Browsing by Author "Reyes, Dasia Ann"
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Item Advancing the Theoretical Foundation of the Partially-averaged Navier-Stokes Approach(2013-05-06) Reyes, Dasia AnnThe goal of this dissertation is to consolidate the theoretical foundation of variable-resolution (VR) methods in general and the partially-averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) approach in particular. The accurate simulation of complex turbulent flows remains an outstanding challenge in modern computational fluid dynamics. High- fidelity approaches such as direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large-eddy simulation (LES) are not typically feasible for complex engineering simulations with cur- rent computational technologies. Low-fidelity approaches such as Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), although widely used, are inherently inadequate for turbulent flows with complex flow features. VR bridging methods fill the gap between DNS and RANS by allowing a tunable degree of resolution ranging from RANS to DNS. While the utility of VR methods is well established, the mathematical foundations and physical characterization require further development. This dissertation focuses on the physical attributes of fluctuations in partially-resolved simulations of turbulence. The specific objectives are to: (i) establish a framework for assessing the physical fidelity of VR methods to examine PANS fluctuations; (ii) investigate PANS simulations subject to multiple resolution changes; (iii) examine turbulent transport closure modeling for partially-resolved fields; (iv) examine the effect of filter control parameters in the limit of spectral cut-off in the dissipative region; and (v) validate low-Reynolds number corrections with RANS for eventual implementation with PANS. While the validation methods are carried out in the context of PANS, they are considered appropriate for all VR bridging methods. The key findings of this dissertation are summarized as follows. The Kolmogorov hypotheses are suitably adapted to describe fluctuations of partially-resolved turbulence fields, and the PANS partially-resolved field is physically consistent with the adapted Kolmogorov hypotheses. PANS adequately recovers the correct energetics in instances of multiple resolution changes. Scaling arguments are used to determine the correct transport closure model for a partially-resolved field in a boundary layer. The need to modify the f? filter control parameter for cut-off in the dissipation range is highlighted. A low-Reynolds number near-wall correction was evaluated on a RANS model with the intent of adapting to it VR methods. Overall, PANS shows promise as a theoretically sound modeling approach, and this work lays the foundation for future PANS investigations.Item PANS turbulence model: investigation of computational and physical closure issues in flow past a circular cylinder(2009-05-15) Reyes, Dasia AnnPartially Averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) turbulence method provides a closuremodel for any degree of velocity field altering - ranging from completely resolved Di-rect Numerical Simulation (DNS) to completely averaged Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method. Preliminary investigations of PANS show promising re-sults but there still exist computational and physical issues that must be addressed.This study investigates the performance of the PANS method for ow past acylinder at a Reynolds number of 140,000. The cylinder ow is a benchmark owproblem for which there are signicant experimental results available for validation ofPANS. First, we examine if RANS convergence criteria and discretization schemes -which are meant for robust, nearly steady-state calculations - are adequate for PANS,which is inherently unsteady and may contain delicate ow features. For the range offk values tested here, it is determined that the standard RANS residual value and the2nd order spatial discretization scheme are appropriate for PANS. The physical clo-sure investigations begin with the validation of turbulent transport models: the ZeroTransport Model, the Maximum Transport Model and the Boundary Layer Trans-port Model. The implementation of the PANS ku-ey!u model is also performed andcompared against the standard PANS ku-ey model. All these studies yield interest-ing insights into the PANS models. This study concludes with an investigation of alow Reynolds number correction for the PANS ku-wu!u model which yields excellent improvement.