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

Abstract

Is an autonomous large eddy simulation (LES) possible where a subgrid-scale (SGS) model is extracted in a bootstrapping way from LES fields? We show how the SGS energy transfer among resolved scales and its wave number distribution can be obtained from evolving LES fields. This information, supplemented by known asymptotic properties of energy flux in the inertial range, allows self-contained LES without prescribing extraneous SGS models. The method is tested in LES of isotropic turbulence at high Reynolds number (Re) where inertial range dynamics is expected and for lower Re decaying turbulence under conditions of the classical Comte-Bellot and Corrsin experiments (energy spectra in figure).