Hybrid RANS/LES Method for Turbulent Channel Flow

A channel flow with a high Reynolds number but coarse grids is numerically studied to investigate the prediction possibility of its turbulence which is three-dimensional and time-dependent. In the present paper, a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model, a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and a Navier-Stokes equation with no model are tested with a new approach of hybrid RANS/LES, which reduces to RANS model in the boundary layers and at separation, and to Smagorinsky-like LES downstream of separation, and then compared with each other. It is found that the simulations of hybrid RANS/LES method sustain turbulence like those of LES and with no model, and the results are stable and fairly accurate. This indicates strongly that gradual improvements could lead to a simple, stable, and accurate approach to predict turbulence phenomena of wall-bounded flow.