The use of turbulent inflow conditions for the modelling of a high aspect ratio jet

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the capabilities of a turbulent inflow method. The application selected for this study is the high aspect ratio jet. The complexities associated to the numerical modelling of a high aspect ratio jet are embedded in its physical complexity. Consequently, the numerical modelling does not only require a high mesh resolution, but furthermore it requires a careful mesh construction, inflow conditions and subgrid-scale modelling to make an accurate computation of the unsteady flow phenomena. The results indicate that increased grid resolution and enhanced turbulence modelling reduce the effect of the imposed flow fluctuations. It is concluded that for a high aspect ratio free-jet turbulent inflow conditions are effective if the mesh resolution is insufficient to trigger shear-layer instabilities. Applied with sufficient mesh resolution the onset of vortex motions will occur in the shear layer, hence there is limited inflow sensitivity.