Parviz Moin

Bio: Parviz Moin is an academic researcher from Stanford University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Turbulence & Large eddy simulation. The author has an hindex of 116, co-authored 473 publications receiving 60521 citations. Previous affiliations of Parviz Moin include Center for Turbulence Research & Ames Research Center.

Direct numerical simulation of turbulence in a nominally zero-pressure-gradient flat-plate boundary layer

Abstract: A nominally-zero-pressure-gradient incompressible boundary layer over a smooth flat plate was simulated for a continuous momentum thickness Reynolds number range of 80 ≤ Reθ ≤ 940. Transition which is completed at approximately Reθ = 750 was triggered by intermittent localized disturbances arising from patches of isotropic turbulence introduced periodically from the free stream at Reθ = 80. Streamwise pressure gradient is quantified with several measures and is demonstrated to be weak. Blasius boundary layer is maintained in the early transitional region of 80 < Reθ < 180 within which the maximum deviation of skin friction from the theoretical solution is less than 1%. Mean and second-order turbulence statistics are compared with classic experimental data, and they constitute a rare DNS dataset for the spatially developing zero-pressure-gradient turbulent flat-plate boundary layer. Our calculations indicate that in the present spatially developing low-Reynolds-number turbulent flat-plate boundary layer, total shear stress mildly overshoots the wall shear stress in the near-wall region of 2–20 wall units with vanishing normal gradient at the wall. Overshoots as high as 10% across a wider percentage of the boundary layer thickness exist in the late transitional region. The former is a residual effect of the latter. The instantaneous flow fields are vividly populated by hairpin vortices. This is the first time that direct evidence (in the form of a solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, obeying the statistical measurements, as opposed to synthetic superposition of the structures) shows such dominance of these structures. Hairpin packets arising from upstream fragmented Λ structures are found to be instrumental in the breakdown of the present boundary layer bypass transition.

Large-eddy simulation of turbulent confined coannular jets

Abstract: Large-eddy simulation (LES) was used to study mixing of turbulent, coannular jets discharging into a sudden expansion. This geometry resembles that of a coaxial jet-combustor, and the goal of the calculation was to gain some insight into the phenomena leading to lean blow-out (LBO) in such combustion devices. This is a first step in a series of calculations, where the focus is on the fluid dynamical aspects of the mixing process in the combustion chamber. The effects of swirl, chemical reactions and heat release were not taken into account. Mixing of fuel and oxidizer was studied by tracking a passive scalar introduced in the central jet. The dynamic subgrid-scale (DM) model was used to model both the subgrid-scale stresses and the subgrid-scale scalar flux. The Reynolds number was 38000, based on the bulk velocity and diameter of the combustion chamber. Mean velocities and Reynolds stresses are in good agreement with experimental data. Animated results clearly show that intermittent pockets of fuel-rich fluid (from the central jet) are able to cross the annular jet, virtually undiluted, into the recirculation zone. Most of the fuel-rich fluid is, however, entrained into the recirculation zone near the instantaneous reattachment point. Fuel trapped in the recirculation zone is, for the most part, entrained back into the step shear layer close to the base of the burner.

A dynamic subgrid‐scale eddy viscosity model

Abstract: One major drawback of the eddy viscosity subgrid‐scale stress models used in large‐eddy simulations is their inability to represent correctly with a single universal constant different turbulent fields in rotating or sheared flows, near solid walls, or in transitional regimes. In the present work a new eddy viscosity model is presented which alleviates many of these drawbacks. The model coefficient is computed dynamically as the calculation progresses rather than input a priori. The model is based on an algebraic identity between the subgrid‐scale stresses at two different filtered levels and the resolved turbulent stresses. The subgrid‐scale stresses obtained using the proposed model vanish in laminar flow and at a solid boundary, and have the correct asymptotic behavior in the near‐wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. The results of large‐eddy simulations of transitional and turbulent channel flow that use the proposed model are in good agreement with the direct simulation data.

Lattice boltzmann method for fluid flows

Abstract: We present an overview of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), a parallel and efficient algorithm for simulating single-phase and multiphase fluid flows and for incorporating additional physical complexities. The LBM is especially useful for modeling complicated boundary conditions and multiphase interfaces. Recent extensions of this method are described, including simulations of fluid turbulence, suspension flows, and reaction diffusion systems.

On the identification of a vortex

Abstract: Considerable confusion surrounds the longstanding question of what constitutes a vortex, especially in a turbulent flow. This question, frequently misunderstood as academic, has recently acquired particular significance since coherent structures (CS) in turbulent flows are now commonly regarded as vortices. An objective definition of a vortex should permit the use of vortex dynamics concepts to educe CS, to explain formation and evolutionary dynamics of CS, to explore the role of CS in turbulence phenomena, and to develop viable turbulence models and control strategies for turbulence phenomena. We propose a definition of a vortex in an incompressible flow in terms of the eigenvalues of the symmetric tensor ${\bm {\cal S}}^2 + {\bm \Omega}^2$ are respectively the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the velocity gradient tensor ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$. This definition captures the pressure minimum in a plane perpendicular to the vortex axis at high Reynolds numbers, and also accurately defines vortex cores at low Reynolds numbers, unlike a pressure-minimum criterion. We compare our definition with prior schemes/definitions using exact and numerical solutions of the Euler and Navier–Stokes equations for a variety of laminar and turbulent flows. In contrast to definitions based on the positive second invariant of ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$ or the complex eigenvalues of ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$, our definition accurately identifies the vortex core in flows where the vortex geometry is intuitively clear.