Numerical study of unsteady turbulent cavitating flows

The simulation of cavitating flows is a challenging problem both in terms of modelling the physics and developing robust numerical methodologies. Such flows are characterized by important variations of the local Mach number, compressibility effects on turbulence and involve thermodynamic phase transition. To simulate these flows by applying homogeneous models and Reynolds averaged codes, the turbulence modelling plays a major role in the capture of unsteady behaviours. This paper presents a one-fluid compressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solver with a simple equation of state (EOS) for the mixture. A special focus is devoted to the turbulence model influence. Unsteady numerical results are given for Venturi geometries and comparisons are made with experimental data.     

Turbulent flow and loading on a tidal stream turbine by LES and RANS

This paper presents results from numerical simulations of a 3-bladed horizontal axis tidal stream turbine. Initially, Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) k–ω Shear Stress Transport eddy-viscosity and Launder–Reece–Rodi models were used for code validation and testing of a newly implemented sliding mesh technique for an unstructured finite volume code. Wall- and blade-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES) were then performed to study the complete geometry at various tip speed ratios (TSR). Thrust and power coefficients were compared to published experimental measurements obtained from a towing tank for a range of TSR (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) at a fixed hub pitch angle. A strong meandering is observed downstream of the supporting tower due to interaction between the detached tip vortices and vortex shedding from the support structure. The wake profiles and rate of recovery of velocity deficit show high sensitivity to the upstream turbulence intensities. However, the mean thrust and power coefficients were found to be less sensitive to the upstream turbulence. Comparisons between RANS and LES are also presented for the mean sectional blade pressures and mean wake velocity profiles. The paper also presents an overview of modelling and numerical issues relating to simulations for such rotating geometries.     

Joint RANS/LES Approach to Premixed Flame Modelling in the Context of the TFC Combustion Model

We present an original timesaving joint RANS/LES approach to simulate turbulent premixed combustion. It is intended mainly for industrial applications where LES may not be practical. It is based on successive RANS/LES numerical modelling, where turbulent characteristics determined from RANS simulations are used in LES equations for estimation of the subgrid chemical source and viscosity. This approach has been developed using our TFC premixed combustion model, which is based on a generalization of the Kolmogorov’s ideas. We assume existence of small-scale statistically equilibrium structures not only of turbulence but also of the reaction zones. At the same time, non-equilibrium large-scale structures of reaction sheets and turbulent eddies are described statistically by model combustion and turbulence equations in RANS simulations or follow directly without modelling in LES. Assumption of small-scale equilibrium gives an opportunity to express the mean combustion rate (controlled by small-scale coupling of turbulence and chemistry) in the RANS and LES sub-problems in terms of integral or subgrid parameters of turbulence and the chemical time, i.e. the definition of the reaction rate is similar to that of the mean dissipation rate in turbulence models where it is expressed in terms of integral or subgrid turbulent parameters. Our approach therefore renders compatible the combustion and turbulent parts of the RANS and LES sub-problems and yields reasonable agreement between the RANS and averaged LES results. Combining RANS simulations of averaged fields with LES method (and especially coupled and acoustic codes) for simulation of corresponding nonstationary process (and unsteady combustion regimes) is a promising strategy for industrial applications. In this work we present results of simulations carried out employing the joint RANS/LES approach for three examples: High velocity premixed combustion in a channel, combustion in the shear flow behind an obstacle and the impinging flame (a premixed flame attached to an obstacle).     

Unsteady CFD simulations of a pump in part load conditions using scale-adaptive simulation

The scope of this work is to demonstrate the applicability of an eddy resolving turbulence model in a turbomachinery configuration. The model combines the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) approach. The point of interest of the present investigation is the unsteady rotating stall phenomenon occurring at low part load conditions. Since RANS turbulence models often fail to predict separation correctly, a LES like model is expected to give superior results. In this investigation the scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) model is used. This model avoids the grid dependence appearing in the Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) modelling strategy. The simulations are validated with transient measurement data. The present results demonstrate, that both models are able to predict the major stall frequency at part load. Results are similar for URANS and SAS, with advantages in predicting minor stall frequencies for the turbulence resolving model.     

Computation of turbulent free‐surface flows around modern ships

This paper presents the calculated results for three classes of typical modern ships in modelling of ship‐generated waves. Simulations of turbulent free‐surface flows around ships are performed in a numerical water tank, based on the FINFLO‐RANS SHIP solver developed at Helsinki University of Technology. The Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with the artificial compressibility and the non‐linear free‐surface boundary conditions are discretized by means of a cell‐centred finite‐volume scheme. The convergence performance is improved with the multigrid method. A free surface is tracked using a moving mesh technology, in which the non‐linear free‐surface boundary conditions are given on the actual location of the free surface. Test cases recommended are a container ship, a US Navy combatant and a tanker. The calculated results are compared with the experimental data available in the literature in terms of the wave profiles, wave pattern, and turbulent flow fields for two turbulence models, Chien's low Reynolds number k–εmodel and Baldwin–Lomax's model. Furthermore, the convergence performance, the grid refinement study and the effect of turbulence models on the waves have been investigated. Additionally, comparison of two types of the dynamic free‐surface boundary conditions is made. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative studies of numerical methods for evaluating aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional airfoil at low Reynolds numbers

This study investigates the predictability of the aerodynamic performance of some numerical methods at low Reynolds numbers and their dependency on the geometric shape of airfoil. We conducted three-dimensional large-eddy simulations (3-D LES), two-dimensional laminar simulations (2-D Lam), and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations with Baldwin–Lomax (2-D RANS(BL)) and Spalart–Allmaras (2-D RANS(SA)) turbulence models. Although there is little discrepancy between the 3-D LES, 2-D Lam, and 2-D RANS(SA) results in terms of the lift and drag characteristics, significant differences are observed in the predictability of the separation and reattachment points. The predicted lift, separation, and reattachment points of the 2-D Lam are qualitatively similar to those of the 3-D LES, except for high angles of attack at which a massive separation occurs. The 2-D RANS(SA) shows good predictability of the lift and separation points, but it does not estimate reattachment points accurately. The 2-D RANS(BL) fails to predict the precise separation points, which results in a poor lift predictability. These characteristics appear regardless of the airfoil geometry shapes. The results suggest that a 2-D Lam without any turbulence models can be used to estimate qualitative airfoil aerodynamic characteristics at the low Reynolds numbers.     

On the Application of LES to Seal Geometries

Five Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and hybrid RANS-NLES (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes-Numerical-LES) methods are used to simulate flow through a labyrinth seal geometry and are contrasted with RANS solutions. Results show that LES and RANS-NLES is capable of accurately predicting flow behaviour of two seal flows with a scatter of less than 5 %. RANS solutions show the potential to perform poorly for the turbulence models tested. LES and hybrid RANS-NLES are found to be consistent and in agreement with measurements, providing a flexible numerical platform for design investigations. It also allows greater flow physics insights.     

Unified turbulence models for LES and RANS,FDF and PDF simulations

A review of existing basic turbulence modeling approaches reveals the need for the development of unified turbulence models which can be used continuously as filter density function (FDF) or probability density function (PDF) methods, large eddy simulation (LES) or Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods. It is then shown that such unified stochastic and deterministic turbulence models can be constructed by explaining the dependence of the characteristic time scale of velocity fluctuations on the scale considered. The unified stochastic model obtained generalizes usually applied FDF and PDF models. The unified deterministic turbulence model that is implied by the stochastic model recovers and extends well-known linear and nonlinear LES and RANS models for the subgrid-scale and Reynolds stress tensor.      

A reformulated synthetic turbulence generation method for a zonal RANS–LES method and its application to zero-pressure gradient boundary layers

A synthetic turbulence generation (STG) method for subsonic and supersonic flows at low and moderate Reynolds numbers to provide inflow distributions of zonal Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) – large-eddy simulation (LES) methods is presented. The STG method splits the LES inflow region into three planes where a local velocity signal is decomposed from the turbulent flow properties of the upstream RANS solution. Based on the wall-normal position and the local flow Reynolds number, specific length and velocity scales with different vorticity content are imposed at the inlet plane of the boundary layer. The quality of the STG method for incompressible and compressible zero-pressure gradient boundary layers is shown by comparing the zonal RANS–LES data with pure LES, pure RANS, and direct numerical simulation (DNS) solutions. The distributions of the time and spanwise wall-shear stress, Reynolds stress distributions, and two point correlations of the zonal RANS–LES simulations are smooth in the transition region and in good agreement with the pure LES and reference DNS findings. The STG approach reduces the RANS-to-LES transition length to less than four boundary-layer thicknesses.     

Computational analysis of impinging shock-wave boundary layer interaction under conditions of incipient separation

The interaction of an oblique shock wave with a turbulent boundary layer under conditions of incipient separation is analyzed by means of large-eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence models, with the objective to explore their predictive capabilities, in particular with respect to the unsteady features of the interaction. Consistent with earlier direct numerical simulations, we have found that the flow dynamics in the interaction zone is characterized by strong intermittency associated with the formation of scattered spots of flow reversal near the nominal position of the reflected shock. Comparison with experimental results (at much larger Reynolds number) show that the qualitative features of the interaction are predicted reasonably well by both LES and RANS models. RANS models supplemented with a semi-empirical closure are also found to provide reasonable estimate of the fluctuating pressure loads at the wall.     

High-order Large Eddy Simulations of Confined Rotor-Stator Flows

In many engineering and industrial applications, the investigation of rotating turbulent flow is of great interest. In rotor-stator cavities, the centrifugal and Coriolis forces have a strong influence on the turbulence by producing a secondary flow in the meridian plane composed of two thin boundary layers along the disks separated by a non-viscous geostrophic core. Most numerical simulations have been performed using RANS and URANS modelling, and very few investigations have been performed using LES. This paper reports on quantitative comparisons of two high-order LES methods to predict a turbulent rotor-stator flow at the rotational Reynolds number Re(=?Ωb ²/ν)?=4 × 10⁵. The classical dynamic Smagorinsky model for the subgrid-scale stress (Germano et al., Phys Fluids A 3(7):1760–1765, 1991) is compared to a spectral vanishing viscosity technique (Séverac & Serre, J Comp Phys 226(2):1234–1255, 2007). Numerical results include both instantaneous data and post-processed statistics. The results show that both LES methods are able to accurately describe the unsteady flow structures and to satisfactorily predict mean velocities as well as Reynolds stress tensor components. A slight advantage is given to the spectral SVV approach in terms of accuracy and CPU cost. The strong improvements obtained in the present results with respect to RANS results confirm that LES is the appropriate level of modelling for flows in which fully turbulent and transition regimes are involved.     

A stress transport equation model for simulating turbulence at any mesh resolution

Prior work has demonstrated the effectiveness of using two-equation closures as the basis for universal, self-adapting turbulence models that are effective at any mesh resolution (Perot and Gadebusch in Phys. Fluids 19:115105, 2007). In order to demonstrate the broad applicability of the fundamental approach, the same behavior is now demonstrated for a second-moment closure (SMC). The SMC has the advantage over the earlier two-equation universal closure of being more accurate in the coarse mesh limit and of having a natural mechanism for backscattering energy from the modeled to the resolved turbulent fluctuations. The mathematical explanation for why Reynolds averaged (RANS) transport equation closures are applicable at any mesh resolution, including the large eddy simulation (LES) regime, is reviewed. It is demonstrated that for the problem of isotropic decaying turbulence, the SMC model produces good predictions at any mesh resolution and with arbitrary initial conditions. In addition, it is shown that the proposed model automatically adapts to the mesh resolution provided. The self-adaptive nature of the method is clearly observed when different initial conditions are used. It is shown that classic RANS models (often thought to produce steady and smooth solutions) can produce three-dimensional, unsteady, and chaotic solutions when generalized correctly and when provided with sufficient mesh resolution. The implications of these observations on the fundamental theories of RANS and LES turbulence modeling are discussed.      

基于组合神经网络的雷诺平均湍流模型 多次修正方法

求解雷诺平均(Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes, RANS)方程依然是工程应用中有效且实用的方法, 但对雷诺应力建模的不确定性会导致该方法的预测精度具有很大差异. 随着人工智能的发展, 湍流闭合模型结合机器学习元素的数据驱动方法被认为是提高RANS模型预测性能的有效手段, 然而这种数据驱动方法的稳定性和预测精度仍有待进一步提高. 本文通过构建一个全连接神经网络对RANS方程中的涡黏系数进行预测以实现雷诺应力的隐式求解,该神经网络记作涡黏系数神经网络(eddy viscosity neural network, EVNN). 此外, 也使用张量基神经网络(tensor basis neural network, TBNN)预测未封闭量与解析量之间的高阶涡黏关系, 并利用基张量保证伽利略不变性. 最后, 采用多次修正的策略实现修正模型对流场预测的精度闭环. 上述方法使用大涡模拟(large eddy simulation, LES)方法产生的高保真数据, 以及RANS模拟获得的基线数据对由EVNN和TBNN组合的神经网络进行训练, 然后用训练好的模型预测新的RANS模拟的流场. 通过与高保真LES结果进行对比, 结果表明, 相比于原始RANS模型, 修正模型对后验速度场、下壁面平均压力系数和摩擦力系数的预测精度均有较大提升. 可以发现对雷诺应力线性部分的隐式处理可以增强数值求解的稳定性, 对雷诺应力非线性部分的修正可以提升模型对流场各向异性特征预测的性能, 并且多次修正后的模型表现出更高的预测精度. 因此, 该算法在数据驱动湍流建模和工程应用中具有很大的应用潜力.      

Experiences with two detached eddy simulation approaches through use of a high-order finite volume solver

In the present study, two advanced detached eddy simulation (DES) approaches, shear-layer-adapted delayed DES and zonal DES in mode II, which are known to help transition from RANS to LES mode, are employed in various flow problems in conjunction with a high-order finite volume solver. The numerical scheme, being only applicable on structured grids, has low-dissipation and low-dispersion features. Such features benefit mostly in the LES mode, minimizing the interference of numerical diffusion with subgrid eddy viscosity. First, corresponding subgrid models are validated via decaying homogeneous turbulence benchmark case. Then, a channel flow problem is chosen to examine these models in attached flow situations. Finally, flow around an airfoil at low Reynolds number is solved using the shear-layer-adapted delayed DES approach only, in an aim to obtain trailing-edge noise spectrum at an observer location. Despite some log-layer mismatch over turbulent boundary layers, which is typical of most DES methods, the combined application of high-resolution numerical method and advanced DES approaches, which are implemented on a stabilized Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model, shows merit in resolution of turbulence in regions of interest.     

Reconstruction of turbulent fluctuations for hybrid RANS/LES simulations using a Synthetic-Eddy Method

A coupling methodology between an upstream Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation and a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) further downstream is presented. The focus of this work is on the RANS-to-LES interface inside an attached turbulent boundary layer, where an unsteady LES content has to be explicitly generated from a steady RANS solution. The performance of the Synthetic-Eddy Method (SEM), which generates realistic synthetic eddies at the inflow of the LES, is investigated on a wide variety of turbulent flows, from simple channel and square duct flows to the flow over an airfoil trailing edge. The SEM is compared to other existing methods of generation of synthetic turbulence for LES, and is shown to reduce substantially the distance required to develop realistic turbulence downstream of the inlet.     

Improvement of double-buffer problem in LES–RANS interface region by introducing an anisotropy-resolving subgrid-scale model

The “double-buffer problem” has been regarded as a crucial concern for the strategy behind the hybrid large eddy simulation (LES)/Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) model (or HLR model, for short). Such models are likely to show unphysical mean-velocity distributions in the LES–RANS interface region, where “super-streak structures” also appear that look like low-speed streaks generated in the near-wall region of wall turbulence. To overcome this difficulty, the stochastic backscatter model, in which the vortex structures in the interface region are divided into smaller scales, holds promise due to the effect of random source term imposed in the momentum equation. Although this method is effective, several parameters must be prescribed and their specification process is arbitrary and ambiguous. An alternative advanced HLR model has been proposed, in which an anisotropy-resolving subgrid-scale (SGS) model was adopted in the LES region as well as a one-equation nonlinear eddy viscosity model in the RANS region. Previous investigations indicated that this HLR model did not exhibit or, at least, largely reduced the “double-buffer problem” in the mean-velocity distribution, with no special treatment being applied. The main purpose of the present study is to reveal why this HLR model improves the predictive performance in the LES–RANS interface region. Specifically, we focus on the role of the extra anisotropic term introduced in the SGS model, finding that it plays an important role in enhancing vortex structures in the interface region, leading to a considerable improvement in model performance.     

高阶矩湍流模型研究进展及挑战

高阶矩模型是湍流模式理论研究中的难点和前沿.自周培源先生首次建立一般湍流的雷诺应力输运方程起,为了更精确的预测复杂流动,人们从未间断过对高阶矩模型的研究.尤其进入新世纪以来,随着计算机硬件水平的飞跃和高精度数值算法的突破,湍流模拟方法正由RANS向LES转变.而无论对于RANS框架、LES框架还是两者混合,高阶矩模式都...     

Numerical Evaluation of Combustion Regimes in a GDI Engine

There is significant interest in the gasoline direct-injection engine due to its potential for improvements in fuel consumption but it still remains an area of active research due to a number of challenges including the effect of cycle-by-cycle variations. The current paper presents the use of a 3D-CFD model using both the RANS and LES turbulence modelling approaches, and a Lagrangian DDM to model an early fuel injection event, to evaluate the regimes of combustion in a gasoline direct-injection engine. The velocity fluctuations were investigated as an average value across the cylinder and in the region between the spark plug electrodes. The velocity fluctuations near the spark plug electrodes were seen to be of lower magnitude than the globally averaged fluctuations but exhibited higher levels of cyclic variation due to the influence of the spark plug electrode and the pent-roof geometry on the in-cylinder flow field. Differences in the predicted flame structure due to differences in the predicted velocity fluctuations between RANS and LES modelling approaches were seen as a consequence of the inherently higher dissipation levels present in the RANS methodology. The increased cyclic variation in velocity fluctuations near the spark plug electrodes in the LES predictions suggested significant variation in the relative strength of the in-cylinder turbulence and that may subsequently result in a thickening of the propagating flame front from cycle-to-cycle in this region. Throughout this paper, the numerical results were validated against published experimental data of the same engine geometry under investigation.