Implicit Turbulence Modeling for High Reynolds Number Flows

Abstract

Implicit turbulence modeling is the numerical simulation of high Reynolds fluid flow using nonoscillatory finite volume (NFV) schemes without any explicit subgrid scale model. Here we investigate the ability of a particular NFV scheme, MPDATA, to simulate decaying turbulence in a triply periodic cube for a variety of viscosities, comparing our results to analogous pseudo-spectral studies. In the regime of direct numerical simulation, MPDATA is shown to agree closely with the pseudo-spectral results. As viscosity is reduced, the two model results diverge. We study the MPDATA results in the inviscid limit, using a combination of mathematical analysis and computational experiment. We validate these results as representing the turbulent flow in the limit of very high Reynolds number.