Showing papers by "Parviz Moin published in 2017"

Transitional–turbulent spots and turbulent–turbulent spots in boundary layers

Abstract: Two observations drawn from a thoroughly validated direct numerical simulation of the canonical spatially developing, zero-pressure gradient, smooth, flat-plate boundary layer are presented here. The first is that, for bypass transition in the narrow sense defined herein, we found that the transitional-turbulent spot inception mechanism is analogous to the secondary instability of boundary-layer natural transition, namely a spanwise vortex filament becomes a [Formula: see text] vortex and then, a hairpin packet. Long streak meandering does occur but usually when a streak is infected by a nearby existing transitional-turbulent spot. Streak waviness and breakdown are, therefore, not the mechanisms for the inception of transitional-turbulent spots found here. Rather, they only facilitate the growth and spreading of existing transitional-turbulent spots. The second observation is the discovery, in the inner layer of the developed turbulent boundary layer, of what we call turbulent-turbulent spots. These turbulent-turbulent spots are dense concentrations of small-scale vortices with high swirling strength originating from hairpin packets. Although structurally quite similar to the transitional-turbulent spots, these turbulent-turbulent spots are generated locally in the fully turbulent environment, and they are persistent with a systematic variation of detection threshold level. They exert indentation, segmentation, and termination on the viscous sublayer streaks, and they coincide with local concentrations of high levels of Reynolds shear stress, enstrophy, and temperature fluctuations. The sublayer streaks seem to be passive and are often simply the rims of the indentation pockets arising from the turbulent-turbulent spots.

Log-layer mismatch and modeling of the fluctuating wall stress in wall-modeled large-eddy simulations

Abstract: Log-layer mismatch refers to a chronic problem found in wall-modeled large-eddy simulation (WMLES) or detached-eddy simulation, where the modeled wall-shear stress deviates from the true one by approximately 15%. Many efforts have been made to resolve this mismatch. The often-usedfixes, which are generally ad hoc, include modifying subgridscale stress models, adding a stochastic forcing, and moving the LES-wall-model matching location away from the wall. An analysis motivated by the integral wall-model formalism suggests that log-layer mismatch is resolved by the built-in physics-based temporal filtering. In this work we investigate in detail the effects of local filtering on log-layer mismatch. We show that both local temporal filtering and local wall-parallel filtering resolve log-layer mismatch without moving the LES-wall-model matching location away from the wall. Additionally, we look into the momentum balance in the near-wall region to provide an alternative explanation of how LLM occurs, which does not necessarily rely on the numerical-error argument. While filtering resolves log-layer mismatch, the quality of the wall-shear stress fluctuations predicted by WMLES does not improve with our remedy. The wall-shear stress fluctuations are highly underpredicted due to the implied use of LES filtering. However, good agreement can be found when the WMLES data are compared to the direct numerical simulation data filtered at the corresponding WMLES resolutions.

Aerodynamic Heating in Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulation of High-Speed Flows

Abstract: Aerospace vehicles flying at supersonic and hypersonic speeds are subject to increased wall heating rates caused by viscous friction with the gas environment. This extra heat is commonly referred t...

A simple dynamic subgrid-scale model for LES of particle-laden turbulence

Abstract: A dynamic model for LES is proposed to describe the motion of small inertial particles in turbulence. The model is simple, has low computational overhead, contains no adjustable parameters, and can be deployed in any type of flow solver and grid, including unstructured setups.

Algebraic disturbance growth by interaction of Orr and lift-up mechanisms

Abstract: Algebraic disturbance growth in spatially developing boundary-layer flows is investigated using an optimization approach. The methodology builds on the framework of the parabolized stability equations and avoids some of the limitations associated with adjoint-based schemes. In the Blasius boundary layer, non-parallel effects are shown to significantly enhance the energy gain due to algebraic growth mechanisms. In contrast to parallel flow, the most energetic perturbations have finite frequency and are generated by the simultaneous activity of the Orr and lift-up mechanisms. The highest amplification occurs in a limited region of the parameter space that is characterized by a linear relation between the wavenumber and frequency of the disturbances. The frequency of the most highly amplified perturbations decreases with Reynolds number. Adverse streamwise pressure gradient further enhances the amplification of disturbances while preserving the linear trend between the wavenumber and frequency of the most energetic perturbations.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Thermally Stratified Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Flow Using a Minimum Dissipation Model.

Abstract: A generalized form of a recently developed minimum dissipation model for subfilter turbulent fluxes is proposed and implemented in the simulation of thermally stratified atmospheric boundary-layer flows. Compared with the original model, the generalized model includes the contribution of buoyant forces, in addition to shear, to the production or suppression of turbulence, with a number of desirable practical and theoretical properties. Specifically, the model has a low computational complexity, appropriately switches off in laminar and transitional flows, does not require any ad hoc shear and stability corrections, and is consistent with theoretical subfilter turbulent fluxes. The simulation results show remarkable agreement with well-established empirical correlations, theoretical predictions, and field observations in the atmosphere. In addition, the results show very little sensitivity to the grid resolution, demonstrating the robustness of the model in the simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer, even with relatively coarse resolutions.

Extraction of coherent clusters and grid adaptation in particle-laden turbulence using wavelet filters

Abstract: In this study, a wavelet-based method for extraction of clusters of inertial particles in turbulent flows is presented that is based on decomposing Eulerian particle-number-density fields into the sum of coherent (organized) and incoherent (disorganized) components. The coherent component is associated with the clusters and is extracted by filtering the wavelet-transformed particle-number-density field based on an energy threshold. The method is applied to direct numerical simulations of homogeneous-isotropic turbulence laden with small Lagrangian particles. The analysis shows that in regimes where the preferential concentration is important, the coherent component representing the clusters can be described by just 1.6% of the total number ofwavelet coefficients, thereby illustrating the sparsity of the particle-number-density field. On the other hand, the incoherent portion is visually structureless and much less correlated than the coherent one. An application of the method, motivated by particle-laden radiative-heat-transfer simulations, is illustrated in the form of a grid-adaptation algorithm that results in nonuniform meshes with fine and coarse elements near and away from particle clusters, respectively. In regimes where preferential concentration in clusters is important, the grid adaptation leads to a significant reduction of the number of control volumes by one to two orders of magnitude.

Large-eddy simulation-based characterization of suction and oscillatory blowing fluidic actuator

Abstract: Unsteady turbulent flows inside a suction and oscillatory blowing actuator are simulated and characterized to provide better physical understanding of the complex actuator flows. Large-eddy simulat...

An Appreciation of the Life and Work of William C. Reynolds (1933–2004)

Abstract: Bill Reynolds was a remarkably creative scientist who combined a natural curiosity with enormous energy to make significant contributions to fluid mechanics research. In this article, we combine our own recollections with those of many others to capture the aspects of Bill's personality and sense of humor that made him the irrepressible person that he was. We discuss his works on turbulent flow and touch on others that illustrate the wide range of his interests. We survey his involvement in education through classroom teaching and mentoring of research students, and his lifelong support of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society. And we cover his many contributions during his long career at Stanford University, where he spent his entire working life, especially his seminal role with the Center for Turbulence Research.