An assessment of Scale-Resolving Simulation models for the flow around a circular cylinder

The well-known difficulties of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations to predict statistically unsteady turbulent flows, and the required computational demands of Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) have driven the development of a new class of Scale-Resolving Simulation (SRS) models named hybrid/bridging. This work evaluates distinct hybrid/bridging formulations: Delayed-Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES), eXtra LargeEddy Simulation (XLES) and Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) equations. For the latter model, some formulation and implementation aspects are also addressed. Verification and Validation exercises are executed for the flow around a circular cylinder at Re = 3900 to assess numerical and modelling errors. The outcome demonstrates the ability of these SRS models to significantly reduce the modelling error when compared to RANS. Nonetheless, attaining an acceptable numerical accuracy in SRS simulations is clearly more demanding than in RANS.