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Large eddy simulations of turbulent pipe flows at moderate Reynolds numbers

Garg, Himani LU orcid ; Wang, Lei LU ; Andersson, Martin LU and Fureby, Christer LU (2024) In Physics of Fluids 36(4).
Abstract

Wall-bounded turbulence is relevant for many engineering and natural science applications, yet there are still aspects of its underlying physics that are not fully understood, particularly at high Reynolds numbers. In this study, we investigate fully developed turbulent pipe flows at moderate-to-high friction velocity Reynolds numbers ( 361 ≤ R e τ ≤ 2000 ), corresponding to bulk velocity-based Reynolds numbers of 11 700 ≤ R e b ≤ 82 500 , using wall-modeled large eddy simulations (LES) in OpenFOAM. A grid convergence study is performed for R e τ = 361 , followed by an investigation of the accuracy of various subgrid-scale stress models for the same Reynolds number. Results show that the wall-adapting local eddy (WALE) model performs... (More)

Wall-bounded turbulence is relevant for many engineering and natural science applications, yet there are still aspects of its underlying physics that are not fully understood, particularly at high Reynolds numbers. In this study, we investigate fully developed turbulent pipe flows at moderate-to-high friction velocity Reynolds numbers ( 361 ≤ R e τ ≤ 2000 ), corresponding to bulk velocity-based Reynolds numbers of 11 700 ≤ R e b ≤ 82 500 , using wall-modeled large eddy simulations (LES) in OpenFOAM. A grid convergence study is performed for R e τ = 361 , followed by an investigation of the accuracy of various subgrid-scale stress models for the same Reynolds number. Results show that the wall-adapting local eddy (WALE) model performs well compared to experiments and direct numerical simulations, while one-equation eddy-viscosity model and Smagorinsky are too dissipative. LES utilizing WALE is then performed for four different Reynolds numbers with gradually refined grids, revealing excellent agreement with DNS data in the outer region. However, a significant deviation from DNS data is observed in the sub-viscous layer region, indicating the need for further mesh refinement in the wall-normal direction to accurately capture the smallest-scale motions' behavior. Additional mesh sensitivity analysis uncovered that, as the R e τ value rises, it becomes crucial for a grid to adhere to the condition of Δ x + ≤ 20 − 25 and Δ z + ≤ 10 in order to precisely capture substantial large and small-scale fluctuations. Overall, the WALE model enables accurate numerical simulations of high-Reynolds number, wall-bounded flows at a fraction of the computational cost required for temporal and spatial resolution of the inner layer.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physics of Fluids
volume
36
issue
4
article number
045138
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85190982836
ISSN
1070-6631
DOI
10.1063/5.0201967
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
id
99efcdc2-c94a-411f-8408-12fc419b35bb
date added to LUP
2024-05-02 16:16:16
date last changed
2024-05-06 10:23:09
@article{99efcdc2-c94a-411f-8408-12fc419b35bb,
  abstract     = {{<p>Wall-bounded turbulence is relevant for many engineering and natural science applications, yet there are still aspects of its underlying physics that are not fully understood, particularly at high Reynolds numbers. In this study, we investigate fully developed turbulent pipe flows at moderate-to-high friction velocity Reynolds numbers ( 361 ≤ R e τ ≤ 2000 ), corresponding to bulk velocity-based Reynolds numbers of 11 700 ≤ R e b ≤ 82 500 , using wall-modeled large eddy simulations (LES) in OpenFOAM. A grid convergence study is performed for R e τ = 361 , followed by an investigation of the accuracy of various subgrid-scale stress models for the same Reynolds number. Results show that the wall-adapting local eddy (WALE) model performs well compared to experiments and direct numerical simulations, while one-equation eddy-viscosity model and Smagorinsky are too dissipative. LES utilizing WALE is then performed for four different Reynolds numbers with gradually refined grids, revealing excellent agreement with DNS data in the outer region. However, a significant deviation from DNS data is observed in the sub-viscous layer region, indicating the need for further mesh refinement in the wall-normal direction to accurately capture the smallest-scale motions' behavior. Additional mesh sensitivity analysis uncovered that, as the R e τ value rises, it becomes crucial for a grid to adhere to the condition of Δ x + ≤ 20 − 25 and Δ z + ≤ 10 in order to precisely capture substantial large and small-scale fluctuations. Overall, the WALE model enables accurate numerical simulations of high-Reynolds number, wall-bounded flows at a fraction of the computational cost required for temporal and spatial resolution of the inner layer.</p>}},
  author       = {{Garg, Himani and Wang, Lei and Andersson, Martin and Fureby, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1070-6631}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Physics of Fluids}},
  title        = {{Large eddy simulations of turbulent pipe flows at moderate Reynolds numbers}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0201967}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/5.0201967}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}