Turbulent transport in anisotropic velocity fields

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit: The overall goal of the proposed research is to explore the fundamental mechanism of turbulent heat transfer in the case of anisotropic turbulence. The specific objectives for the duration of the project are to: (a) investigate the physical mechanisms for turbulent transport close to a solid boundary (in the viscous wall region and in the logarithmic layer); (b) determine the Prandtl number effects on turbulent transport properties (e.g., on the turbulent Prandtl number and on the Nusselt number); (c) develop algorithms for the simulation of coupled heat and fluid flow and for chemically reacting turbulent flows. The proposed approach is to use hydrodynamics generated by direct numerical simulations to generate Lagrangian data for turbulent dispersion. This Lagrangian approach allows to investigate fluids of practical interest but different properties (e.g., liquid metals, gases, refrigerants, electrochemical fluids), and to investigate cases where conventional numerical methods are often not feasible with the current capabilities of supercomputers. Broader Impact of the Proposed Activities: The findings of this research will be significant for the theory of turbulent transport as well as for industrial and environmental applications, in which modeling turbulent transport is important (e.g., design of chemical reactors, design of heat exchangers for different Prandtl number fluids, prediction and control of pollutant dispersion, heat transfer over moving blades). Aspects of the proposed research project will be instrumental in the development of a continuing education course. In addition, the database generated through this project will become available to the community through a web server that our group is already operating. Finally, an effort will be initiated to organize workshops focused on the identification of modeling issues in turbulent transport and of databases that can serve as validation benchmarks.