Analysis of turbulence characteristics in a temporal dense gas compressible mixing layer using direct numerical simulation

This study investigates the effects of a Bethe-Zel'dovich-Thompson (BZT) dense gas (FC-70) on the development of a turbulent compressible mixing layer at a convective Mach number . Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are performed with both FC-70 and air. The initial thermodynamic state for FC-70 lies inside the inversion region where the fundamental derivative of gas dynamics () becomes negative. The complex Martin-Hou thermodynamic equation of state is used to reproduce thermodynamic peculiarities of the BZT dense gas (DG). The unstable growth phase in the mixing layer development shows an increase of -turbulent stress tensors in DG compared to perfect gas (PG). The following self-similar period has been carefully defined from the time evolution of the integrated streamwise production and transport terms. During the self-similar stage, DG and PG mixing layers at display close values of the momentum thickness growth rate, which seems similarly affected by the well-known compressibility-related reduction for PG. The same mechanisms are at stake, related to the reduction of pressure-strain terms. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) spectra show a slower decrease of TKE at small scales for DG compared with PG. The filtered kinetic energy equation balance developed by Aluie (Physica D, vol. 247 (1), 2013, pp. 54-65) is applied for the first time to a compressible mixing layer. The equation is reshaped to better account for TKE transport across the mixing layer. This new formulation brings out the role played by , the pressure strengths power. A detailed comparison of the contributions to the filtered TKE equation is provided for both PG and DG mixing layers.