Implicit large-eddy simulation of passive scalar mixing in statistically stationary isotropic turbulence

Turbulent mixing of a passive scalar by forced isotropic turbulence with a prescribed mean scalar gradient is studied in the context of implicit large-eddy simulation. The simulation strategy uses a multi-dimensional compressible flux-corrected transport algorithm, with low wavenumber momentum forcing imposed separately for the solenoidal and dilatational velocity components. Effects of grid resolution on the flow and scalar mixing are investigated at turbulent Mach numbers 0.13 and 0.27. Turbulence metrics are used to show that an implicit large-eddy simulation can accurately capture the mixing transition and asymptotic self-similar behaviors predicted by previous theoretical, laboratory, and direct numerical simulation studies, including asymptotically constant scalar variance and increasing velocity-to-scalar Taylor micro-scales ratio as function of effective Reynolds number determined by grid resolution. The results demonstrate the feasibility of predictive under-resolved simulations of high Reynolds number turbulent scalar mixing using implicit large-eddy simulation. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4783924]