Direct Simulation of Compressible Turbulence in a Shear Flow
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate compressibility effects on the turbulence in homogeneous shear flow. We find that the growth of the turbulent kinetic energy decreases with increasing Mach number - a phenomenon which is similar to the reduction of turbulent velocity intensities observed in experiments on supersonic free shear layers. An examination of the turbulent energy budget shows that both the compressible dissipation and the pressure- dilatation contribute to the decrease in the growth of kinetic energy. The pressure-dilatation is predominantly negative in homogeneous shear flow, in contrast to its predominantly positive behavior in isotropic turbulence. The different signs of the pressure-dilatation are explained by theoretical consideration of the equations for the pressure variance and density variance. We obtained previously the following results for isotropic turbulence; first, the normalized compressible dissipation is of O(M2 sub +), and second, there is approximate equipartition between the kinetic and potential energies associated with the fluctuating compressible mode. Both these results have now been substantiated in the case of homogeneous shear. The dilatation field is significantly more skewed and intermittent than the vorticity field. Strong compressions seem to be more likely than strong expansions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA234673
Entities
People
- G. Erlebacher
- M. Y. Hussaini
- Suman Sarkar