Navier–Stokes analysis methods for turbulent jet flows with application to aircraft exhaust nozzles

This article presents the current status of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods as applied to the simulation of turbulent jet flowfields issuing from aircraft engine exhaust nozzles. For many years, Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods have been used routinely to calculate such flows, including very complex nozzle configurations. RANS methods replace all turbulent fluid dynamic effects with a turbulence model. Such turbulence models have limitations for jets with significant three-dimensionality, compressibility, and high temperature streams. In contrast to the RANS approach, direct numerical simulation (DNS) methods calculate the entire turbulent energy spectrum by resolving all turbulent motion down to the Kolmogorov scale. Although this avoids the limitations associated with turbulence modeling, DNS methods will remain computationally impractical in the foreseeable future for all but the simplest configurations. Large-Eddy simulation (LES) methods, which directly calculate the large-scale turbulent structures and reserve modeling only for the smallest scales, have been pursued in recent years and may offer the best prospects for improving the fidelity of turbulent jet flow simulations. A related approach is the group of hybrid RANS/LES methods, where RANS is used to model the small-scale turbulence in wall boundary layers and LES is utilized in regions dominated by the large-scale jet mixing. The advantages, limitations, and applicability of each approach are discussed and recommendations for further research are presented.