Large eddy simulation and measurements of turbulent enclosed rotor-stator flows

Turbulent flows are studied in an actual enclosed rotor-stator configuration with a rotating hub and a stationary shroud. Besides its fundamental importance—the disk boundary layer is one of the simplest platforms for investigating the underlying structure of three-dimensional boundary layers—this cavity models more complex configurations relevant to rotating machinery. Large eddy simulation is performed using a spectral vanishing viscosity technique that is shown leading to stable discretizations without sacrificing the formal accuracy of the spectral approximation. Numerical results and velocity measurements have been favorably compared for a large range of rotational Reynolds numbers (105⩽Re=Ωb2∕ν⩽106) in an annular cavity of curvature parameter Rm=(b+a)∕(b−a)=1.8 and of aspect ratio G=(b−a)∕h=5, where a and b are, respectively, the inner and outer radii of the rotating disk and h is the interdisk spacing. In the detailed picture of the flow structure that emerges, the turbulence is confined mainly in ...