Entropic Lattice Boltzmann: an implicit Large-Eddy Simulation?

We study the modeling of turbulence implied by the unconditionally stable Entropic Lattice Boltzmann Method (ELBM). We first focus on 2D homogeneous turbulence, for which we conduct numerical simulations for a wide range of relaxation times $\tau$. For these simulations, we analyze the effective viscosity obtained by numerically differentiating the kinetic energy and enstrophy balance equations averaged over sub-domains of the computational grid. We aim at understanding the behavior of the implied sub-grid scale model and verify a formulation previously derived using Chapman-Enskog expansion. These ELBM benchmark simulations are thus useful to understand the range of validity of ELBM as a turbulence model. Finally, we will discuss an extension of the previously obtained results to the 3D case.