A stabilized finite element method for computing turbulence Original Research Article

For many flows, Reynold-averaged Navier—Stokes simulation (RANSS) techniques do not give an acceptable description of the flow. In these cases a more detailed simulation of the turbulence is required. One such detailed simulation technique, large-eddy simulation (LES) has matured to the point of application to complex flows. Historically, these simulations have been carried out with structured grids which suffer from two major difficulties: the extension to higher Reynolds numbers leads to an impractical number of grid points, and most real world flows are rather difficult to represent geometrically with structured grids. Unstructured-grid methods offer a release from both of these constraints. Herein, we describe the development and validation of a massively parallel, stabilized finite element method for LES.