissipation terms, leaving the production terms almost unchanged. The non-zero value of the turbulent kinetic energy at the interface, together with the reduced dissipation, implies that the turbulent activity persists near the interface and contributes to accelerating the turbulent transfer mechanisms. Away from the interface, the decomposition of the fluctuating velocity gradient tensor demonstrates that the fluctuating rate-of-strain and rate-of-rotation at the interface influence the flow throughout the boundary layer more vigorously. The study also reveals the streaky structure over the deformable interface to be less organized than over a rigid wall. However, the elongation of the streaks does not seem to be much affected by the interfacial motion. A simple qualitative analysis of the quasi–streamwise vortices using different eduction techniques shows that the interfacial turbulent structures do not change with a change of boundary conditions.

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Particle dispersion and deposition in the region near the wall of a turbulent open channel is studied using direct numerical simulation of the flow, combined with Lagrangian particle tracking under conditions of one-way coupling. Particles with response times of 5 and 15, normalized using the wall friction velocity and the fluid kinematic viscosity, are considered. The simulations were performed until the particle phase reached a statistically stationary state before calculating relevant statistics. For both response times, particles are seen to accumulate strongly very close to the wall in the form of streamwise oriented streaks. Deposited particles were divided into two distinct populations; those with large wall-normal deposition velocities and small near-wall residence times referred to as the free-flight population, and particles depositing with negligible wall-normal velocities and large near-wall residence times (more than 1000 wall time units), referred to as the diffusional deposition population. Diffusional deposition (deposition induced by the small residual turbulent fluctuations near the wall) is found to be the dominant mechanism of deposition for both particle response times. The free-flight mechanism is shown to gain in importance only for τp+=15 particles. For τp+=5 particles only 10% deposit because of free flight, whereas the fraction is around 40% for τp+=15 particles. This result runs counter to the widely held opinion that free flight is the dominant mechanism of deposition in wall-bounded flows and clearly quantifies the relative importance of the two mechanisms. A simple relationship between the particle wall-normal velocity on deposition and the residence time for free-flight particles is presented. Particle deposition locations over the period of the entire simulation reveal that, while diffusional deposition occurs mostly along streamwise oriented lines below the near-wall particle accumulation patterns, free-flight particles deposit more evenly over the wall.

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