Flow and Noise Predictions of Coaxial Jets using LES and RANS Methods

Flow and noise solutions of the two Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches are evaluated for the jet flow conditions corresponding to a benchmark co-axial jet case from the EU CoJeN (Computation of Coaxial Jet Noise) experiment. The jet is heated and issues for a short-cowl axi-symmetric nozzle with a central body at a transonic speed. The first LES method is based on the Compact Accurately Boundary-Adjusting high-REsolution Technique (CABARET) scheme, for which implementation features include asynchronous time stepping at an optimal Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) number, a wall model, and a synthetic turbulence inflow boundary condition. The CABARET LES is implemented on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The second LES approach is based on the hybrid Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)/ Implicit LES method that uses a mixture of high-order Roe and WENO scheme and a wall distance model of the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) type. The RANS/ILES method is run on an MPI cluster. Two grid generation approaches are considered: the unstructured grid using OpenFOAM utility “snappyHexMesh” (sHM) and the conventional structured multiblock body-fitted curvilinear grid. The LES flow solutions are compared with the experiment and also with solutions obtained from the standard axi-symmetric RANS method using the k- turbulence model. For noise predictions, The LES solutions are coupled with the penetrable surface formation of the Ffowcs Williams –Hawkings method. The results of noise predictions are compared with the experiment and the effect of different LES grids and acoustic integration surfaces is discussed