Investigation of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence and mixing using direct numerical simulation with experimentally-measured initial conditions. I. Comparison to experimental data
A 1152 x 760 x 1280 direct numerical simulation (DNS) using initial conditions, geometry, and physical parameters chosen to approximate those of a transitional, small Atwood number Rayleigh-Taylor mixing experiment [Mueschke, Andrews and Schilling, J. Fluid Mech. 567, 27 (2006)] is presented. The density and velocity fluctuations measured just off of the splitter plate in this buoyantly unstable water channel experiment were parameterized to provide physically-realistic, anisotropic initial conditions for the DNS. The methodology for parameterizing the measured data and numerically implementing the resulting perturbation spectra in the simulation is discussed in detail. The DNS model of the experiment is then validated by comparing quantities from the simulation to experimental measurements. In particular, large-scale quantities (such as the bubble front penetration hb and the mixing layer growth parameter {alpha}{sub b}), higher-order statistics (such as velocity variances and the molecular mixing parameter {theta}), and vertical velocity and density variance spectra from the DNS are shown to be in favorable agreement with the experimental data. Differences between the quantities obtained from the DNS and from experimental measurements are related to limitations in the dynamic range of scales resolved in the simulation and other idealizations of the simulation model. This work demonstrates that a parameterization of experimentally-measured initial conditions can yield simulation data that quantitatively agrees well with experimentally-measured low- and higher-order statistics in a Rayleigh-Taylor mixing layer. This study also provides resolution and initial conditions implementation requirements needed to simulate a physical Rayleigh-Taylor mixing experiment. In Part II [Mueschke and Schilling, Phys. Fluids (2008)], other quantities not measured in the experiment are obtained from the DNS and discussed, such as the integral- and Taylor-scale Reynolds numbers, Reynolds stress anisotropy and two-dimensional density and velocity variance spectra, hypothetical chemical product formation measures, other local and global mixing parameters, and the statistical composition of mixed fluid.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 947754
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-405733; TRN: US200905%%250
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Fluids, vol. 21, N/A, January 15, 2008, pp. 014106-1-014106-19, Vol. 21
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Experimental characterization of initial conditions and spatio-temporal evolution of a small Atwood number Rayleigh-Taylor mixing layer
Experimental characterization of initial conditions and spatio-temporal evolution of a small Atwood number Rayleigh-Taylor mixing layer