Eddy population based model for the wall-pressure spectrum at high Reynolds number

Wall-pressure fluctuations beneath turbulent boundary layers drive noise and structural fatigue through interactions between fluid and structural modes. Conventional predictive models for the spectrum--such as the widely accepted Goody model--fail to capture the energetic growth in the subconvective regime that occurs at high Reynolds number, while at the same time over-predicting the variance. To address these shortcomings, two semi-empirical models are proposed for the wall-pressure spectrum in canonical turbulent boundary layers, pipes and channels for friction Reynolds numbers δ⁺ ranging from 180 to 47 000. The models are based on consideration of two eddy populations that broadly represent the contributions to the wall pressure fluctuations from inner-scale motions and outer-scale motions. The first model expresses the premultiplied spectrum as the sum of two overlapping log-normal populations: an inner-scaled term that is δ⁺-invariant and an outer-scaled term whose amplitude broadens smoothly with δ⁺. Calibrated against large-eddy simulations, direct numerical simulations, and recent high-δ⁺ pipe data, it reproduces the convective ridge and the emergence of a sub-convective ridge at large δ⁺. The second model, developed around newly-available pipe data, uses theoretical arguments to prescribe the spectral shapes of the inner and outer populations. By embedding the δ⁺ dependence in smooth asymptotic functions, it yields a formulation that varies continuously with δ⁺. Both models capture the full spectrum and the logarithmic growth of its variance, laying the groundwork for more accurate engineering predictions of wall-pressure fluctuations.