A New Hybrid RANS/LES Modeling Methodology for CFD Applications

The primary weakness of current hybrid RANS/LES (HRL) models lies in the treatment of the “transition zone,” where the value and the physical interpretation of the eddy viscosity changes from LES to RANS, or vice versa. In order to address this problem, the initial version of a new HRL modeling methodology has been developed that incorporates two separate turbulent stress parameters (one from the LES model and the other from the RANS model). In this paper, the viability of the new model is demonstrated by predictions of the flow over a backward facing step, which is one of the canonical test cases used for the validation of turbulence models. The simulation results of backward facing step flow at Re_H = 37,000 provided by Menter’s Shear Stress Transport (SST) model, a new version of Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) i.e. delayed DES model, and the new model are compared with experiments. Mesh sensitivity of the models is also studied employing two different types of mesh, in order to test the wide applicability of the HRL models in various realistic flow simulations. Pressure and skin friction distributions and mean velocity profiles obtained with the new HRL model show improved agreement with the experimental measurements versus DES, and less sensitivity to the mesh details. Turbulent kinetic energy profiles of both the new model and the RANS model show qualitatively good agreement with experiments.