Hybrid LES/RANS Simulation of Transverse Sonic Injection into a Mach 2 Flow

Abstract

A computational study of transverse sonic injection of air and helium into a Mach 1.98 cross-flow is presented. A hybrid large-eddy simulation / Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (LES/RANS) turbulence model is used, with the two-equation Menter baseline (Menter-BSL) closure for the RANS part of the flow and a Smagorinsky-type model for the LES part of the flow. A time-dependent blending function, dependent on modeled turbulence variables, is used to shift the closure from RANS to LES. Turbulent structures are initiated and sustained through the use of a recycling / rescaling technique. Two higher-order discretizations, the Piecewise Parabolic Method (PPM) of Colella and Woodward, and the SONIC-A ENO scheme of Suresh and Huyhn are used in the study. The results using the hybrid model show reasonably good agreement with time-averaged Mie scattering data and with experimental surface pressure distributions, even though the penetration of the jet into the cross-flow is slightly over-predicted. The LES/RANS results are used to examine the validity of commonly-used assumptions of constant Schmidt and Prandtl numbers in the intense mixing zone downstream of the injection location.