Numerical Dissipation and Subgrid Scale Modeling for Separated Flows at Moderate Reynolds Numbers

Flows in rotating machinery, for unmanned and micro aerial vehicles, wind turbines, and propellers consist of different flow regimes. First, a laminar boundary layer is followed by a laminar separation bubble with a shear layer on top of it that experiences transition to turbulence. The separated turbulent flow then reattaches and evolves downstream from a nonequilibrium turbulent boundary layer to an equilibrium one. In previous work, the capability of LES to reduce the resolution requirements down to $1\%$ of DNS resolution for such flows was demonstrated (Cadieux et al, JFE 136-6). However, under-resolved DNS agreed better with the benchmark DNS than simulations with explicit SGS modeling because numerical dissipation and filtering alone acted as a surrogate SGS dissipation. In the present work numerical viscosity is quantified using a new method proposed recently by Schranner et al. and its effects are analyzed and compared to turbulent eddy viscosities of explicit SGS models. The effect of different SGS models on a simulation of the same flow using a non-dissipative code is also explored.