Geert Brethouwer

A numerical investigation on the effect of the inflow conditions on the self-similar region of a round jet

In this paper we consider the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a spatially developing free round jet at low Reynolds numbers. Simulation of a spatially evolving flow such as the jet requires boundary conditions, which allow entrainment into the turbulent flow across the lateral boundaries of the computational domain. The boundary conditions which satisfy this requirement are so-called traction free boundary conditions. After showing that these boundary conditions lead to a correct behavior of the velocity near the lateral boundary of the jet, we will consider the DNS of the jet flow at a Reynolds number of 2.4×103 and compare the results with experimental data obtained by Hussein et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 258, 31 (1994)] and by Panchapakesan and Lumley [J. Fluid Mech. 246, 197 (1993)]. The results of our numerical simulations agree very well with the experimental data. Next we use the DNS to investigate the influence of the shape of the velocity profile at the jet orifice on the self-similarity scaling f...

Scaling analysis and simulation of strongly stratified turbulent flows

Direct numerical simulations of stably and strongly stratified turbulent flows with Reynolds number Re >> 1 and horizontal Froude number F-h > 1, viscous forces are unimportant and l(v) scales as l ...

Turbulent boundary layers up to Reθ=2500 studied through simulation and experiment

Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) and experiments of a spatially developing zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer are presented up to Reynolds number Re-theta=2500, based on momentum th ...

Simulation of the mixing of a passive scalar in a round turbulent jet

In this paper we present the results of the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of mixing of a passive scalar in a spatially developing free round turbulent jet. The Schmidt number used in the simulations is equal to 1.0 and the Reynolds number, based on the orifice diameter and velocity is equal to 2.0 × 103. The primary objective of this paper is to consider the self-similarity of the jet in the far field. Having considered the self-similarity of the velocity in a previous publication, we concentrate here on the self-similarity of the concentration of the passive scalar. To this end we have considered the profiles of the mean concentration and its fluctuations, together with the concentration probability density function distribution. The results have been compared with various experimental data that have been published in the literature. In general, the results agree very well with the experimental data. The conclusion is that the mean concentration is self-similar in the far field. The profiles of the root mean square of the concentration fluctuations are not self-similar. Furthermore, it is shown that the turbulent Schmidt number is equal to 0.74, which agrees very well with experimental values.

The effect of rotation on rapidly sheared homogeneous turbulence and passive scalar transport. Linear theory and direct numerical simulation

The effect of rotation on a homogeneous turbulent shear flow has been studied by means of a series of direct numerical simulations with different rotation numbers. The evolution of passive scalar fields with mean gradients in each of the three orthogonal directions in the flow was investigated in order to elucidate the effect of rotation on turbulent scalar transport. Conditions of the near-wall region of a boundary layer were approached by using a rapid shear and therefore, comparisons could be made with rapid distortion theory based on the linearized equations of the flow and scalar transport. Reynolds stresses, pressure-strain correlations and two-point velocity correlations were computed and turbulent structures were visualized. It is shown that rotation has a strong influence on the time development of the turbulent kinetic energy, the anisotropy of the flow and on the turbulent structures. Furthermore, rotation significantly affects turbulent scalar transport. The transport rate of the scalar and the direction of the scalar flux vector show large variations with different rotation numbers, and a strong alignment was observed between the scalar flux and the principal axes of the Reynolds stress tensor. The ratio of the turbulent and scalar time scales is influenced by rotation as well. The predictions of the linear theory of the turbulent one-point statistics and the scalar flux agreed fairly well with direct numerical simulation (DNS) results based on the full nonlinear governing equations. Nonetheless, some clear and strong nonlinear effects are observed in a couple of cases which significantly influence the development of the turbulence and scalar transport.

Stratified turbulence forced in rotational and divergent modes

We perform numerical box simulations of strongly stratified turbulence. The equations solved are the Boussinesq equations with constant Brunt-Vaisala frequency and forcing either in rotational or divergent modes, or, with another terminology, in vortical or wave modes. In both cases, we observe a forward energy cascade and inertial-range scaling of the horizontal kinetic and potential energy spectra. With forcing in rotational modes, there is approximate equipartition of kinetic energy between rotational and divergent modes in the inertial range. With forcing in divergent modes the results are sensitive to the vertical forcing wavenumber K-v(f) If k(v)(f) is sufficiently large the dynamics is very similar to the dynamics of the V V simulations which are forced in rotational modes, with approximate equipartition of kinetic energy in rotational and divergent modes in the inertial range. Frequency spectra of rotational, divergent and potential energy are calculated for individual Fourier modes. Waves are present at low horizontal wavenumbers corresponding to the largest scales in the boxes. In the inertial range, the frequency spectra exhibit no distinctive peaks in the internal wave frequency. In modes for which the vertical wavenumber is considerably larger than the horizontal wavenumber, the frequency spectra of rotational and divergent modes fall on top of each other. The simulation results indicate that the dynamics of rotational and divergent modes develop on the same time scale in stratified turbulence. We discuss the relevance of our results to atmospheric and oceanic dynamics. In particular, we review a number of observational reports indicating that stratified turbulence may be a prevalent dynamic process in the ocean at horizontal scales of the order of 10 or 100m up to several kilometres.

Direct numerical simulation of a plane turbulent wall-jet including scalar mixing

Direct numerical simulation is used to study a turbulent plane wall-jet including the mixing of a passive scalar. The Reynolds and Mach numbers at the inlet are Re=2000 and M=0.5, respectively, and ...

Effects of modelling, resolution and anisotropy of subgrid-scales on large eddy simulations of channel flow

In this paper, the effect of subgrid-scale (SGS) modelling, grid resolution and anisotropy of the subgrid-scales on large eddy simulation (LES) is investigated. LES of turbulent channel flow is performed at Re τ=934, based on friction velocity and channel half width, for a wide range of resolutions. The dynamic Smagorinsky model (DS), the high-pass filtered dynamic Smagorinsky model (HPF) based on the variational multiscale method and the recent explicit algebraic model (EA), which accounts for the anisotropy of the SGS stresses are considered. The first part of the paper is focused on the resolution effects on LES, where the performances of the three SGS models at different resolutions are compared to direct numerical simulation (DNS) results. The results show that LES using eddy viscosity SGS models is very sensitive to resolution. At coarse resolutions, LES with the DS and the HPF models deviate considerably from DNS, whereas LES with the EA model still gives reasonable results. Further analysis shows that the two former models do not accurately predict the SGS dissipation near the wall, while the latter does, even at coarse resolutions. In the second part, the effect of SGS modelling on LES predictions of near-wall and outer-layer turbulent structures is discussed. It is found that different models predict near-wall turbulent structures of different sizes. Analysis of the spectra shows that although near-wall scales are not resolved at coarse resolutions, large-scale motions can be reasonably captured in LES using all the tested models.

Explicit algebraic subgrid stress models with application to rotating channel flow

New explicit subgrid stress models are proposed involving the strain rate and rotation rate tensor, which can account for rotation in a natural way. The new models are based on the same methodology ...

Vertical dispersion by stratified turbulence

We derive a relation for the growth of the mean square of vertical displacements, delta z, of fluid particles of stratified turbulence. In the case of freely decaying turbulence, we find that for l ...