Numerical simulation of phase separation and a priori two-phase LES filtering

This work reports on the potential application of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) in the calculation of turbulent isothermal two-phase flows, in the case where the large scales of each phase are resolved and small interface structures can be smaller than the mesh size. In comparison with single phase flows, application of LES to two-phase flow problems should account for the complex interaction between the interface and the turbulent motion. The complete filtered two-phase flow equations are formulated to deal with turbulence at the interface. Explicit filtering of 3D direct numerical simulations of a phase separation problem has been employed to evaluate the order of magnitude of the specific subgrid contributions. Analyses of the numerical results have been conducted to derive conclusions on the relative importance of the different subgrid scale contributions. Modeling issues and turbulent energy transfer across the interface are discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.