Large eddy simulation in Code_Saturne of thermal mixing in a T junction with brass walls

Abstract

Following on from Kuhn et al (2010) we study the capability of large eddy simulation with conjugate heat transfer to predict thermal fluctuations with thermal mixing. Wall functions are used to model the wall heat transfer. Comparison with experimental results show that the temperature variance on the outer skin of the solid is well predicted by the simulation. It is shown that the variance of thermal flux in the fluid closely maps the temperature variance at the outer boundary of the solid. Since the variance of thermal flux is closely related to the dissipation of temperature variance it can be concluded that the dissipation of temperature variance in the fluid is linked to temperature variance in the solid. Analysis of the equation of the temperature variance in the solid confirms this is indeed the case. It is the dissipation of temperature variance in the fluid that characterizes how the temperature variance penetrates the solid. Thus RANS modelling can be used to predict thermal variance in solids provided that there is an accurate model for the dissipation of temperature variance at the wall and an equation for the thermal variance in the solid is solved.