Large‐eddy simulation of subsonic turbulent jets using the compressible lattice Boltzmann method

Abstract

SummaryThe lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is a powerful technique for the computational modeling of a wide variety of single‐s and multiphase flows involving complex geometries. Although the LBM has been demonstrated to be effective for the solution of incompressible flow problems, there are limitations when this methodology is applied to the solution of compressible flows, especially for flows at high Mach numbers. In this article, we investigate strategies to overcome some of the limitations associated with the application of LBM to compressible flows. To this purpose, one of the key contributions of this study is the synthesis and integration of previous efforts concerning the formulation of LBM for the large‐eddy simulation (LES) of compressible turbulent flows in the subsonic flow regime. It is shown how certain limitations of applying the LBM to compressible flows can be addressed by using either a higher order Taylor series expansion of the Maxwell–Boltzmann equilibrium distribution function or using the Kataoka and Tsutahara (KT) LBM model formulation for compressible flows. The proposed LBM/LES methodology for compressible flows has been combined with the Kirchhoff integral formulation for computational aeroacoustics and used to simulate the flow and acoustic fields of compressible jet flows at high subsonic speeds with practical relevance for providing a better understanding of problems associated with jet noise. In this context, simulations of the physics associated with the jet flow and concomitant noise in the near‐ and far‐field regimes were conducted using the proposed framework of a compressible LBM/LES and Kirchhoff integral method. The results of the subsonic isothermal and nonisothermal jet flow simulations for the flow and acoustic fields have been compared with available numerical and experimental results with generally good to excellent agreement.