Introduction E is an honor and challenge to present the Dryden Lecture ..i Research for 1979. Since my topic concerns a new trend in fluid mechanics, it should not be surprising that some aspects of this paper involve basic mechanics of turbulence, a field enriched by numerous contributions of Dr. Hugh L. Dryden. Having worked in related fields of fluid mechanics during past years, and long respected both his professional contributions and personal integrity, it is a special pleasure to present this Dryden lecture. The field of computational fluid dynamics during recent years has developed sufficiently to initiate some changes in traditional methods of aerodynamic design. Both computer power and numerical algorithm efficiency are simultaneously improving with time, while the energy resource for driving large wind tunnels is becoming progressively more valuable. Partly for these reasons it has been advocated that the impact of computational aerodynamics on future methods of aircraft design will be profound. ' Qualitatively, the changes taking place are not foreign to past experience in other fields of engineering. For example, trajectory mechanics and neutron transport mechanics already have been largely revolutionized by the computer. Computations rather than experiments now provide the principal source of detailed information in these fields. The amount of reactor experimentation required has been much reduced over former years; experiments now are performed mainly on clear, physically describable arrays of elements aimed at further confirmation of computational techniques; and better designs are achieved than with former experimental methods alone. Similar changes in the relative roles of experimental and computational aerodynamics are anticipated in the future. There are three compelling motivations for vigorously developing computational aerodynamics. One is to provide important new technological capabilities that cannot be provided by experimental facilities. Because of their fundamental limitations, wind tunnels have rarely been able to simulate, for example, Reynolds numbers of aircraft flight, flowfield temperatures around atmosphere entry vehicles, aerodynamics of probes entering planetary atmospheres, aeroelastic distortions present in flight, or the propulsiveexternal flow interaction in flight. In addition, transonic wind tunnels are notoriously limited by wall and support interference; and stream nonuniformities of wind tunnels severely affect laminar-turbulent transition. Moreover, the dynamic-aerodynamic interaction between vehicle motion in flight and transition-dependent separated flow also is inaccessible to wind-tunnel simulation. In still different ways ground facilities for turbomachinery experiments are limited in their ability, for example, to simulate flight inlet-flow nonuniformities feeding into a compressor stage, or to determine detailed flowfields between rotating blades. Numerical flow simulations, on the other hand, have none of these fundamental limitations, but have their own: computer speed and memory. These latter limitations are fewer, but previously have been much more restrictive overall because the full Navier-Stokes equations are of such great complexity that only highly truncated and approximate forms could be handled in the past. In recent years the Navier-Stokes equations have begun to yield under computational attack with the largest current computers. Since the fundamental limitations of computational speed and memory are rapidly decreasing with time, whereas the fundamental limitations of experimental facilities are not, numerical simulations offer the potential of mending many ills of wind-tunnel and turbomachinery experiments, and of providing thereby important new technical capabilities for the aerospace industry. A second compelling motivation concerns energy conservation. The large developmental wind tunnels require large amounts of energy, whereas computers require comparatively

Computational Aerodynamics Development and Outlook

A scale-dependent dynamic subgrid model based on Lagrangian time averaging is proposed and tested in large eddy simulations (LES) of high-Reynolds number boundary layer flows over homogeneous and heterogeneous rough surfaces. The model is based on the Lagrangian dynamic Smagorinsky model in which required averages are accumulated in time, following fluid trajectories of the resolved velocity field. The model allows for scale dependence of the coefficient by including a second test-filtering operation to determine how the coefficient changes as a function of scale. The model also uses the empirical observation that when scale dependence occurs (such as when the filter scale approaches the limits of the inertial range), the classic dynamic model yields the coefficient value appropriate for the test-filter scale. Validation tests in LES of high Reynolds number, rough wall, boundary layer flow are performed at various resolutions. Results are compared with other eddy-viscosity subgrid-scale models. Unlike the...

/pdf/a-scale-dependent-lagrangian-dynamic-model-for-large-eddy-5biv7nrv58.pdf

A scale-dependent Lagrangian dynamic model for large eddy simulation of complex turbulent flows

A scale-dependent dynamic subgrid-scale model for large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows is proposed. Unlike the traditional dynamic model, it does not rely on the assumption that the model coefficient is scale invariant. The model is based on a second test-filtering operation which allows us to determine from the simulation how the coefficient varies with scale. The scale-dependent model is tested in simulations of a neutral atmospheric boundary layer. In this application, near the ground the grid scale is by necessity comparable to the local integral scale (of the order of the distance to the wall). With the grid scale and/or the test-filter scale being outside the inertial range, scale invariance is broken. The results are compared with those from (a) the traditional Smagorinsky model that requires specification of the coefficient and of a wall damping function, and (b) the standard dynamic model that assumes scale invariance of the coefficient. In the near-surface region the traditional Smagorinsky and standard dynamic models are too dissipative and not dissipative enough, respectively. Simulations with the scale-dependent dynamic model yield the expected trends of the coefficient as a function of scale and give improved predictions of velocity spectra at different heights from the ground. Consistent with the improved dissipation characteristics, the scale-dependent model also yields improved mean velocity profiles.

/pdf/a-scale-dependent-dynamic-model-for-large-eddy-simulation-2w8bs4cl5z.pdf

A scale-dependent dynamic model for large-eddy simulation: application to a neutral atmospheric boundary layer

The three-dimensional stability of two-dimensional vortical states of planar mixing layers is studied by direct numerical integration of the Navier-Stokes equations. Small-scale instabilities are shown to exist for spanwise scales at which classical linear modes are stable. These modes grow on convective timescales, extract their energy from the mean flow and exist at moderately low Reynolds numbers. Their growth rates are comparable with the most rapidly growing inviscid instability and with the growth rates of two-dimensional subharmonic (pairing) modes. At high amplitudes, they can evolve into pairs of counter-rotating, streamwise vortices, connecting the primary spanwise vortices, which are very similar to the structures observed in laboratory experiments. The three-dimensional modes do not appear to saturate in quasi-steady states as do the purely two-dimensional fundamental and subharmonic modes in the absence of pairing. The subsequent evolution of the flow depends on the relative amplitudes of the pairing modes. Persistent pairings can inhibit threedimensional instability and, hence, keep the flow predominantly two-dimensional. Conversely, suppression of the pairing process can drive the three-dimensional modes to more chaotic, turbulent-like states. An analysis of high-resolution simulations of fully turbulent mixing layers confirms the existence of rib-like structures and that their coherence depends strongly on the presence of the two-dimensional pairing modes.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112087002866

Secondary instability of a temporally growing mixing layer

A numerical study of atmospheric turbulence effects on wind-turbine wakes is presented. Large-eddy simulations of neutrally-stratified atmospheric boundary layer flows through stand-alone wind turbines were performed over homogeneous flat surfaces with four different aerodynamic roughness lengths. Emphasis is placed on the structure and characteristics of turbine wakes in the cases where the incident flows to the turbine have the same mean velocity at the hub height but different mean wind shears and turbulence intensity levels. The simulation results show that the different turbulence intensity levels of the incoming flow lead to considerable influence on the spatial distribution of the mean velocity deficit, turbulence intensity, and turbulent shear stress in the wake region. In particular, when the turbulence intensity level of the incoming flow is higher, the turbine-induced wake (velocity deficit) recovers faster, and the locations of the maximum turbulence intensity and turbulent stress are closer to the turbine. A detailed analysis of the turbulence kinetic energy budget in the wakes reveals also an important effect of the incoming flow turbulence level on the magnitude and spatial distribution of the shear production and transport terms.

Atmospheric Turbulence Effects on Wind-Turbine Wakes: An LES Study

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the simulations of turbulent shear flows by direct numerical solution of the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, the dynamical equations, and boundary conditions employed with particular emphasis on the momentum less wake model The numerical computation approach provides several advantages over more conventional approaches—the complete flow field is obtained at all times so that detailed flow characteristics may be obtained that would be difficult to measure in the laboratory, and the initial conditions can be accurately controlled so that their effect may be determined The technique of imposing the initial conditions allows arbitrary mean velocity profile, turbulence intensity profile, and local turbulence energy spectrum The present simulations of turbulent shear flows are a first step toward proper understanding of the basic mechanisms and dynamics of these flows Detailed comparisons and tests are presently underway between various turbulence modeling hypotheses, laboratory experiments, and the present simulations As time and the art of numerical simulation progress, simulations like the present ones should be expected to fulfill more and more need of a laboratory workhorse

Yih-Ho Pao

Papers

Numerical Computation of Turbulent Shear Flows