Mesh Node Distribution in Terms of Wall Distance for Large-eddy Simulation of Wall-bounded Flows

Abstract

In this note, basic turbulent statistics in a pipe flow are computed accurately by large-eddy simulation using a mesh resolution coarser than the viscous sublayer. These results are obtained when a regular Cartesian mesh is used for the spatial discretization of the circular pipe thanks to an immersed boundary method combined with high-order schemes. In this particular computational configuration, the near-wall features of mean velocity and Reynolds stress profiles are found to be correctly captured at a scale significantly smaller than the mesh size. Comparisons between channel and pipe flow configurations suggest that an irregular mesh distribution in terms of wall distance may be a favourable condition to explicitly compute by large-eddy simulation reliable wall turbulence without any extra-modelling in the near-wall region.