Database analysis of errors in large-eddy simulation

A database of decaying homogeneous, isotropic turbulence is constructed including reference direct numerical simulations at two different Reynolds numbers and a large number of corresponding large-eddy simulations at various subgrid resolutions. Errors in large-eddy simulation as a function of physical and numerical parameters are investigated. In particular, employing the Smagorinsky subgrid parametrization, the dependence of modeling and numerical errors on simulation parameters is quantified. The interaction between these two basic sources of error is shown to lead to their partial cancellation for several flow properties. This leads to a central paradox in large-eddy simulation related to possible strategies that can be followed to improve the accuracy of predictions. Moreover, a framework is presented in which the global parameter dependence of the errors can be classified in terms of the "subgrid activity" which measures the ratio of the turbulent to the total dissipation rate. Such an analysis allows one to quantify refinement strategies and associated model parameters which provide optimal total simulation error at given computational cost. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.