Classical and Variational Multiscale Large-Eddy Simulations of the Flow past a Circular Cylinder : Reynolds number effects

Steve Wornom (LEMMA S.A., Sophia-Antipolis, France) Hilde Ouvrard Bruno Koobus (Université de Montpellier) Maria-Vittoria Salvetti (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Italy) Alain Dervieux (INRIA, BP93, 06902 Sophia-Antipolis, France)

Article in Computers and Fluids, 2011 (7 pages)

Abstract: Variational-multiscale large-eddy simulations (VMS-LES) of the flow around a circular cylinder are carried out at different Reynolds numbers in the subcritical regime, viz. Re=3900, 10000 and 20000, based on the cylinder diameter. A mixed finite-element/finite-volume discretization on unstructured grids is used. The separation between the largest and the smallest resolved scales is obtained through a variational projection operator and finite-volume cell agglomeration. The WALE subgrid scale model is used to account for the effects of the unresolved scales; in the VMS approach, it is only added to the smallest resolved ones. The capability of this methodology to accurately predict the aerodynamic forces acting on the cylinder and in capturing the flow features are evaluated for the different Reynolds numbers considered. The sensitivity of the results to different simulation parameters, viz. agglomeration level and numerical viscosity, is also investigated at Re=20000.

Keywords: Variational multiscale LES, circular cylinder, unstructured grids.

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@article{WOSKD2011,
  author = {Wornom, S. and Ouvrard, H. and Salvetti, M.-V. and Koobus, B. and Dervieux, A.},
  title = {Classical and Variational Multiscale Large-Eddy Simulations of the Flow past a Circular Cylinder : {R}eynolds number effects},
  journal = {Computers and Fluids},
  volume = {47},
  pages = {44-50},
  doi = {10.1016/j.compfluid.2011.02.011},
  year = 2011
}