Abstract
The motion of a 2-D heavy turbulent thermal is studied by large eddy simulations. The governing equations consist of the filtered 2-D Navier-Stokes equations and mass conservation equation and are solved using the combined cubic spline (CCS) scheme. The eddy viscosity is evaluated by the Smagorinsky model.
The comparisons of computational results of main flow characteristics, including shape, size, mass center velocity and average buoyant force, with experimental results show that the numerical model gives a good description of the thermal. It is also demonstrated from the computation that the internal flow of the thermal is characterized by two symmetrical vortex structures and the density excess becomes a double-peak distribution after some distance.
