Grey-Area Mitigation Using Commutation Terms at the Interfaces in Hybrid RANS-LES Modeling

With the aim to mitigate the grey area at the RANS-LES interface, the effect of commutation terms is investigated. Simulations of fully developed channel flow and spatially developing boundary layer flow are presented using the commutation terms at the RANS-LES interfaces. The commutation terms are added as source terms in the k, \(\omega \) and momentum equations of a zonal RANS-LES model. It is concluded that as an inlet in embedded LES of the developing boundary layer flow, the use of the proposed commutation terms are needed for the LES simulated flow to accurately predict the skin friction. However, it is demonstrated for flows where the RANS-LES interface aligns with the mean flow direction that the effect of the proposed interface methodology is weak.