Large eddy simulation of stably stratified turbulence

Stable stratification turbulence, as a common phenomenon in atmospheric and oceanic flows, is an important mechanism for numerical prediction of such flows. In this paper the large eddy simulation is utilized for investigating stable stratification turbulence numerically. The paper is expected to provide correct statistical results in agreement with those measured in the atmosphere or ocean. The fully developed turbulence is obtained in the stable stratification fluid by large eddy simulation with different initial velocity field and characteristic parameters, i.e. Reynolds number Re and Froude number Fr. The evolution of turbulent kinetic energy, characteristic length scales and parameters is analyzed for investigating the development of turbulence in stable stratification fluid. The three-dimensional energy spectra, horizontal and vertical energy spectrum, are compared between numerical simulation and real observation in the atmosphere and ocean in order to test the reliability of the numerical simulation. The results of numerical cases show that the large eddy simulation is capable of predicting the properties of stable stratification turbulence in consistence with real measurements at less computational cost. It has been found in this paper that the turbulence can be developed under different initial velocity conditions and the internal wave energy is dominant in the developed stable stratification turbulence. It is also found that the characteristic parameters must satisfy certain conditions in order to have correct statistical property of stable stratification turbulence in the atmosphere and ocean. The Reynolds number and Froude number are unnecessarily equal to those in atmosphere or ocean, but the Reynolds number must be large enough, say, greater than 10(2), and Froude number must be less than 0.1. The most important parameter is ReFr2 which must be greater than 10.