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At least 235 records · Page 13

Wind Field Measurements With Airborne Doppler Lidar

In collaboration with lidar atmospheric remote sensing groups at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Technology Laboratory, we have developed and flown the Multi-center Airborne Coherent Atmospheric Wind Sensor (MACAWS) lidar on the NASA DC-8 research aircraft. The scientific motivations for this effort are: to obtain measurements of subgrid scale (i.e. 2-200 km) processes and features which may be used to improve parameterizations in global/regional-scale models; to improve understanding and predictive capabilities on the mesoscale; and to assess the performance of Earth-orbiting Doppler lidar for global tropospheric wind measurements. MACAWS is a scanning Doppler lidar using a pulsed transmitter and coherent detection; the use of the scanner allows 3-D wind fields to be produced from the data. The instrument can also be radiometrically calibrated and used to study aerosol, cloud, and surface scattering characteristics at the lidar wavelength in the thermal infrared. MACAWS was used to study surface winds off the California coast near Point Arena, with an example depicted in the figure below. The northerly flow here is due to the Pacific subtropical high. The coastal topography interacts with the northerly flow in the marine inversion layer, and when the flow passes a cape or point that juts into the winds, structures called "hydraulic expansion fans" are observed. These are marked by strong variation along the vertical and cross-shore directions. The plots below show three horizontal slices at different heights above sea level (ASL). Bottom plots are enlargements of the area marked by dotted boxes above. The terrain contours are in 200-m increments, with the white spots being above 600-m elevation. Additional information is contained in the original.

Menzies, Robert T.↗

CVS Filtering of 3D Turbulent Mixing Layers Using Orthogonal Wavelets

Coherent Vortex Simulation (CVS) filtering has been applied to Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data of forced and unforced time-developing turbulent mixing layers. CVS filtering splits the turbulent flow into two orthogonal parts, one corresponding to coherent vortices and the other to incoherent background flow. We have shown that the coherent vortices can be represented by few wavelet modes and that these modes are sufficient to reproduce the vorticity probability distribution function (PDF) and the energy spectrum over the entire inertial range. The remaining incoherent background flow is homogeneous, has small amplitude, and is uncorrelated. These results are compared with those obtained for the same compression rate using large eddy simulation (LES) filtering. In contrast to the incoherent background flow of CVS filtering, the LES subgrid scales have a much larger amplitude and are correlated, which makes their statistical modeling more difficult.

Schneider, Kai↗

Accuracy of Modelled Stratospheric Temperatures in the Winter Arctic Vortex from Infra Red Montgolfier Long Duration Balloon Measurements

The temperature of the stratosphere has been measured in the Arctic vortex every 9-10 minutes along the trajectory of four Infra Red Montgolfier long duration balloons flown for 7 to 22 days during the winters of 1997 and 1999. From a number of comparisons to independent sensors, the accuracy of the measurements is demonstrated to be plus or minus 0.5 K during nighttime and at altitude below 28 km (10 hPa). The performances of the analyses of global meteorological models, European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 31 and 50 levels, United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO), Data Assimilation Office (DAO), National Climatic Prediction Center (NCEP) and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, used in photochemical simulations of ozone destruction and interpretation of satellite data, are evaluated by comparison to this large (3500 data points) and homogeneous experimental data set. Most of models, except ECMWF31 in 1999, do show a smal1 average warm bias of between 0 and 1.6 K, with deviations particularly large, up to 20 K at high altitude (5hPa) in stratospheric warming conditions in 1999. Particularly wrong was ECMWF 31 levels near its top level at 10 hPa in 1999 where temperature 25 K colder than the real atmosphere were reported. The average dispersion between models and measurements varies from plus or minus 1.0 to plus or minus 3.0 K depending on the model and the year. It is shown to be the result of three contributions. The largest is a long wave modulation likely caused by the displacement of the temperature field in the analyses compared to real atmosphere. The second is the overestimation of the vertical gradient of temperature particularly in warming conditions, which explains the increase of dispersion from 1997 to 1999. Unexpectedly, the third and smallest (plus or minus 0.6-0.7 K) is the contribution of meso and subgrid scale vertical and horizontal features associated to the vertical propagation of orographic or gravity waves. Compared to other models, the newly available ECMWF 50 levels version assimilating the high vertical resolution radiances of the space borne Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, performs significantly better (0.03 plus or minus 1.12 K on average between 10 and 140 hPa in 1999) than other models.

Pommereau, J.-P.↗

A Hybrid Numerical Method for Turbulent Mixing Layers

A hybrid method has been developed for simulations of compressible turbulent mixing layers. Such mixing layers dominate the flows in exhaust systems of modern day aircraft and also those of hypersonic vehicles currently under development. The method configurations in which a dominant structural feature provides an unsteady mechanism to drive the turbulent development in the mixing layer. The hybrid method uses a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) procedure to calculate wall bounded regions entering a mixing section, and a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) procedure to calculate the mixing dominated regions. A numerical technique was developed to enable the use of the hybrid RANS-LES method on stretched, non-Cartesian grids. Closure for the RANS equations was obtained using the Cebeci-Smith algebraic turbulence model in conjunction with the wall-function approach of Ota and Goldberg. The wall-function approach enabled a continuous computational grid from the RANS regions to the LES region. The LES equations were closed using the Smagorinsky subgrid scale model. The hybrid RANS-LES method is applied to a benchmark compressible mixing layer experiment. Preliminary two dimensional calculations are used to investigate the effects of axial grid density and boundary conditions. Vortex shedding from the base region of a splitter plate separating the upstream flows was observed to eventually transition to turbulence. The location of the transition, however, was much further downstream than indicated by experiments. Actual LES calculations, performed in three spatial directions, also indicated vortex shedding, but the transition to turbulence was found to occur much closer to the beginning of the mixing section. which is in agreement with experimental observations. These calculations demonstrated that LES simulations must be performed in three dimensions. Comparisons of time-averaged axial velocities and turbulence intensities indicated reasonable agreement with experimental data.

Georgiadis, Nicholas J.↗

Filtered Mass Density Function for Design Simulation of High Speed Airbreathing Propulsion Systems

The objective of this research is to develop and implement new methodology for large eddy simulation of (LES) of high-speed reacting turbulent flows. We have just completed two (2) years of Phase I of this research. This annual report provides a brief and up-to-date summary of our activities during the period: September 1, 2000 through August 31, 2001. In the work within the past year, a methodology termed "velocity-scalar filtered density function" (VSFDF) is developed and implemented for large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. In this methodology the effects of the unresolved subgrid scales (SGS) are taken into account by considering the joint probability density function (PDF) of all of the components of the velocity and scalar vectors. An exact transport equation is derived for the VSFDF in which the effects of the unresolved SGS convection, SGS velocity-scalar source, and SGS scalar-scalar source terms appear in closed form. The remaining unclosed terms in this equation are modeled. A system of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) which yields statistically equivalent results to the modeled VSFDF transport equation is constructed. These SDEs are solved numerically by a Lagrangian Monte Carlo procedure. The consistency of the proposed SDEs and the convergence of the Monte Carlo solution are assessed by comparison with results obtained by an Eulerian LES procedure in which the corresponding transport equations for the first two SGS moments are solved. The unclosed SGS convection, SGS velocity-scalar source, and SGS scalar-scalar source in the Eulerian LES are replaced by corresponding terms from VSFDF equation. The consistency of the results is then analyzed for a case of two dimensional mixing layer.

Drozda, T. G.↗

On the Two-Dimensionalization of Homogeneous Rotating Turbulence

Large-eddy simulation of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations has been used to examine the long-time development of initially isotropic turbulence subjected to solid-body rotation. The simulations were carried out using a pseudo-spectral method with 128 x 128 x 512 collocation points in a computational domain that is four times larger along the rotation axis than in the other directions; subgrid-scale motions were parameterized using a spectral eddy viscosity model modified for system rotation. Simulation results show that the correlation length along the rotation am's of velocities orthogonal to the rotation vector exhibits rapid growth while the integral length-scale of velocities aligned with the rotation axis is relatively unaffected by rotation. Examination of the energy spectrum of two-dimensional, two-component motions indicates the presence of an inverse cascade of energy. System rotation also causes an alignment of vorticity along the rotation axis with relatively stronger cyclonic vorticity than anticyclonic. The onset of anisotropic effects are well characterized by Rossby numbers defined in terms of both macroscopic and microscopic quantities.

Squires, K. D.↗

Large Eddy Simulation of a Turbulent Jet

Here we present the results of a Large Eddy Simulation of a non-buoyant jet issuing from a circular orifice in a wall, and developing in neutral surroundings. The effects of the subgrid scales on the large eddies have been modeled with the dynamic large eddy simulation model applied to the fully 3D domain in spherical coordinates. The simulation captures the unsteady motions of the large-scales within the jet as well as the laminar motions in the entrainment region surrounding the jet. The computed time-averaged statistics (mean velocity, concentration, and turbulence parameters) compare well with laboratory data without invoking an empirical entrainment coefficient as employed by line integral models. The use of the large eddy simulation technique allows examination of unsteady and inhomogeneous features such as the evolution of eddies and the details of the entrainment process.

Webb, A. T.↗

High-Efficiency High-Resolution Global Model Developments at the NASA Goddard Data Assimilation Office

The Data Assimilation Office (DAO) has been developing a new generation of ultra-high resolution General Circulation Model (GCM) that is suitable for 4-D data assimilation, numerical weather predictions, and climate simulations. These three applications have conflicting requirements. For 4-D data assimilation and weather predictions, it is highly desirable to run the model at the highest possible spatial resolution (e.g., 55 km or finer) so as to be able to resolve and predict socially and economically important weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and severe winter storms. For climate change applications, the model simulations need to be carried out for decades, if not centuries. To reduce uncertainty in climate change assessments, the next generation model would also need to be run at a fine enough spatial resolution that can at least marginally simulate the effects of intense tropical cyclones. Scientific problems (e.g., parameterization of subgrid scale moist processes) aside, all three areas of application require the model's computational performance to be dramatically improved as compared to the previous generation. In this talk, I will present the current and future developments of the "finite-volume dynamical core" at the Data Assimilation Office. This dynamical core applies modem monotonicity preserving algorithms and is genuinely conservative by construction, not by an ad hoc fixer. The "discretization" of the conservation laws is purely local, which is clearly advantageous for resolving sharp gradient flow features. In addition, the local nature of the finite-volume discretization also has a significant advantage on distributed memory parallel computers. Together with a unique vertically Lagrangian control volume discretization that essentially reduces the dimension of the computational problem from three to two, the finite-volume dynamical core is very efficient, particularly at high resolutions. I will also present the computational design of the dynamical core using a hybrid distributed-shared memory programming paradigm that is portable to virtually any of today's high-end parallel super-computing clusters.

Lin, Shian-Jiann↗

High-Efficiency High-Resolution Global Model Developments at the NASA Goddard Data Assimilation Office

The Data Assimilation Office (DAO) has been developing a new generation of ultra-high resolution General Circulation Model (GCM) that is suitable for 4-D data assimilation, numerical weather predictions, and climate simulations. These three applications have conflicting requirements. For 4-D data assimilation and weather predictions, it is highly desirable to run the model at the highest possible spatial resolution (e.g., 55 kin or finer) so as to be able to resolve and predict socially and economically important weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and severe winter storms. For climate change applications, the model simulations need to be carried out for decades, if not centuries. To reduce uncertainty in climate change assessments, the next generation model would also need to be run at a fine enough spatial resolution that can at least marginally simulate the effects of intense tropical cyclones. Scientific problems (e.g., parameterization of subgrid scale moist processes) aside, all three areas of application require the model's computational performance to be dramatically improved as compared to the previous generation. In this talk, I will present the current and future developments of the "finite-volume dynamical core" at the Data Assimilation Office. This dynamical core applies modem monotonicity preserving algorithms and is genuinely conservative by construction, not by an ad hoc fixer. The "discretization" of the conservation laws is purely local, which is clearly advantageous for resolving sharp gradient flow features. In addition, the local nature of the finite-volume discretization also has a significant advantage on distributed memory parallel computers. Together with a unique vertically Lagrangian control volume discretization that essentially reduces the dimension of the computational problem from three to two, the finite-volume dynamical core is very efficient, particularly at high resolutions. I will also present the computational design of the dynamical core using a hybrid distributed- shared memory programming paradigm that is portable to virtually any of today's high-end parallel super-computing clusters.

Lin, Shian-Jiann↗

A Novel Strategy for Numerical Simulation of High-speed Turbulent Reacting Flows

The objective of this research is to improve and implement the filtered mass density function (FDF) methodology for large eddy simulation (LES) of high-speed reacting turbulent flows. We have just completed Year 1 of this research. This is the Final Report on our activities during the period: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003. 2002. In the efforts during the past year, LES is conducted of the Sandia Flame D, which is a turbulent piloted nonpremixed methane jet flame. The subgrid scale (SGS) closure is based on the scalar filtered mass density function (SFMDF) methodology. The SFMDF is basically the mass weighted probability density function (PDF) of the SGS scalar quantities. For this flame (which exhibits little local extinction), a simple flamelet model is used to relate the instantaneous composition to the mixture fraction. The modelled SFMDF transport equation is solved by a hybrid finite-difference/Monte Carlo scheme.

Sheikhi, M. R. H.↗

Large Eddy Simulation Of Gravitational Effects In Transitional And Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames

The influence of gravity on the spatial and the compositional structures of transitional and turbulent hydrocarbon diffusion flames are studies via large eddy simulation (LES) and direct numerical simulation (DNS) of round and planar jets. The subgrid-scale (SGS) closures in LES are based on the filtered mass density function (FMDF) methodology. The FMDF represents the joint probability density function (PDF) of the SGS scalars, and is obtained by solving its transport equation. The fundamental advantage of LES/FMDF is that it accounts for the effects of chemical reaction and buoyancy exactly. The methodology is employed for capturing some of the fundamental influences of gravity in equilibrium flames via realistic chemical kinetic schemes. Some preliminary investigation of the gravity effects in non-equilibrium flames is also conducted, but with idealized chemical kinetics models.

Jaberi, Farhad A.↗

Properties of the Residual Stress of the Temporally Filtered Navier-Stokes Equations

The development of a unifying framework among direct numerical simulations, large-eddy simulations, and statistically averaged formulations of the Navier-Stokes equations, is of current interest. Toward that goal, the properties of the residual (subgrid-scale) stress of the temporally filtered Navier-Stokes equations are carefully examined. Causal time-domain filters, parameterized by a temporal filter width 0 less than Delta less than infinity, are considered. For several reasons, the differential forms of such filters are preferred to their corresponding integral forms; among these, storage requirements for differential forms are typically much less than for integral forms and, for some filters, are independent of Delta. The behavior of the residual stress in the limits of both vanishing and in infinite filter widths is examined. It is shown analytically that, in the limit Delta to 0, the residual stress vanishes, in which case the Navier-Stokes equations are recovered from the temporally filtered equations. Alternately, in the limit Delta to infinity, the residual stress is equivalent to the long-time averaged stress, and the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are recovered from the temporally filtered equations. The predicted behavior at the asymptotic limits of filter width is further validated by numerical simulations of the temporally filtered forced, viscous Burger's equation. Finally, finite filter widths are also considered, and a priori analyses of temporal similarity and temporal approximate deconvolution models of the residual stress are conducted.

Pruett, C. D.↗

Temporal Large-Eddy Simulation

In 1999, Stolz and Adams unveiled a subgrid-scale model for LES based upon approximately inverting (defiltering) the spatial grid-filter operator and termed .the approximate deconvolution model (ADM). Subsequently, the utility and accuracy of the ADM were demonstrated in a posteriori analyses of flows as diverse as incompressible plane-channel flow and supersonic compression-ramp flow. In a prelude to the current paper, a parameterized temporal ADM (TADM) was developed and demonstrated in both a priori and a posteriori analyses for forced, viscous Burger's flow. The development of a time-filtered variant of the ADM was motivated-primarily by the desire for a unifying theoretical and computational context to encompass direct numerical simulation (DNS), large-eddy simulation (LES), and Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulation (RANS). The resultant methodology was termed temporal LES (TLES). To permit exploration of the parameter space, however, previous analyses of the TADM were restricted to Burger's flow, and it has remained to demonstrate the TADM and TLES methodology for three-dimensional flow. For several reasons, plane-channel flow presents an ideal test case for the TADM. Among these reasons, channel flow is anisotropic, yet it lends itself to highly efficient and accurate spectral numerical methods. Moreover, channel-flow has been investigated extensively by DNS, and a highly accurate data base of Moser et.al. exists. In the present paper, we develop a fully anisotropic TADM model and demonstrate its utility in simulating incompressible plane-channel flow at nominal values of Re(sub tau) = 180 and Re(sub tau) = 590 by the TLES method. The TADM model is shown to perform nearly as well as the ADM at equivalent resolution, thereby establishing TLES as a viable alternative to LES. Moreover, as the current model is suboptimal is some respects, there is considerable room to improve TLES.

Pruett, C. D.↗

Large-Eddy Simulation of Transition to Turbulence in Boundary Layers

Large-eddy simulation results for laminar-to-turbulent transition in a spatially developing boundary layer are presented. The disturbances are ingested into a laminar flow through an unsteady suction-and-blowing strip. The filtered, three-dimensional time- dependent Navier-Stokes equations are integrated numerically using spectral, high-order finite-difference, and three-stage low-storage Runge-Kutta methods. The buffer-domain technique is used for the outflow boundary condition. The localized dynamic model used to parameterize the subgrid-scale stresses begins to have a significant impact at the beginning of the nonlinear transition (or intermittency) region. The flow structures commonly found in experiments are also observed in the present simulation; the computed linear instability modes and secondary instability lambda-vortex structures are in agreement with the experiments, and the streak-like-structures and turbulent statistics compare with both the experiments and the theory. The physics captured in the present LES are consistent with the experiments and the full Navier-Stokes simulation (DNS), at a significant fraction of the DNS cost. A comparison of the results obtained with several SGS models shows that the localized model gives accurate results both in a statistical sense and in terms of predicting the dynamics of the energy-carrying eddies, without ad hoc adjustments.

Huai, Xiao-Li↗

Consistent Large-Eddy Simulation of a Temporal Mixing Layer Laden with Evaporating Drops: A Posteriori Modelling - Part 2

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is conducted of a three-dimensional temporal mixing layer whose lower stream is initially laden with liquid drops which may evaporate during the simulation. The gas-phase equations are written in an Eulerian frame for two perfect gas species (carrier gas and vapour emanating from the drops), while the liquid-phase equations are written in a Lagrangian frame. The effect of drop evaporation on the gas phase is considered through mass, species, momentum and energy source terms. The drop evolution is modelled using physical drops, or using computational drops to represent the physical drops. Simulations are performed using various LES models previously assessed on a database obtained from direct numerical simulations (DNS). These LES models are for: (i) the subgrid-scale (SGS) fluxes and (ii) the filtered source terms (FSTs) based on computational drops. The LES, which are compared to filtered-and-coarsened (FC) DNS results at the coarser LES grid, are conducted with 64 times fewer grid points than the DNS, and up to 64 times fewer computational than physical drops. It is found that both constant-coefficient and dynamic Smagorinsky SGS-flux models, though numerically stable, are overly dissipative and damp generated small-resolved-scale (SRS) turbulent structures. Although the global growth and mixing predictions of LES using Smagorinsky models are in good agreement with the FC-DNS, the spatial distributions of the drops differ significantly. In contrast, the constant-coefficient scale-similarity model and the dynamic gradient model perform well in predicting most flow features, with the latter model having the advantage of not requiring a priori calibration of the model coefficient. The ability of the dynamic models to determine the model coefficient during LES is found to be essential since the constant-coefficient gradient model, although more accurate than the Smagorinsky model, is not consistently numerically stable despite using DNS-calibrated coefficients. With accurate SGS-flux models, namely scale-similarity and dynamic gradient, the FST model allows up to a 32-fold reduction in computational drops compared to the number of physical drops, without degradation of accuracy; a 64-fold reduction leads to a slight decrease in accuracy.

two-phase flow↗

Toward Better Modeling of Supercritical Turbulent Mixing

study was done as part of an effort to develop computational models representing turbulent mixing under thermodynamic supercritical (here, high pressure) conditions. The question was whether the large-eddy simulation (LES) approach, developed previously for atmospheric-pressure compressible-perfect-gas and incompressible flows, can be extended to real-gas non-ideal (including supercritical) fluid mixtures. [In LES, the governing equations are approximated such that the flow field is spatially filtered and subgrid-scale (SGS) phenomena are represented by models.] The study included analyses of results from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of several such mixing layers based on the Navier-Stokes, total-energy, and conservation- of-chemical-species governing equations. Comparison of LES and DNS results revealed the need to augment the atmospheric- pressure LES equations with additional SGS momentum and energy terms. These new terms are the direct result of high-density-gradient-magnitude regions found in the DNS and observed experimentally under fully turbulent flow conditions. A model has been derived for the new term in the momentum equation and was found to perform well at small filter size but to deteriorate with increasing filter size. Several alternative models were derived for the new SGS term in the energy equation that would need further investigations to determine if they are too computationally intensive in LES.

Selle, Laurent↗

Progress Toward Affordable High Fidelity Combustion Simulations Using Filtered Density Functions for Hypersonic Flows in Complex Geometries

Significant progress has been made in the development of subgrid scale (SGS) closures based on a filtered density function (FDF) for large eddy simulations (LES) of turbulent reacting flows. The FDF is the counterpart of the probability density function (PDF) method, which has proven effective in Reynolds averaged simulations (RAS). However, while systematic progress is being made advancing the FDF models for relatively simple flows and lab-scale flames, the application of these methods in complex geometries and high speed, wall-bounded flows with shocks remains a challenge. The key difficulties are the significant computational cost associated with solving the FDF transport equation and numerically stiff finite rate chemistry. For LES/FDF methods to make a more significant impact in practical applications a pragmatic approach must be taken that significantly reduces the computational cost while maintaining high modeling fidelity. An example of one such ongoing effort is at the NASA Langley Research Center, where the first generation FDF models, namely the scalar filtered mass density function (SFMDF) are being implemented into VULCAN, a production-quality RAS and LES solver widely used for design of high speed propulsion flowpaths. This effort leverages internal and external collaborations to reduce the overall computational cost of high fidelity simulations in VULCAN by: implementing high order methods that allow reduction in the total number of computational cells without loss in accuracy; implementing first generation of high fidelity scalar PDF/FDF models applicable to high-speed compressible flows; coupling RAS/PDF and LES/FDF into a hybrid framework to efficiently and accurately model the effects of combustion in the vicinity of the walls; developing efficient Lagrangian particle tracking algorithms to support robust solutions of the FDF equations for high speed flows; and utilizing finite rate chemistry parametrization, such as flamelet models, to reduce the number of transported reactive species and remove numerical stiffness. This paper briefly introduces the SFMDF model (highlighting key benefits and challenges), and discusses particle tracking for flows with shocks, the hybrid coupled RAS/PDF and LES/FDF model, flamelet generated manifolds (FGM) model, and the Irregularly Portioned Lagrangian Monte Carlo Finite Difference (IPLMCFD) methodology for scalable simulation of high-speed reacting compressible flows.

Drozda, Tomasz G.↗

Detached-Eddy Simulation Based on the v2-f Model

Detached eddy simulation (DES) based on the v2-f RANS model is proposed. This RANS model incorporates the anisotropy of near-wall turbulence which is absent in other RANS models commonly used in the DES community. In LES mode, the proposed DES formulation reduces to a transport equation for the subgrid-scale kinetic energy. The constant, CDES, required by this model was calibrated by simulating isotropic turbulence. In the final paper, DES simulations of canonical separated flows will be presented.

Jee, Sol Keun↗