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Flow around a cube in a turbulent boundary layer: LES and experiment

Flow around a cube in a turbulent boundary layer: LES and experiment
Flow around a cube in a turbulent boundary layer: LES and experiment
We present a numerical simulation of flow around a surface mounted cube placed in a turbulent boundary layer which, although representing a typical wind environment, has been specifically tailored to match a series of wind tunnel observations. The simulations were carried out at a Reynolds number, based on the velocity U at the cube height h, of 20,000—large enough that many aspects of the flow are effectively Reynolds number independent. The turbulence intensity was about 18% at the cube height, and the integral length scale was about 0.8 times the cube height h. The Jenson number Je=h/z0, based on the approach flow roughness length z0, was 600, to match the wind tunnel situation. The computational mesh was uniform with a spacing of h/32, aiding rapid convergence of the multigrid solver, and the governing equations were discretised using second-order finite differences within a parallel multiblock environment. The results presented include detailed comparison between measurements and LES computations of both the inflow boundary layer and the flow field around the cube including mean and fluctuating surface pressures. It is concluded that provided properly formulated inflow and surface boundary conditions are used, LES is now a viable tool for use in wind engineering problems concerning flow over isolated bodies. In particular, both mean and fluctuating surface pressures can be obtained with a similar degree of uncertainty as usually associated with wind tunnel modelling.
bluff body, large eddy simulation, wind environment
0167-6105
96-109
Lim, Hee Chang
4642c6ce-8702-48ac-9a06-5dcbb7e43894
Thomas, T.G.
bccfa8da-6c8b-4eec-b593-00587d3ce3cc
Castro, Ian P.
66e6330d-d93a-439a-a69b-e061e660de61
Lim, Hee Chang
4642c6ce-8702-48ac-9a06-5dcbb7e43894
Thomas, T.G.
bccfa8da-6c8b-4eec-b593-00587d3ce3cc
Castro, Ian P.
66e6330d-d93a-439a-a69b-e061e660de61

Lim, Hee Chang, Thomas, T.G. and Castro, Ian P. (2009) Flow around a cube in a turbulent boundary layer: LES and experiment. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 97 (2), 96-109. (doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2009.01.001).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We present a numerical simulation of flow around a surface mounted cube placed in a turbulent boundary layer which, although representing a typical wind environment, has been specifically tailored to match a series of wind tunnel observations. The simulations were carried out at a Reynolds number, based on the velocity U at the cube height h, of 20,000—large enough that many aspects of the flow are effectively Reynolds number independent. The turbulence intensity was about 18% at the cube height, and the integral length scale was about 0.8 times the cube height h. The Jenson number Je=h/z0, based on the approach flow roughness length z0, was 600, to match the wind tunnel situation. The computational mesh was uniform with a spacing of h/32, aiding rapid convergence of the multigrid solver, and the governing equations were discretised using second-order finite differences within a parallel multiblock environment. The results presented include detailed comparison between measurements and LES computations of both the inflow boundary layer and the flow field around the cube including mean and fluctuating surface pressures. It is concluded that provided properly formulated inflow and surface boundary conditions are used, LES is now a viable tool for use in wind engineering problems concerning flow over isolated bodies. In particular, both mean and fluctuating surface pressures can be obtained with a similar degree of uncertainty as usually associated with wind tunnel modelling.

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Submitted date: 2 May 2008
Published date: February 2009
Keywords: bluff body, large eddy simulation, wind environment
Organisations: Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 69732
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/69732
ISSN: 0167-6105
PURE UUID: ad470052-04e8-440d-a1cf-3db0fa19ee37

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Date deposited: 30 Nov 2009
Last modified: 13 Mar 2024 19:43

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Contributors

Author: Hee Chang Lim
Author: T.G. Thomas
Author: Ian P. Castro

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