Computational Modelling of Instability and Transition Using High-resolution Methods

Download or read book Computational Modelling of Instability and Transition Using High-resolution Methods written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis concerns the numerical investigation of suddenly expanded flows featuring separation, instabilities and transition, in the context of Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES). The study of separated flows through suddenly expanded geometries is a classic yet complex area of research. These types of flows feature instabilities which may lead to bifurcation. Non-linear bifurcation is of great importance when considering hydrodynamic stability and the mechanism of laminar to turbulent flow transition. A detailed numerical investigation of various high-resolution methods and their ability to correctly predict the flow through a suddenly expanded and contracted geometry demonstrates that the choice of the particular numerical method employed can lead to an incorrect solution of the flow. The key di erence between the various highresolution methods employed is in the calculation of the nonlinear wave-speed dependent term. It is shown that the nonlinearity of this term provides an asymmetric dissipation to the flow which triggers symmetry-breaking bifurcation in a fully symmetric computational set-up. High-resolution simulations of three-dimensional flow through a plane suddenly expanded channel at low Reynolds numbers show that this type of flow is characterised by a symmetric separation of the fluid which is nominally two-dimensional in the spanwise direction. Increasing the Reynolds number reveals a symmetry-breaking bifurcation of the fluid flow which becomes three-dimensional as Reynolds number is further increased. Simulations confirm that it is this threedimensional disturbance which leads to the onset of time-dependent flow characterised by the periodic shedding of vortices from the upstream recirculation zones. Preconditioning techniques which aim to alleviate sti ness in the calculation of the advective fluxes for low Reynolds number flows are shown to be unsuitable for flows featuring instabilities. The added dissipation to the flow causes the predictio.