Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulence Using Symmetry-Preserving Discretization

Abstract

We propose to perform turbulent flow simulations in such a manner that the difference operators do have the same symmetry properties as the underlying differential operators, i.e. the convective operator is represented by a skew-symmetric matrix and the diffusive operator is approximated by a symmetric, positive-definite matrix. Such a symmetry-preserving discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations is stable on any grid, and conserves the total mass, momentum and kinetic energy (when the physical dissipation is turned off). Its accuracy is tested for a turbulent channel flow at Re--5,600 (based on the channel width and the mean bulk velocity) by comparing the results to those of physical experiments and previous numerical studies. This comparison shows that with a fourth-order, symmetry-preserving method a 64 x 64 x 32 grid suffices to perform an accurate direct numerical simulation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADP013636

Entities

People

  • A. Veldman
  • R. Verstappen

Organizations

  • University of Groningen

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Channel Flow
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Science
  • Diffusion
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Fluid Flow
  • Kinetic Energy
  • Large Eddy Simulation
  • Navier Stokes Equations
  • Reynolds Number
  • Skin Friction
  • Turbulent Flow

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.