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Numerical Simulations of Spatially Developing Mixing Layers

<p>Turbulent mixing layers have been researched for many years.
Currently, research is focused on studying compressible mixing layers because
of their widespread applications in high-speed flight systems. While the effect
of compressibility on the shear layer growth rate is well established, there is
a lack of consensus over its effect on the turbulent stresses and hence
warrants additional research in this area. Computational studies on
compressible shear layers could provide a deep cognizance of the dynamics of
fluid structures present in these flow fields which in turn would be viable for
understanding the effects of compressibility on such flows. However, performing
a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a highly compressible shear layer with
experimental flow conditions is extremely expensive, especially when resolving
the boundary layers that lead into the mixing section. The attractive
alternative is to use Large Eddy Simulation (LES), as it possesses the
potential to resolve the flow physics at a reasonable computational cost.
Therefore the current work deals with developing a methodology to perform LES
of a compressible mixing layer with experimental flow conditions, with
resolving the boundary layers that lead into the mixing section through a wall
model. The wall model approach, as opposed to a wall resolved simulation,
greatly reduces the computational cost associated with the boundary layer
regions, especially when using an explicit time-stepping scheme. An in house
LES solver which has been used previously for performing simulations of jets,
has been chosen for this purpose. The solver is first verified and validated
for mixing layer flows by performing simulations of laminar and incompressible
turbulent mixing layer flows and comparing the results with the literature.
Following this, LES of a compressible mixing layer at a convective Mach number
of 0.53 is performed. The inflow profiles for the LES are taken from a
precursor RANS solution based on the k-ε
and RSM turbulence models. The results of the LES present good agreement with
the reference experiment for the upstream boundary layer properties, the mean
velocity profile of the shear layer and the shear layer growth rate. The
turbulent stresses, however, have been found to be underpredicted. The
anisotropy of the normal Reynolds stresses have been found to be in good
agreement with the literature. Based on the present results, suggestions for
future work are also discussed.</p>

  1. 10.25394/pgs.12241232.v1
Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/12241232
Date04 May 2020
CreatorsSai Lakshminarayanan Balakrishnan (8674956)
Source SetsPurdue University
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, Thesis
RightsCC BY 4.0
Relationhttps://figshare.com/articles/Numerical_Simulations_of_Spatially_Developing_Mixing_Layers/12241232

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