To study the dynamics and distribution of microplastic particles in turbulent open channel flow, direct numerical simulations are performed. The particle phase is tracked with a Lagrangian point-particle approach and one-way coupling of particles and fluid. The flow Reynolds number, based on the friction velocity, is at 𝑅𝑒τ = 180. First, the particle’s non-dimensional parameters are chosen based on a parameter estimate for natural flow situations. Second, statistics of the particle phase for nine cases from a parameter space with varying non-dimensional Stokes number and Galileo number are presented and discussed. To evaluate particle clustering a Voronoi analysis is performed separately for the wall, bulk, and surface region of the flow. Based on the clustering of the particle phase, selected instantaneous particle and fluid fields are visualized and the fluid phase at the particle positions is analyzed.     «

To study the dynamics and distribution of microplastic particles in turbulent open channel flow, direct numerical simulations are performed. The particle phase is tracked with a Lagrangian point-particle approach and one-way coupling of particles and fluid. The flow Reynolds number, based on the friction velocity, is at 𝑅𝑒τ = 180. First, the particle’s non-dimensional parameters are chosen based on a parameter estimate for natural flow situations. Second, statistics of the particle phase for nin...     »