Consistent boundary conditions for integrated LES/RANS simulations: LES outflow conditions

Numerical simulations of complex large-scale flow systems must capture a variety of physical phenomena in order to predict the flow accurately. Currently, many flow solvers are specialized to simulate one part of a flow system effectively, but are either inadequate or too expensive to be applied to a generic problem. As an example, the flow through a gas turbine can be considered. In the compressor and the turbine section, the flow solver has to be able to handle the moving blades, model the wall turbulence, and predict the pressure and density distribution properly. This can be done by a flow solver based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. On the other hand, the flow in the combustion chamber is governed by large scale turbulence, chemical reactions, and the presence of fuel spray. Experience shows that these phenomena require an unsteady approach (Veynante & Poinsot, 1996). Hence, the use of a Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) flow solver is desirable. While many design problems of a single flow passage can be addressed by separate computations, only the simultaneous computation of all parts can guarantee the proper prediction of multi-component phenomena, such as compressor/combustor instability and combustor/turbine hot-streak migration. Therefore, a promising strategy to perform full aero-thermal simulations of gas-turbine engines is the use of a RANS flow solver for the compressor sections, an LES flow solver for the combustor, and again a RANS flow solver for the turbine section (Fig. 1).