Wall-Modelled Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for the Separated Effect Flow Accelerated Corrosion and Erosion (SEFACE) Facility

Abstract

SEFACE is a purpose-built rotating disk facility to investigate material damage resulting from turbulent high temperature heavy liquid metal (HT-HLM) flow. In this study, we conducted a large eddy simulation (LES) to analyze the turbulence dynamics near the rotating disc, which operates in a Reynolds number range of 1 to 10 millions. We employed the algebraic approach proposed by (Shur et al, 2008) from the wall-modeled Large Eddy Simulation (WMLES) capability in ANSYS FLUENT 21.0R2 to simulate the test chamber at the SEFACE facility. To validate our time-averaged boundary layer flow solution, we compared it with the established boundary layer profile in the viscous sublayer and logarithmic region. Furthermore, we explore the flow structure within the asymmetric test chamber, taking into account the influence of turbulence jets on the flow pattern. Although recirculation and turbulent jets had a minor impact on the mean flow properties near the rotating disk, we observed persistent fluctuations at higher y+ values. Note that these fluctuations may also be influenced by the substantial Reynolds number in our analysis. Furthermore, we identified the presence of adverse pressure gradient (APG) boundary layer characteristics in rotating disk flows, emphasizing the need for consideration when applying an appropriate algebraic wall model. However, deviations were negligible at lower y+ values, suggesting near-wall behavior similar to that of the boudnary layer flow without APG. This implies that a non-APG wall model may still be suitable for engineering evaluations. Lastly, we discovered interconnected wall shear stress streaks in scenarios with smaller compartments, possibly due to the gap effect. These flow statistics related to wall shear stress will prove valuable in the interpretation of experimental results in the future.