Large-eddy simulation of the flow and acoustic fields of a Reynolds number 105 subsonic jet with tripped exit boundary layers

Large-eddy simulations (LESs) of isothermal round jets at a Mach number of 0.9 and a diameter-based Reynolds number Re-D of 10(5) originating from a pipe are performed using low-dissipation schemes in combination with relaxation filtering. The aim is to carefully examine the capability of LES to compute the flow and acoustic fields of initially nominally turbulent jets. As in experiments on laboratory-scale jets, the boundary layers inside the pipe are tripped in order to obtain laminar mean exit velocity profiles with high perturbation levels. At the pipe outlet, their momentum thickness is delta(theta)(0) = 0.018 times the jet radius, yielding a Reynolds number Re-theta=900, and peak turbulence intensities are around 9% of the jet velocity. Two methods of boundary-layer tripping and five grids are considered. The results are found to vary negligibly with the tripping procedure but appreciably with the grid resolution. Based on analyses of the LES quality and on comparisons with measurements at high Reynolds numbers, fine discretizations appear necessary in the three coordinate directions over the entire jet flow. The final LES carried out using 252 X 10(6) points with minimum radial, azimuthal, and axial mesh spacings, respectively, of 0.20, 0.34, and 0.40 X delta(theta)(0) is also shown to provide shear-layer solutions that are practically grid converged and, more generally, results that can be regarded as numerically accurate as well as physically relevant. They suggest that the mixing-layer development in the present tripped jet, while exhibiting a wide range of turbulent scales, is characterized by persistent coherent vortex pairings. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3555634]