Hybrid pseudo-direct numerical simulation of high Rayleigh number flows up to 1011

This paper examines the capability of hybrid lattice Boltzmann method to simulate developed turbulent buoyancy-driven flows in closed rectangular cavities. The two-relaxation time mesoscopic lattice Boltzmann method is used as a fluid dynamics solver, whereas the thermal behavior is described in terms of the macroscopic energy equation. Numerical simulation is performed for air-filled square and tall cavities in a range of the Rayleigh number $$10^{9} \le Ra \le 10^{11}$$ . An in-house numerical code is developed in this study and successfully validated against up-to-date numerical and experimental data of other researches. It is found that the proposed hybrid approach accurately predicts the location of thermal plumes at the isothermal walls despite an insignificant error in the heat transfer rate with the $$Ra \ge 3 \cdot 10^{10}$$ .