Compound wall treatment with low‐Re turbulence model

A generalized treatment for the wall boundary conditions relating to turbulent flows is developed that blends the integration to a solid wall with wall functions. The blending function ensures a smooth transition between the viscous and turbulent regions. An improved low Reynolds number k?ε model is coupled with the proposed compound wall treatment to determine the turbulence field. The eddy viscosity formulation maintains the positivity of normal Reynolds stresses and Schwarz' inequality for turbulent shear stresses. The model coefficients/functions preserve the anisotropic characteristics of turbulence. Computations with fine and coarse meshes of a few flow cases yield appreciably good agreement with the direct numerical simulation and experimental data. The method is recommended for computing the complex flows where computational grids cannot satisfy a priori the prerequisites of viscous/turbulence regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residual‐based turbulence models for moving boundary flows: hierarchical application of variational multiscale method and three‐level scale separation

This paper presents residual‐based turbulence models for problems with moving boundaries and interfaces. The method is developed via a hierarchical application of variational multiscale ideas and the models are cast in an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) frame to accommodate the deformation of domain boundaries. An overlapping additive decomposition of velocity and pressure fields into coarse and fine scale components leads to coarse and fine scale mixed‐field problems. The problem governing fine scales is subjected to a further decomposition of the fine scale velocity into overlapping components termed as fine scales level I and level II. In turn, in the bottom‐up integration of scales, the model for level II fine scales serves to stabilize the problem governing level I fine scales, and model for level I fields yields the turbulence models. From the computational perspective, the coarse scales are represented in terms of the standard Lagrange shape functions, whereas level I and level II scales are represented via quadratic and fourth order polynomial bubbles, respectively. Because of the bubble functions approach employed in the consistently derived fine scale models, the resulting method is free of any embedded or tunable parameters. The proposed turbulence models share a common feature with the LES models in that the largest scales in the flow are numerically resolved, whereas the subgrid scales are modeled. The method is applied to flow around a plunging airfoil at Re = 40,000, and results are compared with experimental and numerical data published in the literature. Also presented are the results for the plunging airfoil at Re = 60,000 to show the robustness and range of applicability of the method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiscale block spectral solution for unsteady flows

Many problems of interest are characterized by 2 distinctive and disparate scales and a huge multiplicity of similar small‐scale elements. The corresponding scale‐dependent solvability manifests itself in the high gradient flow around each element needing a fine mesh locally and the similar flow patterns among all elements globally. In a block spectral approach making use of the scale‐dependent solvability, the global domain is decomposed into a large number of similar small blocks. The mesh‐pointwise block spectra will establish the block‐block variation, for which only a small set of blocks need to be solved with a fine mesh resolution. The solution can then be very efficiently obtained by coupling the local fine mesh solution and the global coarse mesh solution through a block spectral mapping. Previously, the block spectral method has only been developed for steady flows. The present work extends the methodology to unsteady flows of short temporal and spatial scales (eg, those due to self‐excited unsteady vortices and turbulence disturbances). A source term–based approach is adopted to facilitate a two‐way coupling in terms of time‐averaged flow solutions. The global coarse base mesh solution provides an appropriate environment and boundary condition to the local fine mesh blocks, while the local fine mesh solution provides the source terms (propagated through the block spectral mapping) to the global coarse mesh domain. The computational method will be presented with several numerical examples and sensitivity studies. The results consistently demonstrate the validity and potential of the proposed approach.     

DNS of Fractal-Generated Turbulence

An innovative approach which combines high order compact schemes, Immersed Boundary Method and an efficient domain decomposition method is used to perform high fidelity Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of four spatially evolving turbulent flows, one generated by a regular grid and three generated by fractal square grids. The main results which we have been able to obtain from these simulations are the following: the vorticity field appears more clustered when generated by fractal square grids compared to a regular grid; fractal square grids generate higher vorticities and turbulence intensities than a regular grid; the flow holds clear geometrical imprints of the fractal grids far downstream, a property which could be used in the future for flow design, management and passive control; the DNS obtained with fractal grids confirmed the existence of two turbulent regions, one where the turbulence progressively amplifies closer to the grid (the production region) followed by one where the turbulence decays; the energy spectra of fluctuating turbulent velocities at various locations in the production region of the flow provide some information on how the turbulence is generated at the smallest scales first near the grid where the smallest wakes are dominant, followed by progressively smaller turbulent frequencies further downstream where progressively larger wakes interact.     

Parallel‐in‐time simulation of the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow

In this paper, we present an application of a parallel‐in‐time algorithm for the solution of the unsteady Navier–Stokes model equations that are of parabolic–elliptic type. This method is based on the alternated use of a coarse global sequential solver and a fine local parallel one. A standard finite volume/finite differences first‐order approach is used for discretization of the unsteady two‐dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. The Taylor vortex decay problem and the confined flow around a square cylinder were selected as unsteady flow examples to illustrate and analyse the properties of the parallel‐in‐time method through numerical experiments. The influence of several parameters on the computing time required to perform a parallel‐in‐time calculation on a PC cluster was verified. Among them we have analysed the influence of the number of processors, the number of iterations for convergence, the resolution of the spatial domain and the influence of the time‐step sizes ratio between the coarse and fine grids. Significant computer time saving was achieved when compared with the single processor computing time, particularly when the spatial dimension of the problem is low and the temporal scale is large. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined compact difference method for solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

This paper presents a numerical method for solving the two‐dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in a vorticity–velocity formulation. The method is applicable for simulating the nonlinear wave interaction in a two‐dimensional boundary layer flow. It is based on combined compact difference schemes of up to 12th order for discretization of the spatial derivatives on equidistant grids and a fourth‐order five‐ to six‐alternating‐stage Runge–Kutta method for temporal integration. The spatial and temporal schemes are optimized together for the first derivative in a downstream direction to achieve a better spectral resolution. In this method, the dispersion and dissipation errors have been minimized to simulate physical waves accurately. At the same time, the schemes can efficiently suppress numerical grid‐mesh oscillations. The results of test calculations on coarse grids are in good agreement with the linear stability theory and comparable with other works. The accuracy and the efficiency of the current code indicate its potential to be extended to three‐dimensional cases in which full boundary layer transition happens. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of compressible turbulent flow via improved gas‐kinetic BGK scheme

In order to solve compressible turbulent flow problems, this study focuses on incorporating the Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model into gas‐kinetic BGK (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook) scheme. The Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model is solved using finite difference discretization. The variables on the cell interface are interpolated via the van Leer limiter in the reconstruction stage. Simulation of subsonic and transonic flow over a NACA0012 airfoil has been implemented using two‐dimensional body‐fitted grids. The numerical results obtained appear in good agreement with the AGARD results, demonstrating the effectiveness and usefulness of the strategy of coupling the Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model with the BGK scheme for compressible turbulent flow simulation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of Effective Flux Boundary Conditions to Two-Phase Upscaling in Porous Media

A new algorithm is introduced for upscaling relative permeabilities, and tested in simulations of two-dimensional reservoir displacement processes. The algorithm is similar to existing algorithms for computing upscaled relative permeabilities from subgrid simulations, but uses new boundary conditions for the pressure field. The new 'effective flux boundary conditions' were introduced in a previous paper and provide a more accurate estimate of flux through high permeability channels. The algorithm was tested in conjunction with uniform grid coarsening and upscaled absolute permeabilities for a broad range of coarsenings. The permeability fields were highly heteroge-neous and layered, and were obtained from synthetic data and from conditioned realizations of actual oil reservoirs. The algorithm was tested for a wide variety of grid aspect ratios, and for both viscous-and gravity-dominated flow. Typical fine grids were of the order of 100×100 cells; the coarsest scaled-up grids were on the order of 5×5 cells. The quality of scale up was evaluated by comparing oil cut curves for the fine and coarse grid simulations. We consistently obtained excellent agreement, even at the coarsest levels of scale up.     

On the performance of WENO/TENO schemes to resolve turbulence in DNS/LES of high‐speed compressible flows

High‐speed compressible turbulent flows typically contain discontinuities and have been widely modeled using Weighted Essentially Non‐Oscillatory (WENO) schemes due to their high‐order accuracy and sharp shock capturing capability. However, such schemes may damp the small scales of turbulence and result in inaccurate solutions in the context of turbulence‐resolving simulations. In this connection, the recently developed Targeted Essentially Non‐Oscillatory (TENO) schemes, including adaptive variants, may offer significant improvements. The present study aims to quantify the potential of these new schemes for a fully turbulent supersonic flow. Specifically, DNS of a compressible turbulent channel flow with M = 1.5 and Re_τ = 222 is conducted using OpenSBLI, a high‐order finite difference computational fluid dynamics framework. This flow configuration is chosen to decouple the effect of flow discontinuities and turbulence and focus on the capability of the aforementioned high‐order schemes to resolve turbulent structures. The effect of the spatial resolution in different directions and coarse grid implicit LES are also evaluated against the WALE LES model. The TENO schemes are found to exhibit significant performance improvements over the WENO schemes in terms of the accuracy of the statistics and the resolution of the three‐dimensional vortical structures. The sixth‐order adaptive TENO scheme is found to produce comparable results to those obtained with nondissipative fourth‐ and sixth‐order central schemes and reference data obtained with spectral methods. Although the most computationally expensive scheme, it is shown that this adaptive scheme can produce satisfactory results if used as an implicit LES model.     

Large-eddy Simulation of Triangular-stabilized Lean Premixed Turbulent Flames: Quality and Error Assessment

In this numerical study, an algebraic flame surface wrinkling (AFSW) reaction submodel based on the progress variable approach is implemented in the large-eddy simulation (LES) context and validated against the triangular stabilized bluff body flame configuration measurements i.e. in VOLVO test rig. The quantitative predictability of the AFSW model is analyzed in comparison with another well validated turbulent flame speed closure (TFC) combustion model in order to help assess the behaviour of the present model and to further help improve the understanding of the flow and flame dynamics. Characterization of non-reacting (or cold) and reacting flows are performed using various subgrid scale models for consistent grid size variation with 300,000 (coarse), 1.2 million (intermediate) and 2.4 million (fine) grid cells. For non-reacting flows at inlet velocity of 17?m/s and inlet temperature 288?K, coarse grid leads to over prediction of turbulence quantities due to low dissipation at the early stage of flow development behind the bluff body that convects downstream eventually polluting the resulting solution. The simulated results with the intermediate (and fine) grid for mean flow and turbulence quantities, and the vortex shedding frequency (f_s) closely match experimental data. For combusting flows for lean propane/air mixtures at 35?m/s and 600?K, the vortex shedding frequency increase threefold compared with cold scenario. The predicted results of mean, rms velocities and reaction progress variable are generally in good agreement with experimental data. For the coarse grid the combustion predictions show a shorter recirculation region due to higher turbulent burning rate. Finally, both cold and reacting LES data are analyzed for uncertainty in the solution using two quality assessment techniques: two-grid estimator by Celik, and model and grid variation by Klein. For both approaches, the resolved turbulent kinetic energy is used to estimate the grid quality and error assessment. The quality assessment reveals that the cold flows are well resolved even on the intermediate mesh, while for the reacting flows even the fine mesh is locally not sufficient in the flamelet region. The Klein approach estimates that depending on the recirculation region in cold scenario both numerical and model errors rise near the bluff-body region, while in combusting flows these errors are significant behind the stabilizing point due to preheating of unburned mixture and reaction heat release. The total error mainly depends on the numerical error and the influence of model error is low for this configuration.     

Modeling of Two-Phase Flow in Fractured Porous Media on Unstructured Non-Uniformly Coarsened Grids

In this article, we investigate two strategies for coarsening fractured geological models. The first approach, which generates grids that resolve the fractures, is referred to as explicit fracture-matrix separation (EFMS). The second approach is based on a non-uniform coarsening strategy introduced in Aarnes et al. (Adv Water Resour 30(11):2177–2193, 2007a). A series of two-phase flow simulations where the saturation is modeled on the respective coarse grids are performed. The accuracy of the resulting solutions is examined, and the robustness of the two strategies is assessed with respect to number of fractures, degree of coarsening, well locations, phase viscosities, and fracture permeability. The numerical results show that saturation solutions obtained on the non-uniform coarse grids are consistently more accurate than the corresponding saturation solutions obtained on the EFMS grids. The numerical results also reveal that it is much easier to tune the upscaling factor with the non-uniform coarsening approach.     

Numerical aspects of calculation of confined swirling flows with internal recirculation

Predictions were performed for two different confined swirling flows with internal recirculation zones. The convection terms in the elliptic governing equations were discretized using three different finite differencing schemes: hybrid, quadratic upwind interpolation and skew upwind differencing. For each flow case, calculations were carried out with these schemes and successively refined grids were employed. For the turbulent flow case the k-ε turbulence model was used. The predicted cases were a laminar swirling flow investigated by Bornstein and Escudier, and a turbulent low-swirl case studied by Roback and Johnson. In both cases an internal recirculation zone was present. The laminar case is well predicted when account is taken of the estimated radial velocity component at the chosen inlet plane. The quadratic upwind interpolation and skew upwind schemes predict the main features of the internal recirculation zone also with a coarse grid. The turbulent case is well predicted with the coarse as well as the finer grids, the skew upwind and quadratic upwind interpolation schemes yielding results very close to the measurements. It is concluded that the skew upwind scheme reaches grid independence slightly before the quadratic upwind scheme, both considerably earlier than the hybrid scheme.     

Generation of Voronoi Grid Based on Vorticity for Coarse-Scale Modeling of Flow in Heterogeneous Formations

We present a novel unstructured coarse grid generation technique based on vorticity for upscaling two-phase flow in permeable media. In the technique, the fineness of the gridblocks throughout the domain is determined by vorticity distribution such that where the larger is the vorticity at a region, the finer are the gridblocks at that region. Vorticity is obtained from single-phase flow on original fine grid, and is utilized to generate a background grid which stores spacing parameter, and is used to steer generation of triangular and finally Voronoi grids. This technique is applied to two channelized and heterogeneous models and two-phase flow simulations are performed on the generated coarse grids and, the results are compared with the ones of fine scale grid and uniformly gridded coarse models. The results show a close match of unstructured coarse grid flow results with those of fine grid, and substantial accuracy compared to uniformly gridded coarse grid model.     

Evaluation of linear and nonlinear convection schemes on multidimensional non‐orthogonal grids with applications to KVLCC2 tanker

Almost all evaluations of convection schemes reported in the literature are conducted using simple problems on uniform orthogonal grids; thus, having limited contribution when solving industrial computational fluid dynamics (CFD), where the grids are usually non‐orthogonal with distortions. Herein, several convection schemes are assessed in uniform and distorted non‐orthogonal grids with emphasis on industrial applications. Linear and nonlinear (TVD) convection schemes are assessed on analytical benchmarks in both uniform and distorted grids. To evaluate the performance of the schemes, four error metrics are used: dissipation, phase and L₁ errors, and the schemes' effective order of accuracy. Qualitative and quantitative deterioration of these error metrics as a function of the grid distortion metrics are investigated, and rigorous verifications are performed. Recommendations for effective use of the convection schemes based on the range of grid aspect ratio (AR), expansion ratio (ER) and skewness (Q) are included. A ship hydrodynamics case is studied, involving a Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes simulation of a bare‐hull KVLCC2 tanker using linear and nonlinear convection schemes coupled with isotropic and anisotropic Reynolds‐stress (ARS) turbulence models using CFDShip‐Iowa v4. Predictions of local velocities and turbulent quantities from the midships to the nominal wake plane are compared with experimental fluid dynamics (EFD), and rigorous verification and validation analyses for integral forces and moments are performed for 0° and 12° drift angles. Best predictions are observed when coupling a second‐order TVD scheme with the anisotropic turbulence model. Further improvements are observed in terms of prediction of the vortical structures for 30° drift when using TVD2S‐ARS coupled with DES. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transition and heat transfer predictions in a turbine cascade at various free‐stream turbulence intensities through a one‐equation turbulence model

The one‐equation Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model, coupled with criteria for the prediction of the transition onset, is employed for the numerical prediction of the heat transfer along the nozzle guide vanes of a high‐pressure turbine, at various operating conditions. Emphasis is put on how to overcome a known shortcoming of the Spalart–Allmaras model, i.e. its insensitivity to free‐stream turbulence. For this purpose, an extra viscosity coefficient is defined and used in the mean flow equations. This extra viscosity is proportional to the free‐stream turbulence with a damping in the boundary layer. Its use is adequate to circumvent the aforementioned weakness of the Spalart–Allmaras model, without any other intervention in the model itself. For the prediction of the onset of transition, the Abu‐Ghannam and Shaw and the Mayle criteria are used, depending on the level of free‐stream turbulence. Both yield very satisfactory predictions in a wide range of Reynolds numbers and/or turbulence intensities. From a numerical point of view, this paper proposes techniques for the implementation of the solution method on unstructured grids with triangular elements and reconfirms findings of previous works, like the suitability of the containment‐circle tessellation in highly stretched grids. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface‐sampled simulations of turbulent flow at high Reynolds number

A new approach to turbulence simulation, based on a combination of large eddy simulation (LES) for the whole flow and an array of non–space‐filling quasi‐direct numerical simulations (QDNS), which sample the response of near‐wall turbulence to large‐scale forcing, is proposed and evaluated. The technique overcomes some of the cost limitations of turbulence simulation, since the main flow is treated with a coarse‐grid LES, with the equivalent of wall functions supplied by the near‐wall sampled QDNS. Two cases are tested, at friction Reynolds number Re_τ=4200 and 20000. The total grid point count for the first case is less than half a million and less than 2 million for the second case, with the calculations only requiring a desktop computer. A good agreement with published direct numerical simulation (DNS) is found at Re_τ=4200, both in the mean velocity profile and the streamwise velocity fluctuation statistics, which correctly show a substantial increase in near‐wall turbulence levels due to a modulation of near‐wall streaks by large‐scale structures. The trend continues at Re_τ=20000, in agreement with experiment, which represents one of the major achievements of the new approach. A number of detailed aspects of the model, including numerical resolution, LES‐QDNS coupling strategy and subgrid model are explored. A low level of grid sensitivity is demonstrated for both the QDNS and LES aspects. Since the method does not assume a law of the wall, it can in principle be applied to flows that are out of equilibrium.     

Employment of the second‐moment turbulence closure on arbitrary unstructured grids

The paper presents a finite‐volume calculation procedure using a second‐moment turbulence closure. The proposed method is based on a collocated variable arrangement and especially adopted for unstructured grids consisting of ‘polyhedral’ calculation volumes. An inclusion of 23k in the pressure is analysed and the impact of such an approach on the employment of the constant static pressure boundary is addressed. It is shown that this approach allows a removal of a standard but cumbersome velocity–pressure –Reynolds stress coupling procedure known as an extension of Rhie‐Chow method (AIAA J. 1983; 21 : 1525–1532) for the Reynolds stresses. A novel wall treatment for the Reynolds‐stress equations and ‘polyhedral’ calculation volumes is presented. Important issues related to treatments of diffusion terms in momentum and Reynolds‐stress equations are also discussed and a new approach is proposed. Special interpolation practices implemented in a deferred‐correction fashion and related to all equations, are explained in detail. Computational results are compared with available experimental data for four very different applications: the flow in a two‐dimensional 180o turned U‐bend, the vortex shedding flow around a square cylinder, the flow around Ahmed Body and in‐cylinder engine flow. Additionally, the performance of the methodology is assessed by applying it to different computational grids. For all test cases, predictions with the second‐moment closure are compared to those of the k–εmodel. The second‐moment turbulence closure always achieves closer agreement with the measurements. A moderate increase in computing time is required for the calculations with the second‐moment closure. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐material incompressible flow simulation using the moment‐of‐fluid method

This paper compares the numerical performance of the moment‐of‐fluid (MOF) interface reconstruction technique with Youngs, LVIRA, power diagram (PD), and Swartz interface reconstruction techniques in the context of a volume‐of‐fluid (VOF) based finite element projection method for the numerical simulation of variable‐density incompressible viscous flows. In pure advection tests with multiple materials MOF shows dramatic improvements in accuracy compared with the other methods. In incompressible flows where density differences determine the flow evolution, all the methods perform similarly for two material flows on structured grids. On unstructured grids, the second‐order MOF, LVIRA, and Swartz methods perform similarly and show improvement over the first‐order Youngs' and PD methods. For flow simulations with more than two materials, MOF shows increased accuracy in interface positions on coarse meshes. In most cases, the convergence and accuracy of the computed flow solution was not strongly affected by interface reconstruction method. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite volume unstructured multigrid method for efficient computation of unsteady incompressible viscous flows

An unstructured non‐nested multigrid method is presented for efficient simulation of unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes flows. The Navier–Stokes solver is based on the artificial compressibility approach and a higher‐order characteristics‐based finite‐volume scheme on unstructured grids. Unsteady flow is calculated with an implicit dual time stepping scheme. For efficient computation of unsteady viscous flows over complex geometries, an unstructured multigrid method is developed to speed up the convergence rate of the dual time stepping calculation. The multigrid method is used to simulate the steady and unsteady incompressible viscous flows over a circular cylinder for validation and performance evaluation purposes. It is found that the multigrid method with three levels of grids results in a 75% reduction in CPU time for the steady flow calculation and 55% reduction for the unsteady flow calculation, compared with its single grid counterparts. The results obtained are compared with numerical solutions obtained by other researchers as well as experimental measurements wherever available and good agreements are obtained. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.