Large-Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Obstacle Flow Using a Dynamic Subgrid-Scale Model

Abstract

We apply the dynamic subgrid-scale model to a large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow with a square rib mounted on one wall. The Reynolds number Re is 3.21 x 10 3 based on the mean velocity above the obstacle and the obstacle's height. Near-wall structures are resolved with the no-slip boundary condition. The results show better agreement with direct numerical simulation than large-eddy simulation with a fixed model constant, verifying the value of the dynamic subgrid-scale model for simulating complex turbulent flows. ARGE-EDDY simulation (LES) is an accurate method of simulating complex turbulent flows in which the large flow structures are computed while small scales are modeled. The rationale behind this method is based on two observations: most of the turbulent energy is in the large structures, and the small scales are more isotropic and universal. Therefore, LES may be more general and less geometry dependent than Reynolds-averaged modeling, although it comes at higher cost. Even though LES has been used by many investigators, most research has been limited to flows with simple geometry. In engineering applications, however, one encounters more complicated geometries. Here we shall consider a rectangular parallelepiped mounted on a flat surface. Related flows are those over surfaces protruding from submarines (conning towers or control fins), wind flows around buildings, and airflows over computer chips, among others. The most distinctive features associated with these flows are three dimensionality, flow separation due to protruding surfaces, and large-scale unsteadiness. As a model flow, we consider a plane channel flow in which a two-dimensional obstacle is mounted on one surface (see Fig. 1). This relatively simple geometry contains flow separation and reattachment. Flow in this geometry has been studied by Tropea and Gackstatter1 for low Re and Werner and Wengle2 and Dimaczek et al.3 for high Re, among others. Recently, Germano et al. 4 suggested a dynamic subgridscale model (DSGSM) in which the model coefficient is dynamically computed as computation progresses rather than specified a priori. This approach is based on an algebraic identity between the subgrid-scale stresses at two different filter levels and the resolved turbulent stresses. They applied the model to transitional and fully turbulent channel flows and showed that the model contributes nothing in laminar flow and exhibits the correct asymptotic behavior in the nearwall region of turbulent flows without an ad hoc damping function. This is a significant improvement over conventional subgrid-scale modeling.