Results for “large eddy simulation” — Page 12

NASA NTRS1999

Direct-Numerical and Large-Eddy Simulations of a Non-Equilibrium Turbulent Kolmogorov Flow

A non-equilibrium form of turbulent Kolmogorov flow is set up by making an instantaneous change in the amplitude of the spatially-periodic forcing. It is found that the response of the flow to this instantaneous change becomes more dramatic as the wavenumber of the forcing is increased, and, at the same time, that the faithfulness with which the large-eddy-simulation results agree with the direct-numerical results decreases.

Woodruff, S. L.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Contrail Formation in Aircraft Wakes Using Large-Eddy Simulations

In this work we analyze the issue of the formation of condensation trails ("contrails") in the near-field of an aircraft wake. The basic configuration consists in an exhaust engine jet interacting with a wing-tip training vortex. The procedure adopted relies on a mixed Eulerian/Lagrangian two-phase flow approach; a simple micro-physics model for ice growth has been used to couple ice and vapor phases. Large eddy simulations have carried out at a realistic flight Reynolds number to evaluate the effects of turbulent mixing and wake vortex dynamics on ice-growth characteristics and vapor thermodynamic properties.

Paoli, R.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Large-Eddy Simulation of Aeroacoustic Applications

This report summarizes work accomplished under a one-year NASA grant from NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The effort culminates three years of NASA-supported research under three consecutive one-year grants. The period of support was April 6, 1998, through April 5, 1999. By request, the grant period was extended at no-cost until October 6, 1999. Its predecessors have been directed toward adapting the numerical tool of large-eddy simulation (LES) to aeroacoustic applications, with particular focus on noise suppression in subsonic round jets. In LES, the filtered Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically on a relatively coarse computational grid. Residual stresses, generated by scales of motion too small to be resolved on the coarse grid, are modeled. Although most LES incorporate spatial filtering, time-domain filtering affords certain conceptual and computational advantages, particularly for aeroacoustic applications. Consequently, this work has focused on the development of subgrid-scale (SGS) models that incorporate time-domain filters.

Pruett, C. David↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Effect of Trailing Edge Grid Resolution in Large-Eddy Simulations

Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) with environmental barrier coating can tolerate significantly higher temperatures compared with the conventional metal alloy blades and thus can help achieve higher thermal efficiency in gas turbine engines. Due to the complex fabrication process of CMC blades, larger blade trailing edge thicknesses and larger leading-edge radii of curvature are expected. These features significantly alter aerodynamic performance especially near the trailing edge and thus the loss profile. In previous studies, the authors used the large eddy simulation (LES) as well as the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) coupled with an intermittency function-based transition model to simulate an aerodynamics performance of three different CMC blades and compared the predictions against the data acquired at NASA Glenn Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Rig. Although we were able to successfully predict different characteristics of aerodynamic performance among three different blades (e.g., pressure loading and integrated losses), LES consistently predicted a small recirculation bubble at the end of the suction side. This was not inconsistent with the physics of the flow, but the pressure loading, locally, near the trailing edge, and as a result, the measured wake profiles did not match the experimental data. To delve further into these issues, a new LES grid with a much finer mesh near the trailing edge was generated where the spanwise extent of the grid was increased by 50%. An LES simulation for the CMC blade with the largest trailing edge thicknesses at the high-freestream turbulence (Tu=13%) condition showed that using such a mesh is necessary for LES to accurately capture the transition phenomena on the suction side. The resulting total pressure coefficient profile and the shift of the wake profile were greatly improved.

CMC↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Effect of Trailing Edge Grid Resolution in Large-Eddy Simulations

Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) with environmental barrier coating can tolerate significantly higher temperatures compared with the conventional metal alloy blades and thus can help achieve higher thermal efficiency in gas turbine engines. Due to the complex fabrication process of CMC blades, larger blade trailing edge thicknesses and larger leading-edge radii of curvature are expected. These features significantly alter aerodynamic performance especially near the trailing edge and thus the loss profile. In previous studies, the authors used the large eddy simulation (LES) as well as the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) coupled with an intermittency function-based transition model to simulate an aerodynamics performance of three different CMC blades and compared the predictions against the data acquired at NASA Glenn Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Rig. Although we were able to successfully predict different characteristics of aerodynamic performance among three different blades (e.g., pressure loading and integrated losses), LES consistently predicted a small recirculation bubble at the end of the suction side. This was not inconsistent with the physics of the flow, but the pressure loading, locally, near the trailing edge, and as a result, the measured wake profiles did not match the experimental data. To delve further into these issues, a new LES grid with a much finer mesh near the trailing edge was generated where the spanwise extent of the grid was increased by 50%. An LES simulation for the CMC blade with the largest trailing edge thicknesses at the high-freestream turbulence (Tu=13%) condition showed that using such a mesh is necessary for LES to accurately capture the transition phenomena on the suction side. The resulting total pressure coefficient profile and the shift of the wake profile were greatly improved.

LES↗

NASA NTRS2019

Effect of Spatial Filtering in Implicit Large-Eddy Simulations of Separated Flows

The relatively high Reynolds number of turbulent flows encountered in various applications puts these problems well beyond the reach of direct numerical simulation (DNS) at present. Meanwhile, lower-fidelity Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) calculations are known to be not accurate enough in complex problems, such as smooth-body flow separation and other flows involving highly-unsteady phenomena. Hence, given the current infeasibility of DNS and the unsatisfactory performance of RANS, intermediate techniques such as large-eddy simulation (LES) and hybrid RANS-LES, whose fidelity lie between RANS and DNS, have received much attention for application to various problems of practical importance. Modeling of the effect of missing scales on resolved scales, also known as subgrid-scale (SGS) modeling, is an important subject for LES. SGS models can be broadly categorized as explicit or implicit approaches. The explicit approach is based on an SGS model that explicitly appears in the governing equations expressed in the form of so-called “filtered Navier-Stokes equations”, which describe the evolution of the turbulence scales resolved by the LES grid. The effect of the scales unresolved by the grid is represented by the SGS model. The implicit modeling approach, on the other hand, does not employ an explicit model but instead treats the intrinsic dissipation of the numerical discretization scheme as an implicit SGS model. An LES without an explicit SGS model is commonly termed as an implicit LES (ILES). The relative merits of one SGS modeling approach over another is a subject of ongoing debate. We have opted to employ an ILES methodology, based on high-order compact finite-difference and spatial filtering schemes, in our recent investigations of separated flow problems [1, 2]. Further discussion of our preference of ILES over explicit LES is provided in Uzun and Malik [2]. The spatial filtering operation, described in the next section, is treated as an implicit SGS model for the ILES. Some observations made during the course of our recent investigations, which pointed out to excessive numerical dissipation in certain parts of the flowfield, prompted us to take a closer look at the potential effect of the spatial filter on ILES predictions. This technical note is therefore devoted to spatial filter effects in the context of a high Reynolds number, transonic shock-induced separated flow.

Ali Uzun↗

NASA NTRS2012

Parametric Study of Decay of Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence Using Large Eddy Simulation

Numerical simulations of decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence are performed with both low-order and high-order spatial discretization schemes. The turbulent Mach and Reynolds numbers for the simulations are 0.2 and 250, respectively. For the low-order schemes we use either second-order central or third-order upwind biased differencing. For higher order approximations we apply weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes, both with linear and nonlinear weights. There are two objectives in this preliminary effort to investigate possible schemes for large eddy simulation (LES). One is to explore the capability of a widely used low-order computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to perform LES computations. The other is to determine the effect of higher order accuracy (fifth, seventh, and ninth order) achieved with high-order upwind biased WENO-based schemes. Turbulence statistics, such as kinetic energy, dissipation, and skewness, along with the energy spectra from simulations of the decaying turbulence problem are used to assess and compare the various numerical schemes. In addition, results from the best performing schemes are compared with those from a spectral scheme. The effects of grid density, ranging from 32 cubed to 192 cubed, on the computations are also examined. The fifth-order WENO-based scheme is found to be too dissipative, especially on the coarser grids. However, with the seventh-order and ninth-order WENO-based schemes we observe a significant improvement in accuracy relative to the lower order LES schemes, as revealed by the computed peak in the energy dissipation and by the energy spectrum.

Swanson, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

On the large-eddy simulation of transitional wall-bounded flows

The structure of the subgrid scale fields in plane channel flow has been studied at various stages of the transition process to turbulence. The residual stress and subgrid scale dissipation calculated using velocity fields generated by direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations are significantly different from their counterparts in turbulent flows. The subgrid scale dissipation changes sign over extended areas of the channel, indicating energy flow from the small scales to the large scales. This reversed energy cascade becomes less pronounced at the later stages of transition. Standard residual stress models of the Smagorinsky type are excessively dissipative. Rescaling the model constant improves the prediction of the total (integrated) subgrid scale dissipation, but not that of the local one. Despite the somewhat excessive dissipation of the rescaled Smagorinsky model, the results of a large eddy simulation of transition on a flat-plate boundary layer compare quite well with those of a direct simulation, and require only a small fraction of the computational effort. The inclusion of non-dissipative models, which could lead to further improvements, is proposed.

Piomelli, Ugo↗

NASA NTRS1990

On the large-eddy simulation of transitional wall-bounded flows

The structure of the subgrid scale fields in plane channel flow has been studied at various stages of the transition process to turbulence. The residual stress and subgrid scale dissipation calculated using velocity fields generated by direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations are significantly different from their counterparts in turbulent flows. The subgrid scale dissipation changes sign over extended areas of the channel, indicating energy flow from the small scales to the large scales. This reversed energy cascade becomes less pronounced at the later stages of transition. Standard residual stress models of the Smagorinsky type are excessively dissipative. Rescaling the model constant improves the prediction of the total (integrated) subgrid scale dissipation, but not that of the local one. Despite the somewhat excessive dissipation of the rescaled Smagorinsky model, the results of a large eddy simulation of transition on a flat-plate boundary layer compare quite well with those of a direct simulation, and require only a small fraction of the computational effort. The inclusion of non-dissipative models, which could lead to further improvements, is proposed.

Piomelli, Ugo↗

NASA NTRS1990

Studying marine stratus with large eddy simulation

Data sets from field experiments over the stratocumulus regime may include complications from larger scale variations, decoupled cloud layers, diurnal cycle, or entrainment instability, etc. On top of the already complicated turbulence-radiation-condensation processes within the cloud-topped boundary layer (CTBL), these complexities may sometimes make interpretation of the data sets difficult. To study these processes, a better understanding is needed of the basic processes involved in the prototype CTBL. For example, is cloud top radiative cooling the primary source of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) within the CTBL. Historically, laboratory measurements have played an important role in addressing the turbulence problems. The CTBL is a turbulent field which is probably impossible to generate in laboratories. Large eddy simulation (LES) is an alternative way of 'measuring' the turbulent structure under controlled environments, which allows the systematic examination of the basic physical processes involved. However, there are problems with the LES approach for the CTBL. The LES data need to be consistent with the observed data. The LES approach is discussed, and results are given which provide some insights into the simulated turbulent flow field. Problems with this approach for the CTBL and information from the FIRE experiment needed to justify the LES results are discussed.

Moeng, Chin-Hoh↗

DOE OSTI2025

A large-eddy simulation exploration of the assumptions used in retrieving entrainment from a mixing diagram approach with ground-based remote sensors

Entrainment is a crucial component of the atmospheric boundary layer (BL) moisture and heat budget. While usually thought of as only entrainment flux, entrainment within the mixed layer budget equation is really composed of two terms: the flux of a property across the boundary separating the BL from the free troposphere and the change in the concentration of a property as the depth of the BL changes. In a recent study, Wakefield et al. (2023) used ground-based remote-sensing observations to estimate entrainment flux as the residual of a mixing diagram framework that was applied to the daytime convective boundary layer. This present work uses large-eddy simulation (LES) to examine how well this residual assumption for entrainment fluxes alone compares to the actual sum of those two entrainment terms derived from spatial averages of the LES output. We highlight the importance of the second entrainment term in closing the mixed layer budget and show that the residual assumption does not represent entrainment flux only but rather a total entrainment term when the boundary layer depth is changing.

Rosenberger, Tessa E. [Cleveland State Univ., Clev↗

NASA NTRS1997

Toward Understanding Wake Vortices and Atmospheric Turbulence Interactions Using Large-Eddy Simulation

The vortices produced by an aircraft in flight are a complex phenomena created from a 'sheet of vorticity' leaving the trailing edge of the aircraft surfaces. This sheet tends to roll-up into two counter-rotating vortices. After a few spans downstream of the aircraft, the roll-up process is complete and the vortex pair may be characterized in a simple manner for modeling purposes. Our research will focus on what happens to these post roll-up vortices in the vicinity of an airport terminal. As the aircraft wake vortices descend, they are transported by the air mass which they are embedded and are decayed by both internal and external processes. In the vicinity of the airport, these external influences are usually due to planetary boundary layer (PBL) turbulence. Using large-eddy simulation (LES), one may simulate a variety of PBL conditions. In the LES method, turbulence is generated in the PBL as a response to surface heat flux, horizontal pressure gradient, wind shear, and/or stratification, and may produce convective or unstably stratified, neutral, or stably stratified PBL's. Each of these PBL types can occur during a typical diurnal cycle of the PBL. Thus it is important to be able to characterize these conditions with the LES method. Once this turbulent environment has been generated, a vortex pair will be introduced and the interactions are observed. The objective is to be able to quantify the PBL turbulence vortex interaction and be able to draw some conclusions of vortex behavior from the various scale interactions. This research is ongoing, and we will focus on what has been accomplished to date and the future direction of this research. We will discuss the model being used, show results that validate its use in the PBL, and present a nested-grid method proposed to analyze the entire PBL and vortex pair simultaneously.

DeCroix, David↗

NASA NTRS2009

Large Eddy Simulation of Transonic Flow Field in NASA Rotor 37

The current paper reports on numerical investigations on the flow characteristics in a transonic axial compressor, NASA Rotor 37. The flow field was used previously as a CFD blind test case conducted by American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1994. Since the CFD blind-test exercise, many numerical studies on the flow field in the NASA Rotor 37 have been reported. Although steady improvements have been reported in both numerical procedure and turbulence closure, it is believed that all the important aspects of the flow field have not been fully explained with numerical studies based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution. Experimental data show large dip in total pressure distribution near the hub at downstream of the rotor at 100% rotor speed. Most original numerical solutions from the blind test exercise did not predict this total pressure deficit correctly. This total pressure deficit at the rotor exit was attributed to a hub corner flow separation by the author. Several subsequent numerical studies with different turbulence closure model also calculated this dip in total pressure rise. Also, several studies attributed this total pressure deficit to a small leakage flow coming from the hub in the test article. As the experimental study cannot be repeated, either explanation cannot be validated. The primary purpose of the current investigation is to investigate the transonic flow field with both RANS and a Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The RANS approach gives similar results presented at the original blind test exercise. Although the RANS calculates higher overall total pressure rise, the total pressure deficit near the hub is calculated correctly. The numerical solution shows that the total pressure deficit is due to a hub corner flow separation. The calculated pressure rise from the LES agrees better with the measured total pressure rise especially near the casing area where the passage shock interacts with the tip clearance vortex and flow becomes unsteady due to this interaction. The LES simulation also calculates the total pressure rise deficit near the hub and it agrees well with the measured data.

Hah, Chunill↗

NASA NTRS2012

Investigation of Turbulent Tip Leakage Vortex in an Axial Water Jet Pump with Large Eddy Simulation

Detailed steady and unsteady numerical studies were performed to investigate tip clearance flow in an axial water jet pump. The primary objective is to understand physics of unsteady tip clearance flow, unsteady tip leakage vortex, and cavitation inception in an axial water jet pump. Steady pressure field and resulting steady tip leakage vortex from a steady flow analysis do not seem to explain measured cavitation inception correctly. The measured flow field near the tip is unsteady and measured cavitation inception is highly transient. Flow visualization with cavitation bubbles shows that the leakage vortex is oscillating significantly and many intermittent vortex ropes are present between the suction side of the blade and the tip leakage core vortex. Although the flow field is highly transient, the overall flow structure is stable and a characteristic frequency seems to exist. To capture relevant flow physics as much as possible, a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) calculation and a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) were applied for the current investigation. The present study reveals that several vortices from the tip leakage vortex system cross the tip gap of the adjacent blade periodically. Sudden changes in local pressure field inside tip gap due to these vortices create vortex ropes. The instantaneous pressure filed inside the tip gap is drastically different from that of the steady flow simulation. Unsteady flow simulation which can calculate unsteady vortex motion is necessary to calculate cavitation inception accurately even at design flow condition in such a water jet pump.

Hah, Chunill↗

NASA NTRS2002

Sensitivity of Stratocumulus Optical Depths to Droplet Concentrations: Satellite Observations and Large-Eddy Simulations

A number of observations and simulations have shown that increased droplet concentrations in ship tracks increase their total cross-sectional area, thereby enhancing cloud albedo and providing a negative (cooling) radiative forcing at the surface and the top of the atmosphere. In some cases cloud water has been found to be enhanced in ship tracks, which has been attributed to suppression of drizzle and implies an enhanced susceptibility of cloud albedo to droplet concentrations. However, observations from aircraft and satellite indicate that on average cloud water is instead reduced in daytime ship tracks. Such a reduction in liquid water may be attributable to cloud-burning caused by solar heating by soot within the ship exhaust, or by increased precipitation resulting from giant nuclei in the ship exhaust. We will summarize the observational evidence and present results from large-eddy simulations that evaluate these mechanisms. Along the way we will present our insights into the interpretation of satellite retrievals of cloud microphysical properties.

Ackerman, A. S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Dynamic localization and second-order subgrid-scale models in large eddy simulations of channel flow

The objective here is to test the Dynamic Localization (DL) model in a wall-bounded channel flow for numerical stability and accuracy of results. Algebraic stress models suggest that the model for the residual subgrid-scale (SGS) Reynolds stress and scalar flux should generally have terms comprising most of the unique products of the resolved strain (S) and rotation (R) tensors with S and the resolved scalar gradient. The standard dynamic SGS model uses a simple (Smagorinsky) base model for the residual Reynolds stress, which is made proportional to S, and down-gradient base models for residual scalar fluxes; these correspond to the lowest, 'first-order' terms in algebraic stress models. Temporal scaling terms in these base models are formed from the magnitude of the resolved strain rate. While this is appropriate for simple shear flows, it may not be appropriate for more complicated flows (relevant to geophysical and astrophysical problems) that include any combination of shear, rotation, buoyancy, etc. On the other hand, the coefficient in the dynamic SGS model readily adjusts itself to different flow conditions and may adequately take account of these effects without the need for more complicated base models. Cabot (1993) has begun to test the dynamic SGS model in buoyant flows (Rayleigh-Benard and internally heated convection) with and without buoyancy terms explicitly included in the scaling terms of the base model; no great differences were found in large eddy simulation (LES) results for the different base model scalings. The second objective in this work is to test base models with additional, 'second-order' terms (e.g., S(sup 2) and RS for the residual Reynolds stress). These terms have been found to improve large-scale flow predictions by kappa-epsilon models in the presence of rotation and shear. Second-order base models will be tested here in the LES of channel flow with and without solid-body rotation and compared with results from the standard first-order base models to determine if there are significant differences or improvements in results that would warrant the added complexity of the second-order base models.

Cabot, William H.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Reduction of Cloud Water in Ship Tracks: Observations and Large-Eddy Simulations

Ship tracks represent a natural laboratory to study the effects of aerosols on clouds. A number of observations and simulations have shown that increased droplet concentrations in ship tracks increase their total cross-sectional area, thereby enhancing cloud albedo and providing a negative radiative forcing at the surface and the top of the atmosphere. In some cases, cloud water has been found to be enhanced in ship tracks, which has been attributed to suppression of drizzle and implies an enhanced susceptibility of cloud albedo to droplet concentrations. However, more recently compiled observations indicate that cloud water is instead reduced in daytime ship tracks on average. Such a response is consistent with cloud-burning due to solar absorption by soot (the semi-direct radiative forcing of aerosols), recently suggested to be suppressing trade cumulus cloud coverage over the Indian Ocean. We will summarize observational evidence and present large-eddy simulations that consider these competing mechanisms in the effects of aerosols on cloud albedo.

Ackerman, A. S.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Implicit Large-Eddy Simulations of Hot and Cold Supersonic Jets in Loci-CHEM

Turbulence is a critical factor in most aero- and propulsion-related flows. For many years, the industry-standard approach to incorporating the effect of turbulence in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)calculations has been the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling approach. RANS implicitly time-averages turbulent motion, and models its effect on the mixing of species, momentum, and energy in a flow field. The approach is economical and often allows a CFD calculation to proceed to steady-state. However, it makes several simplifying assumptions, and the results will only be as good as the RANS turbulence model. Meanwhile, the last two decades have witnessed rapid and explosive growth in computational power, the development of CFD codes which scale well over thousands of processors, and the refinement of unstructured grid-generation tools which facilitate rapid surface and volume gridding of complex geometries. CFD engineering calculations of 108– 109 finite-volume cells have become routine. Thus, large eddy simulation (LES), which attempts to directly resolve the unsteady motion of the largest scales of turbulence, is increasingly of interest for many fluids engineering problems. Additionally, hybrid RANS-LES approaches such as Spalart’s Detached Eddy Simulation (DES), which attempt to marry the best strengths of both methods, are in active use and development. Because it seeks to accurately resolve the unsteady motion of the largest scales of turbulence, LES places certain requirements on the numerical method used to discretize and advance the Navier Stokes equations. In particular, LES requires high time accuracy and minimal intrinsic numerical dispersion and dissipation over a wide range of length scales.

C I Morris↗