Near-wall behavior of turbulent wall-bounded flows

A data base compiling a large number of results from direct numerical simulations and physical experiments is used to explore the properties of shear and normal Reynolds stresses very close to the wall of turbulent channel/pipe flows and boundary layers. Three types of scaling are mainly investigated, classical inner, standard mixed, and pure outer scaling. The study focuses on the wall behavior, the location and the value of the peak Reynolds shear stress and the three normal stresses. A primary observation is that all of these parameters show a significant Karman number dependence. None of the scalings investigated works in an equal manner for all parameters. It is found that the respective first-order Taylor series expansion satisfactorily represents each stress only in a surprisingly thin layer very close to the wall. In some cases, a newly introduced scaling based on u(tau)(3/2) u(e)(1/2) offers a remedy. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.