LES and RANS of turbulent flow in tube bundles

A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) finite element code is developed. It is shown that the standard numerical schemes developed for the Reynolds Averaged Na vier-Stokes (RANS) equations are not suitable for LES. Validation of the fi nal centred and collocated scheme is carried out for grid turbulence and ch annel flow. The same code is then applied to a complex flow that has challe nged RANS modelling for years: cross-flow in a tube bundle. In contrast to RANS models, LES yields results in good agreement with the experimental dat a of Simonin and Barcouda (1988, Measurements and prediction of turbulent f low entering a staggered tube bundle. Fourth International Symposium on App lications of Laser Anemometry to Fluid Mechanics, Lisbon, Portugal) includi ng the Reynolds stresses. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserve d.