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Three-dimensional direct numerical simulation study of conditioned moments associated with front propagation in turbulent flows

Yu, Rixin LU ; Andrei.N., Lipatnikov and Bai, Xue-Song LU (2014) In Physics of Fluids 26(8).
Abstract
In order to gain further insight into (i) the use of conditioned quantities for characterizing turbulence within a premixed flame brush and (ii) the influence of front propagation on turbulent scalar transport, a 3D Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) study of an infinitely thin front that self-propagates in statistically stationary, homogeneous, isotropic, forced turbulence was performed by numerically integrating Navier-Stokes and level set equations. While this study was motivated by issues relevant to premixed combustion, the density was assumed to be constant in order (i) to avoid the influence of the front on the flow and, therefore, to know the true turbulence characteristics as reference quantities for assessment of conditioned... (More)
In order to gain further insight into (i) the use of conditioned quantities for characterizing turbulence within a premixed flame brush and (ii) the influence of front propagation on turbulent scalar transport, a 3D Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) study of an infinitely thin front that self-propagates in statistically stationary, homogeneous, isotropic, forced turbulence was performed by numerically integrating Navier-Stokes and level set equations. While this study was motivated by issues relevant to premixed combustion, the density was assumed to be constant in order (i) to avoid the influence of the front on the flow and, therefore, to know the true turbulence characteristics as reference quantities for assessment of conditioned moments and (ii) to separate the influence of front propagation on turbulent transport from the influence of pressure gradient induced by heat release. Numerical simulations were performed for two turbulence Reynolds numbers (50 and 100) and four ratios (1, 2, 5, and 10) of the rms turbulent velocity to the front speed. Obtained results show that, first, the mean front thickness is decreased when a ratio of the rms turbulent velocity to the front speed is decreased. Second, although the gradient diffusion closure yields the right direction of turbulent scalar flux obtained in the DNS, the diffusion coefficient Dt determined using the DNS data depends on the mean progress variable. Moreover, Dt is decreased when the front speed is increased, thus, indicating that the front propagation affects turbulent scalar transport even in a constant-density case. Third, conditioned moments of the velocity field differ from counterpart mean moments, thus, disputing the use of conditioned velocity moments for characterizing turbulence when modeling premixed turbulent combustion. Fourth, computed conditioned enstrophies are close to the mean enstrophy in all studied cases, thus, suggesting the use of conditioned enstrophy for characterizing turbulence within a premixed flame brush. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Flames, Combustion, Isotropic turbulence, Turbulence simulations, Homogeneous turbulence
in
Physics of Fluids
volume
26
issue
8
article number
085104
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • wos:000342851900035
  • scopus:84929300132
ISSN
1070-6631
DOI
10.1063/1.4891735
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
552d9b63-27d9-46f6-8bde-047173c7b5d1 (old id 4611850)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:14:49
date last changed
2022-01-26 06:30:02
@article{552d9b63-27d9-46f6-8bde-047173c7b5d1,
  abstract     = {{In order to gain further insight into (i) the use of conditioned quantities for characterizing turbulence within a premixed flame brush and (ii) the influence of front propagation on turbulent scalar transport, a 3D Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) study of an infinitely thin front that self-propagates in statistically stationary, homogeneous, isotropic, forced turbulence was performed by numerically integrating Navier-Stokes and level set equations. While this study was motivated by issues relevant to premixed combustion, the density was assumed to be constant in order (i) to avoid the influence of the front on the flow and, therefore, to know the true turbulence characteristics as reference quantities for assessment of conditioned moments and (ii) to separate the influence of front propagation on turbulent transport from the influence of pressure gradient induced by heat release. Numerical simulations were performed for two turbulence Reynolds numbers (50 and 100) and four ratios (1, 2, 5, and 10) of the rms turbulent velocity to the front speed. Obtained results show that, first, the mean front thickness is decreased when a ratio of the rms turbulent velocity to the front speed is decreased. Second, although the gradient diffusion closure yields the right direction of turbulent scalar flux obtained in the DNS, the diffusion coefficient Dt determined using the DNS data depends on the mean progress variable. Moreover, Dt is decreased when the front speed is increased, thus, indicating that the front propagation affects turbulent scalar transport even in a constant-density case. Third, conditioned moments of the velocity field differ from counterpart mean moments, thus, disputing the use of conditioned velocity moments for characterizing turbulence when modeling premixed turbulent combustion. Fourth, computed conditioned enstrophies are close to the mean enstrophy in all studied cases, thus, suggesting the use of conditioned enstrophy for characterizing turbulence within a premixed flame brush.}},
  author       = {{Yu, Rixin and Andrei.N., Lipatnikov and Bai, Xue-Song}},
  issn         = {{1070-6631}},
  keywords     = {{Flames; Combustion; Isotropic turbulence; Turbulence simulations; Homogeneous turbulence}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Physics of Fluids}},
  title        = {{Three-dimensional direct numerical simulation study of conditioned moments associated with front propagation in turbulent flows}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4891735}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/1.4891735}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}