Study of turbulence modulation by finite-size solid particles with the lattice Boltzmann method
| Author(s) | Peng, Cheng | |
| Date Accessioned | 2018-09-19T11:30:52Z | |
| Date Available | 2018-09-19T11:30:52Z | |
| Publication Date | 2018 | |
| SWORD Update | 2018-07-23T22:13:05Z | |
| Abstract | Turbulent flows laden with finite-size solid particles are found in a variety of natural and engineering processes. However, the overall understanding of how the flow properties, such as turbulent intensity and flow drag, are modified by the addition of the particles is still limited. So far, the only rigorous approach to investigate the modulation mechanisms at the particle scale is to numerically solve the disturbance flow around each particle, known as the interface-resolved simulations (IRS). However, the application of IRS in the turbulent particle-laden flow is particularly challenging due to the requirements of resolving all the length and time scales in the turbulent flow, as well as the need to realize the no-slip boundary condition on the moving particle surfaces. ☐ In recent years, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has emerged as an efficient and accurate numerical approach for computational fluid dynamics. Compared to the conventional approaches of directly solving the Navier-Stokes equations, LBM is simple to code, easy to parallelize, and flexible in treating boundary conditions. In particular, the no-slip boundary treatment based on bounce-back scheme and mesoscopic momentum exchange in LBM take full advantage of the gas kinetic description. However, the realization of these treatments in particle-laden turbulent flow simulations is still rare. So far, the majority of the particle-laden turbulent flow simulations relies on the smoothed-boundary treatments, such as the immersed boundary methods, which tends to induce artificial dissipation. In this dissertation, LBM with a sharp-interface treatment is developed to investigate turbulence modulation by finite-size solid particles. ☐ After a thorough validation, the method is applied to the simulations of a turbulent channel flow laden with both fixed and moving particles. The interactions between the dispersed particles and carrier turbulent flows, especially the modulation induced by the particles on the turbulence intensity and its parameter dependence are examined. The addition of particles is found to result in a more homogeneous distribution of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in the wall normal direction and a more isotropic TKE distribution among different spatial directions, comparing to the single-phase turbulent channel flow. To gain further insight, the budget equations of both the total TKE and component-wise TKE in the particle-laden turbulent flows are derived and analyzed using the simulation data. The budget analysis of the total TKE shows that the production rate of TKE from the mean flow is modified to become more uniform in the wall-normal direction by the presence of particles, which is responsible for the more homogeneous distribution of TKE. Specifically, in the buffer region where the TKE source is maximized in the single-phase flow, the TKE source due to the mean shear is reduced since both the mean flow velocity gradient and the Reynolds stress are reduced by the presence of particles. This reduction is found to be related to the particle inertia, where particles with larger inertia result in greater reduction of the TKE source. On the other hand, particles pump energy to turbulent fluctuations by doing work directly (moving particles) or inducing disturbances to the mean flow (fixed particles), converting more mechanical energy from the mean flow to the turbulent motion. The strength of this extra TKE source is related to the dynamics of the wake developed behind particles and therefore is particle-Reynolds-number dependent. The relative strength of the above two mechanisms determines whether the turbulence intensity of a turbulent channel flow is augmented or attenuated by the presence of particles. The budget analysis of component-wise TKE reveals that the more isotropic distribution of TKE among different spatial directions results from the enhanced inter-components transfer of TKE. This enhancement is found to originate from the spherical shape of the particles and particle rotation. ☐ In summary, the improved LBM simulation method based on the sharp-interface treatment provides a better alternative for particle-laden turbulent flow simulations than the commonly used smoothed-interface treatments. The physical results from this dissertation research advance our understanding of flow modulation induced by finite-size solid particles in turbulent flows, particularly in wall-bounded turbulent flows. | en_US |
| Advisor | Wang, Lian-Ping | |
| Degree | Ph.D. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Mechanical Engineering | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.58088/cn8n-xs74 | |
| Unique Identifier | 1052796688 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/23795 | |
| Language | en | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/2085948235?accountid=10457 | |
| Keywords | Physical sciences | en_US |
| Keywords | Direct numerical simulations | en_US |
| Keywords | Particle-laden turbulent flows | en_US |
| Keywords | The lattice Boltzmann method | en_US |
| Keywords | Turbulence modulation | en_US |
| Title | Study of turbulence modulation by finite-size solid particles with the lattice Boltzmann method | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |