Large-Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Channel Flow

Timofey Mukha and Mattias Liefvendahl

May 2015

Abstract:

Channel flow, at Re_tau≈ 395, has been computed using large-eddy simulation (LES) and the general-purpose software OpenFOAM. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the applicability of OpenFOAM for modelling wall-bounded turbulent flows, of which channel flow is a canonical example. A wide range of statistical quantities is reported, which includes: the mean velocity; the fluctuations of velocity; the turbulent shear stress; higher order statistical moments, skewness and flatness; the fluctuations of vorticity; spatial two-point correlations of velocity fluctuations. The results are compared with data obtained using direct numerical simulation (DNS). The simulations are carried out on three grid refinement levels and a detailed analysis of how the grid size affects the solution is given. The general conclusion that can be drawn is that OpenFOAM can be successfully used for LES of wall-bounded flows. The investigation of grid convergence showed that even relatively coarse grids can be used if only first order statistics are of interest. However, for higher order statistical moments, the gain of using finer grids is evident.

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