Flow through porous fences in thick boundary layers: comparisons between laboratory and numerical experiments

Results of a comparison between wind-tunnel tests and CFD modelling for flow downstream of a two-dimensional porous fence in a thick boundary layer are presented. Three porosities are considered, 0%, 23% and 50%, and two turbulence models are tested, modified k–ε and full Reynolds stress. Both models are shown to have weaknesses but overall the much simpler, modified k–ε model worked surprisingly well. A method for determining the resistance of the porous fences for use in CFD modelling is developed and tested. This is shown to work reasonably well for the thin fences considered here but further work on modelling of thick porous blockages is still required.