The Influence of Turbulence and Adhesion on Spatially Heterogeneous Particle Deposition and Wear

Dust and sand ingestion in gas turbine engines leads to particle deposition and wear, degrading performance and increasing maintenance costs. In this work, we use direct numerical simulation of turbulent channel flow to investigate the role of near-wall turbulence in shaping particle deposition patterns. Particle dynamics are resolved via a one-way coupled Euler–Lagrange framework incorporating drag, lift, Brownian dynamics, and a soft-sphere collision model with adhesive contact. Thermal effects are approximated by varying the particle adhesion number. We find that lower adhesion numbers produce more heterogeneous deposits by allowing particles to move along the wall, forming streak-like patterns that align with near-wall turbulence structures. Spanwise radial distribution functions and spatial velocity correlations reveal a direct coupling between turbulence scales and particle clustering. These results highlight the importance of accurate models for particle-turbulence and particle-wall interactions in predicting deposition morphology in high-temperature turbulent flows.