Large eddy simulation study of turbulent kinetic energy and scalar variance budgets and turbulent/non-turbulent interface in planar jets

Abstract

Spatially developing planar jets with passive scalar transports are simulated for various Reynolds (Re = 2200, 7000, and 22 000) and Schmidt numbers (Sc = 1, 4, 16, 64, and 128) by the implicit large eddy simulation (ILES) using low-pass filtering as an implicit subgrid-scale model. The budgets of resolved turbulent kinetic energy k and scalar variance are explicitly evaluated from the ILES data except for the dissipation terms, which are obtained from the balance in the transport equations. The budgets of k and in the ILES agree well with the DNS and experiments for both high and low Re cases. The streamwise decay of the mean turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate obeys the power low obtained by the scaling argument. The mechanical-to-scalar timescale ratio Cϕ is evaluated in the self-similar region. For the high Re case, Cϕ is close to the isotropic value (Cϕ = 2) near the jet centerline. However, when Re is not large, Cϕ is smaller than 2 and depends on the Schmidt number. The T/NT interface is also investigated by using the scalar isosurface. The velocity and scalar fields near the interface depend on the interface orientation for all Re. The velocity toward the interface is observed near the interface facing in the streamwise, cross-streamwise, and spanwise directions in the planar jet in the resolved velocity field.