LES and Hybrid LES/DNS Support

Note

PeleC has support for LES subgrid models for non-reacting flows; documentation is a work in progress.

Models for large eddy simulations

Warning

The LES source terms do not currently support EB cut cells.

PeleC currently supports two LES models, the constant and dynamic Smagorinsky models. An extensive discussion of the compressible version of these models can be found in Martín, M. Pino, U. Piomelli, and G. V. Candler. “Subgrid-Scale Models for Compressible Large-Eddy Simulations.” Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics 13, no. 5 (2000): 361–76. The constant Smagorinsky model was verified using the method of manufactured solutions.

Using

To use the LES models, the user must first activate the LES source terms by doing: pelec.do_les = 1. The default LES model is constant Smagorinsky. The user can pick the LES model by setting pelec.les_model = NUM:

• les_model = 0: constant Smagorinsky model

• les_model = 1: dynamic Smagorinsky model

For the constant Smagorinsky model, the user may define the model coefficients: pelec.Cs, pelec.CI, and pelec.PrT. These must be set by the user in the input file as they default to Cs = 0, CI = 0, and PrT = 1.0. To use a typical constant Smagorinsky model, the user would add the following in the input file:

pelec.do_les = 1
pelec.les_model = 0
# TURBULENCE PARAMETERS
pelec.Cs = 0.16
pelec.CI = 0.09
pelec.PrT = 0.7

For the dynamic Smagorinsky model, the user can define a test filter type (les_test_filter_type) and filter-grid ratio (les_test_filter_fgr). A complete description of the filter types and filter-grid ratios can be found in the section on filtering below. The default test filter type is a box filter with a filter-grid ratio of 2. An example for activating the dynamic Smagorinsky model is:

pelec.do_les = 1
pelec.les_model = 1
pelec.les_test_filter_type = 3
pelec.les_test_filter_fgr = 2

Explicit filtering of the hydrodynamic source terms

Warning

Explicit filtering is a work in progress. It should not be used with wall boundary conditions. Filtering at coarse-fine boundaries is experimental.

In some instances the user may want to explicitly filter the Navier-Stokes equations to perform explicitly filtered large eddy simulations. The objective of explicitly filtering the PDEs is to remove wavenumber content in the solution that may be contaminated by numerical error. To achieve this objective, the hydrodynamic source terms, i.e. the source terms that may introduce wavenumbers that cannot be represented accurately by the grid, are explicitly filtered after each computation of the hydrodynamic source terms.

Using

To explicitly filter the hydrodynamic source terms, the following should option should be turned on in the input file: pelec.use_explicit_filter = 1. The user specifies the filter-grid ratio using pelec.les_filter_fgr = NUM, where NUM is the filter-grid ratio desired, e.g. pelec.les_filter_fgr = 2. The user also specifies a filter type through pelec.les_filter_type = NUM. Explicit filtering utilizes the Filter utility from PelePhysics, and the set of available filter types may be found in the PelePhysics documentation.

An example input file section for a Gaussian filter with a filter-grid ration of 2 would be:

pelec.use_explicit_filter=1
pelec.les_filter_type=2
pelec.les_filter_fgr=2