Subgrid-scale modeling for large-eddy simulations of compressible turbulence

We present two phenomenological subgrid-scale (SGS) models for large-eddy simulations (LES) of compressible turbulent flows. A nonlinear model and a stretched-vortex model are tested in LES of compressible decaying isotropic turbulence. Results of LES at 32³, 48³, and 64³resolution are compared to corresponding 256³direct numerical simulations (DNS) at a turbulent Mach number, M₁∼0.4. We use numerical schemes based on compact finite differences and study the effects of their order of accuracy on LES results. Both models give satisfactory agreement with DNS for the decay of the total turbulent kinetic energy. The probability densities (pdf) of energy transfer to subgrid scales obtained from filtered DNS and the SGS models are compared. Both models produce a narrower distribution of energy transfer than corresponding filtered DNS data, with less backscatter. The pdf of the alignment of components of the subgrid stress tensor and the eigenvectors of the rate-of-strain tensor obtained from the models reproduces some features of the DNS results. The pdfs of both energy transfer and relative eigenvector alignment are obtained from DNS and LES after about one large-eddy turnover time from the same initial condition. All tests of the present LES models are therefore a posteriori and none is a priori.