Large-eddy simulation of heavy particle dispersion in wall-bounded turbulent flows

Capabilities and accuracy issues in Lagrangian tracking of heavy particles in velocity fields obtained from large-eddy simulations (LES) of wall-bounded turbulent flows are reviewed. In particular, it is shown that, if no subgrid scale (SGS) model is added to the particle motion equations, particle preferential concentration and near-wall accumulation are significantly underestimated. Results obtained with SGS modeling for the particle motion equations based on approximate deconvolution are briefly recalled. Then, the error purely due to filtering in particle tracking in LES flow fields is singled out and analyzed. The statistical properties of filtering errors are characterized in turbulent channel flow both from an Eulerian and a Lagrangian viewpoint. Implications for stochastic SGS modeling in particle motion equations are briefly outlined.