ALE–VMS formulation for stratified turbulent incompressible flows with applications

A numerical formulation for incompressible flows with stable stratification is developed using the framework of variational multiscale methods. In the proposed formulation, both density and temperature stratification are handled in a unified manner. The formulation is augmented with weakly-enforced essential boundary conditions and is suitable for applications involving moving domains, such as fluid–structure interaction. The methodology is tested using three numerical examples ranging from flow-physics benchmarks to a simulation of a full-scale offshore wind-turbine rotor spinning inside an atmospheric boundary layer. Good agreement is achieved with experimental and computational results reported by other researchers. The wind-turbine rotor simulation shows that flow stratification has a strong influence on the dynamic rotor thrust and torque loads.