Constant-energetics physical-space forcing methods for improved convergence to homogeneous-isotropic turbulence with application to particle-laden flows

This study investigates control-based forcing methods for incompressible homogeneous-isotropic turbulence forced linearly in physical space which result in constant turbulent kinetic energy, constant turbulent dissipation (also constant enstrophy), or a combination of the two based on a least-squares error minimization. The methods consist of proportional controllers embedded in the forcing coefficients. During the transient, the controllers adjust the forcing coefficients such that the controlled quantity achieves very early a minimal relative error with respect to its target stationary value. Comparisons of these forcing methods are made with the non-controlled approaches of Rosales and Meneveau [Linear forcing in numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence: Physical space implementations and convergence properties, Phys. Fluids 17, 095106 (2005)] and Carroll and Blanquart [A proposed modification to Lundgren's physical space velocity forcing method for isotropic turbulence, Phys. Fluids 25, 105114 (2013)], using direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large-eddy simulations (LES). The results indicate that the proposed constant-energetics forcing methods shorten the transient period from a user-defined artificial flow field to Navier-Stokes turbulence while maintaining steadier statistics. Additionally, the proposed method of constant kinetic-energy forcing behaves more robustly in coarse LES when initial conditions are employed that favor the occurrence of subgrid-scale backscatter, whereas the other approaches fail to provide physical turbulent flow fields. For illustration, the proposed forcing methods are applied to dilute particle-laden homogeneous-isotropic turbulent flows; the results serve to highlight the influences of the forcing strategies on the disperse-phase statistics. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.