Near-autonomous large eddy simulations of turbulence based on interscale energy transfer among resolved scales

Abstract

Numerical simulations of turbulent flows at high Reynolds numbers rely on postulated turbulence models. We show that a model can be obtained by computing subgrid scale (SGS) energy transfer from the actual, resolved velocity fields in the course of simulations. This information, supplemented by asymptotic properties of the energy flux in the inertial range, allows self-contained simulations without postulating extraneous SGS models. For high Reynolds numbers such autonomous simulations lead to the inertial range ${k}^{\ensuremath{-}5/3}$ spectrum with the correct value of the Kolmogorov constant.