Stochastic modeling and large-eddy simulation of heated concentric coaxial pipe flow

Abstract: Turbulent concentric coaxial pipe flows are numerically investigated as canonical problem addressing spanwise curvature effects on heat and momentum transfer that are encountered in various engineering applications. It is demonstrated that the wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity (WALE) model within a large-eddy simulation (LES) framework, without model parameter recalibration, has limited predictive capabilities as signalized by poor representation of wall curvature effects and notable grid dependence. The identified lack in the modeling of radial transport processes is therefore addressed here by utilizing a stochastic one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. A standalone ODT formulation for cylindrical geometry is used in order to asses to which extent the predictability can be expected to improve by utilizing an advanced wall-modeling modeling strategy. It is shown that ODT is capable of capturing spanwise curvature and finite Reynolds number effects for fixed adjustable ODT model parameters. Based on the analogy of heat and mass transfer, present results yield new opportunities for modeling turbulent transfer process in chemical, process, and thermal engineering.