Investigation on the width-to-depth ratio effect on turbulent flows in a sharp meandering channel with periodic boundaries using large eddy simulations

As one of the most common river patterns in nature,meandering river has very complex flow structures in its curved channel bends,including secondary flow structure and primary flow velocity redistributions.To date,most of the studies have been carried out on the flow structures in channel bends with unavoidable influences from inlet and outlet boundaries,while a streamwise periodic boundary can overcome this shortcoming elegantly.In this paper,large eddy simulations(LES)are employed to investigate the complex flow structures in periodically continuous sharp sine-generated bends.The influence of width-to-depth ratios and dimensionless curvature radiuses are studied.The results highlight two additional vortex structures beyond the commonly known secondary currents:The recirculation zone(RZ)and the inner bank cell(IBC).The width-to-depth ratio shows the determining effect on the recirculation zone.The size of recirculation zone is usually bigger in sine-generated-curve(SGC)channel with large width-to-depth ratios.The biggest recirculation zones appear between the zero-curvature section and the apex section.The inner bank cell only forms in SGC channels with small width-to-depth ratios and low curvature.For SGC channel with large width-to-depth ratios,only one circulation cell is observed near the inner bank.The spatial variations of turbulent features are also revealed by statistical analysis based on the LES sampling data.Results highlight remarkable effect of width-to-depth ratio and dimensionless curvature radius on the turbulent kinetic energy(TKE)and bed shear stress in SGC channels.

Large eddy simulations of zinc ions transfer to turbulent flows from hyporheic zone

Metal contaminants from surface water pollution events often enter hyporheic zones,under certain conditions,they may be released back into streams,causing secondary pollution to the water quality.The present study investigated the effects of adsorption,permeability,and anisotropy of sediment beds on the release of zinc ions(Zn2+)from the hyporheic zone into overlying turbulent flows using large-eddy simulations(LES).The volume-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and advection-diffusion equation with adsorption term were used to describe the sediment in-flow,adsorption,and convective diffusion of Zn2+within the sediment layer.The effects of sediment permeability on the Zn2+concentration distribution and mass transfer processes were investigated by time-averaged statistics of flow and concentration fields.The results show that adsorption becomes stronger as the pH value increases,leading to a slow increase in Zn2+concentration in the overlying water layer and reaching a lower steady-state concentration.Higher overall permeability of the sediment layer can enhance mass and momentum exchange near the sediment-water interface(SWI),and intensify the release of Zn2+from the sediment layer into the overlying water.As the wall-normal permeability of the sediment layer increases,the normal turbulent intensity strengthens,momentum transport enhances,the wall-normal Zn2+concentration flux increases,the effective diffusion coefficient increases,and the concentration in the overlying water increases.

Frontogenesis and Frontolysis of a Cold Filament Driven by the Cross-Filament Wind and Wave Fields Simulated by a Large Eddy Simulation

The variations of the frontogenetic trend of a cold filament induced by the cross-filament wind and wave fields are studied by a non-hydrostatic large eddy simulation. Five cases with different strengths of wind and wave fields are studied.The results show that the intense wind and wave fields further break the symmetries of submesoscale flow fields and suppress the levels of filament frontogenesis. The changes of secondary circulation directions—that is, the conversion between the convergence and divergence of the surface cross-filament currents with the downwelling and upwelling jets in the filament center—are associated with the inertial oscillation. The filament frontogenesis and frontolysis caused by the changes of secondary circulation directions may periodically sharpen and smooth the gradient of submesoscale flow fields.The lifecycle of the cold filament may include multiple stages of filament frontogenesis and frontolysis.

Large Eddy Simulation of Vertical Structure and Size Density of Deep Layer Clouds

In a convective scheme featuring a discretized cloud size density, the assumed lateral mixing rate is inversely proportional to the exponential coefficient of plume size. This follows a typical assumption of-1, but it has unveiled inherent uncertainties, especially for deep layer clouds. Addressing this knowledge gap, we conducted comprehensive large eddy simulations and comparative analyses focused on terrestrial regions. Our investigation revealed that cloud formation adheres to the tenets of Bernoulli trials, illustrating power-law scaling that remains consistent regardless of the inherent deep layer cloud attributes existing between cloud size and the number of clouds. This scaling paradigm encompasses liquid, ice, and mixed phases in deep layer clouds. The exponent characterizing the interplay between cloud scale and number in the deep layer cloud, specifically for liquid, ice, or mixed-phase clouds, resembles that of shallow convection,but converges closely to zero. This convergence signifies a propensity for diminished cloud numbers and sizes within deep layer clouds. Notably, the infusion of abundant moisture and the release of latent heat by condensation within the lower atmospheric strata make substantial contributions. However, this role in ice phase formation is limited. The emergence of liquid and ice phases in deep layer clouds is facilitated by the latent heat and influenced by the wind shear inherent in the middle levels. These interrelationships hold potential applications in formulating parameterizations and post-processing model outcomes.

Shallow Convection Dataset Simulated by Three Different Large Eddy Models

Shallow convection plays an important role in transporting heat and moisture from the near-surface to higher altitudes,yet its parameterization in numerical models remains a great challenge,partly due to the lack of high-resolution observations.This study describes a large eddy simulation(LES)dataset for four shallow convection cases that differ primarily in inversion strength,which can be used as a surrogate for real data.To reduce the uncertainty in LES modeling,three different large eddy models were used,including SAM(System for Atmospheric Modeling),WRF(Weather Research and Forecasting model),and UCLA-LES.Results show that the different models generally exhibit similar behavior for each shallow convection case,despite some differences in the details of the convective structure.In addition to grid-averaged fields,conditionally sampled variables,such as in-cloud moisture and vertical velocity,are also provided,which are indispensable for calculation of the entrainment/detrainment rate.Considering the essentiality of the entraining/detraining process in the parameterization of cumulus convection,the dataset presented in this study is potentially useful for validation and improvement of the parameterization of shallow convection.

Large Eddy Simulations of Rayleigh-Bénard Convection in a Cubic Cavity

This paper conducts a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of Rayleigh Bénard convection in a cubic cavity based on the WMLES S-Omega subgrid-scale model. For a cubic cavity with a vertical temperature difference of 6.7°C and 20°C, the velocity pulsation profiles and the mean velocity profiles of the vertical section in the middle of the cubic cavity were simulated, respectively. And they are consistent with the experiment results. Furthermore, the mean velocity field of the vertical cross-section in the middle of the cavity was calculated. Structures of the mean velocity field in the two cases are similar. A counterclockwise large vortex is found to occupy the cavity, and there are two small clockwise vortices in the lower left and upper right corners, and the mean velocity fields at two different temperature differences are consistent with the experimental results. The two-dimensional instantaneous temperature field and mean temperature field with different cross-sections in the z-direction, as well as the three-dimensional instantaneous isothermal surface structure, indicate that the large-scale circulation motion within the cubic cavity is moving diagonally. In addition, the structure of the mean streamline also illustrates this viewpoint. For the reverse vortex formed at two corners in the mean streamline structure, we used the Q criterion to identify and obtain two vortex structures similar to boomerangs. The basic turbulent structure in RB thermal convection includes the rising and falling plumes generated by buoyancy effects.

Large eddy simulation of aircraft wake vortex with self-adaptive grid method

A self-adaptive-grid method is applied to numerical simulation of the evolu- tion of aircraft wake vortex with the large eddy simulation （LES）. The Idaho Falls （IDF） measurement of run 9 case is simulated numerically and compared with that of the field experimental data. The comparison shows that the method is reliable in the complex atmospheric environment with crosswind and ground effect. In addition, six cases with different ambient atmospheric turbulences and Brunt V^iis/il^i （BV） frequencies are com- puted with the LES. The main characteristics of vortex are appropriately simulated by the current method. The onset time of rapid decay and the descending of vortices are in agreement with the previous measurements and the numerical prediction. Also, sec-ondary structures such as baroclinic vorticity and helical structures are also simulated. Only approximately 6 million grid points are needed in computation with the present method, while the number can be as large as 34 million when using a uniform mesh with the same core resolution. The self-adaptive-grid method is proved to be practical in the numerical research of aircraft wake vortex.

Large eddy simulations of a circular orifice jet with and without a cross-sectional exit plate

The effect of a cross-sectional exit plane on the downstream mixing characteristics of a circular turbulent jet is in- vestigated using large eddy simulation （LES）. The turbulent jet is issued from an orifice-type nozzle at an exit Reynolds number of 5 ×104. Both instantaneous and statistical velocity fields of the jet are provided. Results show that the rates of the mean velocity decay and jet spread are both higher in the case with the exit plate than without it. The existence of the plate is found to increase the downstream entrainment rate by about 10% on average over the axial range of 8-30de （exit diameter）. Also, the presence of the plate enables the formation of vortex rings to occur further downstream by 0.5-1 .Ode. A physical insight into the near-field jet is provided to explain the importance of the boundary conditions in the evolution of a turbulent jet. In addition, a method of using the decay of the centreline velocity and the half-width of the jet to calculate the entrainment rate is proposed.

Study of numerical errors in direct numerical simulation and large eddy simulation

By comparing the energy spectrum and total kinetic energy, the effects of numerical errors （which arise from aliasing and discretization errors）, subgrid-scale （SGS） models, and their interactions on direct numerical simulation （DNS） and large eddy simulation （LES） are investigated, The decaying isotropic turbulence is chosen as the test case. To simulate complex geometries, both the spectral method and Pade compact difference schemes are studied. The truncated Navier-Stokes （TNS） equation model with Pade discrete filter is adopted as the SGS model. It is found that the discretization error plays a key role in DNS. Low order difference schemes may be unsuitable. However, for LES, it is found that the SGS model can represent the effect of small scales to large scales and dump the numerical errors. Therefore, reasonable results can also be obtained with a low order discretization scheme.

Large eddy simulation of water flow over series of dunes

Large eddy simulation was used to investigate the spatial development of open channel flow over a series of dunes. The three-dimensional filtered Navier-Stokes （N-S） equations were numerically solved with the fractional-step method in sigma coordinates. The subgrid-scale turbulent stress was modeled with a dynamic coherent eddy viscosity model proposed by the authors The computed velocity profiles are in good agreement with the available experimental results. The mean velocity and the turbulent Reynolds stress affected by a series of dune-shaped structures were compared and analyzed. The variation of turbulence statistics along the flow direction affected by the wavy bottom roughness has been studied. The turbulent boundary layer in a complex geographic environment can be simulated well with the proposed large eddy simulation （LES） model.

Large eddy simulation of the rotation effect on the ocean turbulence kinetic energy budget in the surface mixed layer

A non-hydrostatic, Boussinesq, and three-dimensional large eddy simulation(LES) model was used to study the impact of the Earth's rotation on turbulence and the redistribution of energy in turbulence kinetic energy(TKE) budget. A set of numerical simulations was conducted,(1) with and without rotation,(2) at different latitudes(10°N, 30°N, 45°N, 60°N, and 80°N),(3) with wave breaking and with Langmuir circulation, and(4) under different wind speeds(5, 10, 20, and 30 m/s). The results show that eddy viscosity decreases when rotation is included, indicating that rotation weakens the turbulence strength. The TKE budget become tight with rotation and the effects of rotation grow with latitude. However, rotation become less important under Langmuir circulation since the transport term is strong in the vertical direction. Finally, simulations were conducted based on field data from the Boundary Layer and Air-Sea Transfer Low Wind(CBLAST-Low) experiment. The results, although more complex, are consistent with the results obtained from earlier simulations using ideal numerical conditions.

Numerical Study on Flow-induced Noise for a Steam Stop-valve Using Large Eddy Simulation

The noise induced by the fluctuant saturated steam flow under 250 °C in a stop-valve was numerically studied.The simulation was carried out using computational fluid dynamics（CFD） and ACTRAN.The acoustic field was investigated with Lighthill＇s acoustic analogy based on the properties of the flow field obtained using a large-eddy simulation that employs the LES-WALE dynamic model as the sub-grid-scale model.Firstly,the validation of mesh was well conducted,illustrating that two million elements were sufficient in this situation.Secondly,the treatment of the steam was deliberated,and conclusions indicate that when predicting the flow-induced noise of the stop-valve,the steam can be treated as incompressible gas at a low inlet velocity.Thirdly,the flow-induced noises under different inlet velocities were compared.The findings reveal it has remarkable influence on the flow-induced noises.Lastly,whether or not the heat preservation of the wall has influence on the noise was taken into account.The results show that heat preservation of the wall had little influence.

Large eddy simulation of a planar jet flow with nanoparticle coagulation

Coagulation and growth of nanoparticles subject to large coherent structures in a planar jet has been explored by using large eddy simulation. The particle field is obtained by employing a moment method to approximate the nanoparticle general dynamic equa- tion. An incompressible fluid containing particles of 1 nm in diameter is projected into a particle-free ambient. The results show that the coherent structures dominate the evolution of the nanoparticle number intensity, diameter and polydispersity distributions as the jet develops. In addition, the coherent structures act to increase the diffusion of particles, and the vortex rolling-up makes the particles distributing more irregularly while the vortex pairing causes particle distributions to become uniform. As the jet travels downstream, the time-averaged particle number concentration becomes lower in the jet core and higher in the outskirts, whereas the time- averaged particle mass over the entire flow field maintains unaltered, and the time-averaged particle diameter and geometric standard deviations grow and reach their maximum on the interface of the jet region and the ambient.

An improved large eddy simulation of two-phase flows in a pump impeller

An improved large eddy simulation using a dynamic second-order sub-grid-scale （SGS） stress model has been developed to model the governing equations of dense turbulent particle-liquid two-phase flows in a rotating coordinate system, and continuity is conserved by a mass-weighted method to solve the filtered governing equations. In the cur- rent second-order SGS model, the SGS stress is a function of both the resolved strain-rate and rotation-rate tensors, and the model parameters are obtained from the dimensional consistency and the invariants of the strain-rate and the rotation-rate tensors. In the numerical calculation, the finite volume method is used to discretize the governing equations with a staggered grid system. The SIMPLEC algorithm is applied for the solution of the discretized governing equations. Body- fitted coordinates are used to simulate the two-phase flows in complex geometries. Finally the second-order dynamic SGS model is successfully applied to simulate the dense turbu-lent particle-liquid two-phase flows in a centrifugal impeller. The predicted pressure and velocity distributions are in good agreement with experimental results.

Large Eddy Simulations of Mixing Time in a Stirred Tank

Large eddy simulations (LES) of mixing process in a stirred tank of 0.476m diameter with a 3-narrow blade hydrofoil CBY impeller were reported. The turbulent flow field and mixing time were calculated using LES with Sma-gorinsky-Lilly subgrid scale model. The impeller rotation was modeled using the sliding mesh technique. Better agree-ment of power demand and mixing time was obtained between the experimental and the LES prediction than that by the traditional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. The curve of tracer response predicted by LES was in good agreement with the experimental. The results show that LES is a reliable tool to investigate the unsteady and quasi-periodic behavior of the turbulent flow in stirred tanks.

Large Eddy Simulation and Study of the Urban Boundary Layer

Based on a pseudo-spectral large eddy simulation (LES) model, an LES model with an anisotropy turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) closure model and an explicit multi-stage third-order Runge-Kutta scheme is established. The modeling and analysis show that the LES model can simulate the planetary boundary layer (PBL) with a uniform underlying surface under various stratifications very well. Then, similar to the description of a forest canopy, the drag term on momentum and the production term of TKE by subgrid city buildings are introduced into the LES equations to account for the area-averaged effect of the subgrid urban canopy elements and to simulate the meteorological fields of the urban boundary layer (UBL). Numerical experiments and comparison analysis show that: (1) the result from the LES of the UBL with a proposed formula for the drag coefficient is consistent and comparable with that from wind tunnel experiments and an urban subdomain scale model; (2) due to the effect of urban buildings, the wind velocity near the canopy is decreased, turbulence is intensified, TKE, variance, and momentum flux are increased, the momentum and heat flux at the top of the PBL are increased, and the development of the PBL is quickened; (3) the height of the roughness sublayer (RS) of the actual city buildings is the maximum building height (1.5-3 times the mean building height), and a constant flux layer (CFL) exists in the lower part of the UBL.

A large eddy simulation of flows around an underwater vehicle model using an immersed boundary method

A large eddy simulation （LES） of the flows around an underwater vehicle model at intermediate Reynolds numbers is performed. The underwater vehicle model is taken as the DARPA SUBOFF with full appendages, where the Reynolds number based on the hull length is 1.0x 105, An immersed boundary method based on the moving-least-squares reconstruction is used to handle the complex geometric boundaries. The adaptive mesh refinement is utilized to resolve the flows near the hull, The parallel scalabilities of the flow solver are tested on meshes with the number of cells varying from 50 million to 3.2 billion, The parallel solver reaches nearly linear scalability for the flows around the underwater vehicle model, The present simulation captures the essential features of the vortex structures near the hull and in the wake, Both of the time-averaged pressure coefficients and srreamwise velocity profiles obtained from the LES are consistent with the characteristics of the flows pass an appended axisymmetric body. The code efficiency and its correct predictions on flow features allow us to perform the full-scale simulations on tens of thousands of cores with billions of grid points for higher-Reynolds-number flows around the underwater vehicles.

Large Eddy Simulation of Liquid Flow in a Stirred Tank with Improved Inner-Outer Iterative Algorithm

In this study, the large eddy simulation technique was applied on the flow in a baffled stirred tank driven by a Rushton turbine at Re=29000. The interaction between the rotating impeller and the static baffles was accounted for by means of the improved inner-outer iterative algorithm. The sub-grid scale model was a conventional Smagorinsky model. The numerical solution of the governing equations was conducted in a cylindrical staggered grid. The momentum and the continuity equations were discretized using the finite difference method, with a third-order QUICK scheme used for convective terms. The phase-resolved predictions were compared with the experimental data of Wu and Patterson and good agreement was observed for both the mean and the turbulence quantities. They were much better than the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes model including the Reynolds Stress Model for simulating the turbulence. The study also suggests the feasibility of LES in combination with the improved inner-outer iterative algorithm for the simulation of turbulent flow in stirred tanks.

Simulation of Surface Wave with Large Eddy Simulation in σ-Coordinate System

A three dimensional numerical model in the σ coordinate system is developed to study the problem of waves. Turbulence effects are modeled by a subgrid scale (SGS) model with the concept of large eddy simulation (LES). The σ coordinate transformation is introduced to map the irregular physical domain of the wavy free surface and uneven bottom onto the regular computational domain of the shape of rectangular prism. The operator splitting method, which splits the solution procedure into the advection, diffusion, and propagation steps, is used to solve the modified Navier Stokes Equation. The model is used to simulate the propagation of solitary wave and wave passing over a submerged breakwater. Numerical results are compared with available analytical solutions and experimental data in terms of velocity profiles, free surface displacement, and energy conservation. Good agreement is obtained. The method is proved to be of high accuracy and efficiency in simulating surface wave propagation and wave structure interaction. It is suitable for the large and irregular physical domain, and requiring the non uniform grid system. The present work provides a foundation for further studies of random waves, wave structure interaction, wave discharge interaction, etc.