Large eddy simulation of wall bounded turbulent flows with heat transfer

Abstract

<p>In this thesis work, large eddy simulation was used to study a variety of wall-bounded turbulent flows using a compressible finite volume formulation. Subgrid scale terms in both momentum and energy equations were modeled dynamically. Furthermore, due to the inhomogeniety of wall-bounded flows, the model was further localized to better represent the physics of the problem. The model was first applied to study the incompressible turbulent flow through a duct with square cross-section. Mean flow, law of the wall, and turbulence statistics were compared with the benchmark results of direct numerical simulation and excellent agreement was achieved. The secondary flow in the cross-section was captured. It is composed of four pairs of counter-rotating cells. The interaction between mean and secondary flow fields creates some important features and they were studied in this work. Based on incompressible duct flow, system rotation was applied to investigate the effects of rotation on the turbulent flow field. The system rotation was found to reduce turbulence level on the leading side, while increase turbulence level on the trailing side. Because of the rotation, the secondary flow field in non-rotating duct was found to be diminished at weaker rotation and even eliminated at stronger rotation. Instead, a pair of counter rotating cells called Taylor-Görtler vortices, as well as the Taylor-Proudman regime, was found to exist in the cross-section, which is consistent with the results of the literature. Large eddy simulation was also applied to investigate the effects of ribs and system rotation on heat transfer in a channel. It was found that a rib creates recirculation zones near the rib. The turbulence level is at its maximum near the ribs. The existence of ribs enhances heat transfer significantly over the plane channel, as well as creates low-heat-transfer-coefficient region in the recirculation zones. This means a balance is needed between global enhancement and local suppression. With system rotation, heat transfer is greatly enhanced on the trailing side, while significantly reduced on the leading side.</p>