scholarly journals Stochastic backscatter of turbulence energy and scalar variance by random subgrid-scale fluxes

For large-eddy simulation with a finite-difference scheme, a simple stochastic subgridscale (SGS) model is introduced which describes the effects of random SGS motions on the resolved (filtered) scales of incompressible turbulent motions. The model extends the Smagorinsky-Lilly model by adding realizable random stresses and fluxes which are constructed as quadratic expressions of Gaussian random velocity and temperature fields. The random components reduce the correlations between stresses and strain rates to in between 0.16 and 0.5, in agreement with observations. The random stresses (fluxes) also induce random accelerations (temperature changes) with a k 4 power spectrum. Such random sources backscatter energy (variance) from SGS motions to resolved scale motions when temporally correlated with finite timescales. The timescales are different for momentum and heat flux. The analysis of the model provides an upper estimate of the magnitude of backscatter which is close to previous predictions. The analysis identifies the influence of the quasi-normal assumption and of numerical filters and determines the variance of the pressure fluctuations induced by the random accelerations at grid scales. Backscatter increases the SGS turbulent Prandtl number to a degree depending strongly on the numerical filter. Tests of the model in large-eddy simulation of isotropic turbulence show energy decay rates in close agreement with expected rates when the stochastic SGS model is included. Backscatter cannot be simulated with reduced diffusivities or filter widths.

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Uddin ◽  
C. Kato ◽  
N. Oshima ◽  
M. Tanahashi ◽  
T. Miyauchi

Large eddy simulation (LES) in homogeneous isotropic turbulence is performed by using the Finite element method (FEM) and Finite volume vethod (FVM) and the results are compared to show the performance of FEM and FVM numerical solvers. The validation tests are done by using the standard Smagorinsky model (SSM) and dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM) for subgrid-scale modeling. LES is performed on a uniformly distributed 643 grids and the Reynolds number is low enough that the computational grid is capable of resolving all the turbulence scales. The LES results are compared with those from direct numerical simulation (DNS) which is calculated by a spectral method in order to assess its spectral accuracy. It is shown that the performance of FEM results is better than FVM results in this simulation. It is also shown that DSM performs better than SSM for both FEM and FVM simulations and it gives good agreement with DNS results in terms of both spatial spectra and decay of the turbulence statistics. Visualization of second invariant, Q, in LES data for both FEM and FVM reveals the existence of distinct, coherent, and tube-like vortical structures somewhat similar to those found in instantaneous flow field computed by the DNS. Keywords: Large eddy simulation; Validation; Smagorinsky model; Dynamic Smagorinsky model; Tube-like vortical structure; Homogeneous isotropic turbulence. © 2010 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved.DOI: 10.3329/jsr.v2i2.2582              J. Sci. Res. 2 (2), 237-249 (2010) 


Author(s):  
S. Sarkar ◽  
Peter R. Voke

The unsteady pressure over the suction surface of a modern low-pressure (LP) turbine blade subjected to periodically passing wakes from a moving bar wake generator is described. The results presented are a part of detailed Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) following earlier experiments over the T106 profile for a Reynolds number of 1.6×105 (based on the chord and exit velocity) and the cascade pitch to chord ratio of 0.8. The present LES uses coupled simulations of cylinder for wake, providing four-dimensional inflow conditions for successor simulations of wake interactions with the blade. The three-dimensional, time-dependent, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in fully covariant form are solved with 2.4×106 grid points for the cascade and 3.05×106 grid points for the cylinder using a symmetry-preserving finite difference scheme of second-order spatial and temporal accuracy. A separation bubble on the suction surface of the blade was found to form under the steady state condition. Pressure fluctuations of large amplitude appear on the suction surface as the wake passes over the separation region. Enhanced receptivity of perturbations associated with the inflexional velocity profile is the cause of instability and coherent vortices appear over the rear half of the suction surface by the rollup of shear layer via Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) mechanism. Once these vortices are formed, the steady-flow separation changes remarkably. These coherent structures embedded in the boundary amplify before breakdown while traveling downstream with a convective speed of about 37 percent of the local free-stream speed. The vortices play an important role in the generation of turbulence and thus to decide the transitional length, which becomes time-dependent. The source of the pressure fluctuations on the rear part of the suction surface is also identified as the formation of these coherent structures. When compared with experiments, it reveals that LES is worth pursuing as an understanding of the eddy motions and interactions is of vital importance for the problem.


Author(s):  
Fernando F. Grinstein

Abstract Accurate predictions with quantifiable uncertainties are essential to many practical turbulent flow applications exhibiting extreme geometrical complexity and broad ranges of length and time scales. Under-resolved computer simulations are typically unavoidable in such applications, and implicit large-eddy simulation (ILES) often becomes the effective strategy. We focus on ILES initialized with well-characterized 2563 homogeneous isotropic turbulence datasets generated with direct numerical simulation (DNS). ILES is based on the LANL xRAGE code, and solutions are examined as function of resolution for 643, 1283, 2563, and 5123 grids. The ILES performance of new directionally-unsplit high-order numerical hydrodynamics algorithms in xRAGE is examined. Compared to the initial 2563 DNS, we find longer inertial subranges and higher turbulence Re for directional-split 2563 & 5123 xRAGE — attributed to having linked DNS (Navier-Stokes based) solutions to nominally inviscid (higher Re) Euler based ILES solutions. Alternatively — for fixed resolution, we find that significantly higher simulated turbulence Re can be achieved with unsplit (vs. split) discretizations.


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