Error-Landscape Assessment of Large-Eddy Simulations: A Review of the Methodology

A review is presented of the error-landscape methodology. This approach evaluates the error-response surface of large-eddy simulations (LES) to essential model and numerical parameters by a systematic variation of these parameters. Using an error landscape constructed for LES of decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence, it is shown that the determination of LES quality based on one error measure alone, can lead to misleading results, related to underlying error-balancing mechanisms. This problem can be avoided by considering a range of errors simultaneously, emphasizing different scales in the solution. Subsequently, the error-landscape method is further illustrated by comparing different numerical discretizations for Smagorinsky LES. Finally, a more complex case, i.e. a high (infinite) Reynolds number boundary layer, is considered.