LARGE-EDDY SIMULATIONS OF A SEPARATION/REATTACHMENT BUBBLE IN A TURBULENT-BOUNDARY-LAYER SUBJECTED TO A PRESCRIBED UPPER-BOUNDARY, VERTICAL-VELOCITY PROFILE

Abstract

We describe large-eddy simulations of turbulent boundary-layer flow over a flat plate at high Reynolds number in the presence of an unsteady, three-dimensional flow separation/reattachment bubble. The stretched-vortex subgrid-scale model is used in the main flow domain combined with a wall-model that is a two-dimensional extension of that developed by Chung & Pullin (2009). Flow separation and re-attachment of the incoming boundary layer is induced by prescribing wall-normal velocity distribution on the upper boundary of the flow domain that produces an adverse-favorable stream-wise pressure distribution at the wall. The LES predicts the distribution of mean shear stress along the wall including the interior of the separation bubble. Several properties of the separation/reattachment flow are discussed.