Localization of unresolved regions in the selective large-eddy simulation of hypersonic jets

A method for the localization of the regions where the turbulent fluctuations are unresolved is applied to the selective large-eddy simulation (LES) of a compressible turbulent jet of Mach number equal to 5. This method is based on the introduction of a scalar probe function f which represents the magnitude of the twisting-stretching term normalized with the enstrophy [1]. The statistical analysis shows that, for a fully developed turbulent field of fluctuations, the probability that f is larger than 2 is zero, while, for an unresolved field, is finite. By computing f in each instantaneous realization of the simulation it is possible to locate the regions where the magnitude of the normalized stretching-twisting is anomalously high. This allows the identification of the regions where the subgrid model should be introduced into the governing equations (selective filtering). The results of the selective LES are compared with those of a standard LES, where the subgrid terms are used in the whole domain. The comparison is carried out by assuming as high order reference field a higher resolution Euler simulation of the compressible jet. It is shown that the selective LES modifies the dynamic properties of the flow to a lesser extent with respect to the classical LES.