Robert L. Street

A dynamic mixed subgrid‐scale model and its application to turbulent recirculating flows

The dynamic subgrid‐scale eddy viscosity model of Germano et al. [Phys. Fluids A 3, 1760 (1991)] (DSM) is modified by employing the mixed model of Bardina et al. [Ph.D dissertation, Stanford University (1983)] as the base model. The new dynamic mixed model explicitly calculates the modified Leonard term and only models the cross term and the SGS Reynolds stress. It retains the favorable features of DSM and, at the same time, does not require that the principal axes of the stress tensor be aligned with those of the strain rate tensor. The model coefficient is computed using local flow variables. The new model is incorporated in a finite‐volume solution method and large‐eddy simulations of flows in a lid‐driven cavity at Reynolds numbers of 3200, 7500, and 10 000 show excellent agreement with the experimental data. Better agreement is achieved by using the new model compared to the DSM. The magnitude of the dynamically computed model coefficient of the new model is significantly smaller than that from DSM.

Large-eddy simulations of a round jet in crossflow

This paper reports on a series of large-eddy simulations of a round jet issuing normally into a crossflow. Simulations were performed at two jet-to-crossflow velocity ratios, 2.0 and 3.3, and two Reynolds numbers, 1050 and 2100, based on crossflow velocity and jet diameter. Mean and turbulent statistics computed from the simulations match experimental measurements reasonably well. Large-scale coherent structures observed in experimental flow visualizations are reproduced by the simulations, and the mechanisms by which these structures form are described. The effects of coherent structures upon the evolution of mean velocities, resolved Reynolds stresses, and turbulent kinetic energy along the centreplane are discussed. In this paper, the ubiquitous far-field counter-rotating vortex pair is shown to originate from a pair of quasi-steady ‘hanging’ vortices. These vortices form in the skewed mixing layer that develops between jet and crossflow fluid on the lateral edges of the jet. Axial flow through the hanging vortex transports vortical fluid from the near-wall boundary layer of the incoming pipe flow to the back side of the jet. There, the hanging vortex encounters an adverse pressure gradient and breaks down. As this breakdown occurs, the vortex diameter expands dramatically, and a weak counter-rotating vortex pair is formed that is aligned with the jet trajectory.

A computer study of finite-amplitude water waves

Abstract The nonlinear properties of finite-amplitude water waves are modelled by a numerical method based on the Marker and Cell technique. The paper introduces the Stanford University Modified MAC (SUMMAC) code which is shown to be a valid tool for analyzing incompressible flows with a free surface under transient conditions. The method is applied as an example to the run up of a solitary wave on a vertical wall. The results are compared critically with available experimental data.

Visualization Studies of a Shear Driven Three-Dimensional Recirculating Flow

A facility has been constructed to study shear-driven, recirculating flows. In this particular study, the circulation cell structure in the lid-driven cavity was studied as a function of the speed of the lid which provides the shearing force to a constant and uniform density fluid. The flow is three-dimensional and exhibits regions where Taylor-type instabilities and Taylor Goertler-like vortices are present. One main circulation cell and three secondary cells are present for the Reynolds number (based on cavity width and lid speed) range considered, viz., 1000-10000. The flows becomes turbulent at Reynolds numbers between 6000 to 8000. The transverse fluid motions (in the direction perpendicular to the lid motion) are significant. In spite of this, some key results from two-dimensional numerical simulations agree well with the results of the present cavity experiments.

High-Resolution Large-Eddy Simulations of Flow in a Steep Alpine Valley. Part I: Methodology, Verification, and Sensitivity Experiments

This paper investigates the steps necessary to achieve accurate simulations of flow over steep, mountainous terrain. Large-eddy simulations of flow in the Riviera Valley in the southern Swiss Alps are performed at horizontal resolutions as fine as 150 m using the Advanced Regional Prediction System. Comparisons are made with surface station and radiosonde measurements from the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP)-Riviera project field campaign of 1999. Excellent agreement between simulations and observations is obtained, but only when high-resolution surface datasets are used and the nested grid configurations are carefully chosen. Simply increasing spatial resolution without incorporating improved surface data gives unsatisfactory results. The sensitivity of the results to initial soil moisture, land use data, grid resolution, topographic shading, and turbulence models is explored. Even with strong thermal forcing, the onset and magnitude of the upvalley winds are highly sensitive to surface processes in areas that are well outside the high-resolution domain. In particular, the soil moisture initialization on the 1-km grid is found to be crucial to the success of the finer-resolution predictions. High-resolution soil moisture and land use data on the 350-m-resolution grid also improve results. The use of topographic shading improves radiation curves during sunrise and sunset, but the effects on the overall flow are limited because of the strong lateral boundary forcing from the 1-km grid where terrain slopes are not well resolved. The influence of the turbulence closure is also limited because of strong lateral forcing and hence limited residence time of air inside the valley and because of the stable stratification, which limits turbulent stress to the lowest few hundred meters near the surface.

Explicit Filtering and Reconstruction Turbulence Modeling for Large-Eddy Simulation of Neutral Boundary Layer Flow

Abstract Standard turbulence closures for large-eddy simulations of atmospheric flow based on finite-difference or finite-volume codes use eddy-viscosity models and hence ignore the contribution of the resolved subfilter-scale stresses. These eddy-viscosity closures are unable to produce the expected logarithmic region near the surface in neutral boundary layer flows. Here, explicit filtering and reconstruction are used to improve the representation of the resolvable subfilter-scale (RSFS) stresses, and a dynamic eddy-viscosity model is used for the subgrid-scale (SGS) stresses. Combining reconstruction and eddy-viscosity models yields a sophisticated (and higher order) version of the well-known mixed model of Bardina et al.; the explicit filtering and reconstruction procedures clearly delineate the contribution of the RSFS and SGS motions. A near-wall stress model is implemented to supplement the turbulence models and account for the stress induced by filtering near a solid boundary as well as the effect...

Trajectory and entrainment of a round jet in crossflow

This paper examines the trajectory and entrainment characteristics of a round jet in crossflow. A series of large eddy simulations was performed at Reynolds numbers of 1050 and 2100 and at jet to crossflow velocity ratios of 2.0 and 3.3. Trajectories, which are defined based on the mean streamlines on the centerplane, all collapse to a single curve far from the jet exit, and this curve can be represented with a power law fit. Within this power law region, entrainment of crossflow fluid is shown to be the primary mechanism by which the jet trajectory is determined. Upstream of the power law region, near the jet exit, jet trajectory varies from changes in pressure drag and from differences in the turbulence intensities in the incoming pipe flow.

The turbulent layer in the water at an air—water interface

The velocity fields beneath an air—water interface have been determined in a laboratory facility for the cases of wind-generated waves, with wind speeds ranging from 1.5 to 13.1 m/s, and of wind-ruffled mechanically generated waves of about 22 mm amplitude and 1 Hz frequency, with wind speeds ranging from 1.7 to 6.2 m/s. The velocity was measured in a fixed frame of reference with a two-component, laser-Doppler anemometer. It was possible to determine the lengthscales and evaluate the behaviour of the mean, wave-related and turbulent components of the flows. The waves affect the mean flows, even though the profiles remain essentially logarithmic and the wave field conforms generally with the results of linear theory. In the wind-wave cases the turbulent quantities behave similarly to those in flows over flat plates. They have different trends in the mechanical-wave cases, suggesting a coupling between waves and turbulence. Finally, measured values of the mean wave-induced shear stress were negative, leading to an energy transfer from the waves to the mean flow.

The dynamics of breaking progressive interfacial waves

Two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to study interfacial waves in a periodic domain by imposing a source term in the horizontal momentum equation. Removing the source term before breaking generates a stable interfacial wave. Continued forcing results in a two-dimensional shear instability for waves with thinner interfaces, and a convective instability for waves with thick interfaces. The subsequent three-dimensional dynamics and mixing is dominated by secondary cross-stream convective rolls which account for roughly half of the total dissipation of wave energy. Dissipation and mixing are maximized when the interface thickness is roughly the same size as the amplitude of the wave, while the mixing efficiency is a weak function of the interface thickness. The maximum instantaneous mixing efficiency is found to be 0.36 ± 0.02.

Flow convergence routing hypothesis for pool‐riffle maintenance in alluvial rivers

[1] The velocity reversal hypothesis is commonly cited as a mechanism for the maintenance of pool-riffle morphology. Although this hypothesis is based on the magnitude of mean flow parameters, recent studies have suggested that mean parameters are not sufficient to explain the dominant processes in many pool-riffle sequences. In this study, two- and three-dimensional models are applied to simulate flow in the pool-riffle sequence on Dry Creek, California, where the velocity reversal hypothesis was first proposed. These simulations provide an opportunity to evaluate the hydrodynamics underlying the observed reversals in near-bed and section-averaged velocity and are used to investigate the influence of secondary currents, the advection of momentum, and cross-stream flow variability. The simulation results support the occurrence of a reversal in mean velocity and mean shear stress with increasing discharge. However, the results indicate that the effects of flow convergence due to an upstream constriction and the routing of flow through the system are more significant in influencing pool-riffle morphology than the occurrence of a mean velocity reversal. The hypothesis of flow convergence routing is introduced as a more meaningful explanation of the mechanisms acting to maintain pool-riffle morphology.