A pioneer direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent boundary layer at $R{e}_{\theta } = 2077{{\unicode{x2013}}}2439$, was performed, on a rough surface and with a zero pressure gradient (ZPG). The boundary layer was subjected to transitional, 24-grit sandpaper surface roughness, with a roughness parameter of ${k}^{+ } \simeq 11$. The computational method involves a synergy of the dynamic multi-scale approach devised by Araya et al. (2011) for prescribing inlet turbulent boundary conditions and a new methodology for mapping high-resolution topographical surface data into a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) environment. It is shown here that the dynamic multi-scale approach can be successfully extended to simulations which incorporate surface roughness. The DNS results demonstrate good agreement with the laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurements performed by Brzek et al. (2008) and Schultz & Flack (2003) under similar conditions in terms of mean velocity profiles, Reynolds stresses and flow parameters, such as the skin friction coefficient, boundary and momentum thicknesses. Further, it is demonstrated that the effects of the surface roughness on the Reynolds stresses, at the values of $R{e}_{\theta } = 2077{{\unicode{x2013}}}2439$, are scale-dependent. Roughness effects were mainly manifested up to $y/ \delta \approx 0. 1$. Generally speaking, it was observed that inner peak values of Reynolds stresses increased when considering outer units. However, decreases were seen in inner units. In the outer region, the most significant differences between the present DNS smooth and rough cases were computed in the wall-normal component $\langle {v}^{\prime 2} \rangle $ of the Reynolds stresses and in the Reynolds shear stresses $\langle {u}^{\prime } {v}^{\prime } \rangle $ in outer units. From the resulting flow fields a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis is performed and the effects of the surface roughness are distinctly observed in the most energetic POD modes. The POD analysis shows that the surface roughness causes a redistribution of the kinetic energy amongst the POD modes with energy being shifted from low-order to high-order modes in the rough case versus the smooth case. Also, the roughness causes a marked decrease in the characteristic wavelengths observed in the POD modes, particularly in the streamwise component of the velocity field. Low-order modes of the streamwise component demonstrated characteristic wavelengths of the order of $3\delta $ in the smooth case, whereas the same modes for the rough case demonstrated characteristic wavelengths of only $\delta $.

High-frequency (50 Hz) observational data from the 200-m tower data (Reese Technology Center, Texas) have been prescribed as inflow conditions into the NREL FAST code in order to evaluate the structural impacts of Low Level Jets (LLJs) on a typical commercial wind turbine. A vertical region of interest for the analysis of interaction LLJ–wind turbine has been delimited, and the LLJ length scales have been calculated. The analysis of power spectra exhibited a deviation within the inertial subrange from the classical −5/3 slope in a log-log representation towards a lower slope, which indicated a lower rate of energy transfer when the LLJ was present. It has been observed that during a LLJ event the turbulence intensity and turbulence kinetic energy were significantly lower than those during unstable conditions; and cyclical aerodynamic loads on the turbine blades produced a negative impact on the wind turbine, mainly due to the enhanced wind shear. Dominant frequencies present in the power spectra of the incoming wind were also observed in frequencies related to the dynamic loads of the turbines. It was found that the wind turbine can mimic the signals from the approaching inlet flow, although some of the replication can be altered or annulled in a wind farm.

A dynamic method for prescribing realistic inflow boundary conditions is presented for simulations of spatially developing turbulent boundary layers. The approach is based on the rescaling–recycling method proposed by Lund, Wu & Squires (J. Comput. Phys, vol. 140, 1998, pp. 233–258) and the multi-scale method developed by Araya, Jansen & Castillo (J. Turbul., vol. 10, no. 36, 2009, pp. 1–33). The rescaling process requires prior knowledge about how the velocity and length scales are related between the inlet and recycle stations. Here a dynamic approach is proposed in which such information is deduced dynamically by involving an additional plane, the so-called test plane located between the inlet and recycle stations. The approach distinguishes between the inner and outer regions of the boundary layer and enables the use of multiple velocity scales. This flexibility allows applications to boundary layer flows with pressure gradients and avoids the need to prescribe empirically the friction velocity and other flow parameters at the inlet of the domain. The dynamic method is tested in direct numerical simulations of zero, favourable and adverse pressure gradient flows. The dynamically obtained scaling exponents for the downstream evolution of boundary layer parameters are found to fluctuate in time, but on average they agree with the expected values for zero, favourable and adverse pressure gradient flows. Comparisons of the results with data from experiments, and from other direct numerical simulations that use much longer computational domains to capture laminar-to-turbulence transition, demonstrate the suitability of the proposed dynamic method.

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