The ASBM-SA turbulence closure: Taking advantage of structure-based modeling in current engineering CFD codes

Structure-based turbulence models (SBM) carry information about the turbulence structure that is needed for the prediction of complex non-equilibrium flows. SBM have been successfully used to predict a number of canonical flows, yet their adoption rate in engineering practice has been relatively low, mainly because of their departure from standard closure formulations, which hinders easy implementation in existing codes. Here, we demonstrate the coupling between the Algebraic Structure-Based Model (ASBM) and the one-equation Spalart–Allmaras (SA) model, which provides an easy route to bringing structure information in engineering turbulence closures. As the ASBM requires correct predictions of two turbulence scales, which are not taken into account in the SA model, Bradshaw relations and numerical optimizations are used to provide the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate. Attention is paid to the robustness and accuracy of the hybrid model, showing encouraging results for a number of simple test cases. An ASBM module in Fortran-90 is provided along with the present paper in order to facilitate the testing of the model by interested readers.     

A low Reynolds number variant of partially-averaged Navier-Stokes model for turbulence

A low Reynolds number (LRN) formulation based on the Partially Averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) modelling method is presented, which incorporates improved asymptotic representation in near-wall turbulence modelling. The effect of near-wall viscous damping can thus be better accounted for in simulations of wall-bounded turbulent flows. The proposed LRN PANS model uses an LRN k-ε model as the base model and introduces directly its model functions into the PANS formulation. As a result, the inappropriate wall-limiting behavior inherent in the original PANS model is corrected. An interesting feature of the PANS model is that the turbulent Prandtl numbers in the k and ε equations are modified compared to the base model. It is found that this modification has a significant effect on the modelled turbulence. The proposed LRN PANS model is scrutinized in computations of decaying grid turbulence, turbulent channel flow and periodic hill flow, of which the latter has been computed at two different Reynolds numbers of Re = 10,600 and 37,000. In comparison with available DNS, LES or experimental data, the LRN PANS model produces improved predictions over the standard PANS model, particularly in the near-wall region and for resolved turbulence statistics. Furthermore, the LRN PANS model gives similar or better results - at a reduced CPU time - as compared to the Dynamic Smagorinsky model.     

Thermo-mechanical modeling of turbulent heat transfer in gas–solid flows including particle collisions

A thermo-mechanical turbulence model is developed and used for predicting heat transfer in a gas–solid flow through a vertical pipe with constant wall heat flux. The new four-way interaction model makes use of the thermal k_θ–τ_θ equations, in addition to the hydrodynamic k–τ transport, and accounts for the particle–particle and particle–wall collisions through a Eulerian/Lagrangian formulation. The simulation results indicate that the level of thermal turbulence intensity and the heat transfer are strongly affected by the particle collisions. Inter-particle collisions attenuate the thermal turbulence intensity near the wall but somewhat amplify the temperature fluctuations in the pipe core region. The hydrodynamic-to-thermal times-scale ratio and the turbulent Prandtl number in the region near the wall increase due to the inter-particle collisions. The results also show that the use of a constant or the single-phase gas turbulent Prandtl number produces error in the thermal eddy diffusivity and thermal turbulent intensity fields. Simulation results also indicate that the inter-particle contact heat conduction during collision has no significant effect in the range of Reynolds number and particle diameter studied.     

Progress in subgrid-scale transport modelling for continuous hybrid non-zonal RANS/LES simulations

The partially integrated transport modelling (PITM) method can be viewed as a continuous approach for hybrid RANS/LES modelling allowing seamless coupling between the RANS and the LES regions. The subgrid turbulence quantities are thus calculated from spectral equations depending on the varying spectral cutoff location [Schiestel, R., Dejoan, A., 2005. Towards a new partially integrated transport model for coarse grid and unsteady turbulent flow simulations. Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics 18, 443–468; Chaouat, B., Schiestel, R., 2005. A new partially integrated transport model for subgrid-scale stresses and dissipation rate for turbulent developing flows. Physics of Fluids, 17 (6)] The PITM method can be applied to almost all statistical models to derive its hybrid LES counterpart. In the present work, the PITM version based on the transport equations for the turbulent Reynolds stresses together with the dissipation transport rate equation is now developed in a general formulation based on a new accurate energy spectrum function E(κ) valid in both large and small eddy ranges that allows to calibrate more precisely the c_sgs2 function involved in the subgrid dissipation rate _sgs transport equation. The model is also proposed here in an extended form which remains valid in low Reynolds number turbulent flows. This is achieved by considering a characteristic turbulence length-scale based on the total turbulent energy and the total dissipation rate taking into account the subgrid and resolved parts of the dissipation rate. These improvements allow to consider a large range of flows including various free flows as well as bounded flows. The present model is first tested on the decay of homogeneous isotropic turbulence by referring to the well known experiment of Comte-Bellot and Corrsin. Then, initial perturbed spectra E(κ) with a peak or a defect of energy are considered for analysing the model capabilities in strong non-equilibrium flow situations. The second test case is the classical fully turbulent channel flow that allows to assess the performance of the model in non-homogeneous flows characterised by important anisotropy effects. Different simulations are performed on coarse and refined meshes for checking the grid independence of solutions as well as the consistency of the subgrid-scale model when the filter width is changed. A special attention is devoted to the sharing out of the energy between the subgrid-scales and the resolved scales. Both the mean velocity and the turbulent stress computations are compared with data from direct numerical simulations.     

Numerical prediction of turbulent thermocapillary convection in superposed fluid layers with a free interface

The present paper introduces a new numerical method for predicting the characteristics of thermocapillary turbulent convection in a differentially-heated rectangular cavity with two superposed and immiscible fluid layers. The unsteady Reynolds form of the Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation are solved by using the control volume approach on a staggered grid system using SIMPLE algorithm. The turbulence quantities are predicted by applying the standard k–ε turbulence model. The level set formulation is applied for predicting the topological changes of the interface separating the two fluid layers and to provide an accurate and robust modeling of the interfacial normal and tangential stresses. The computational results obtained showed good agreement when compared with the previous experimental, numerical and analytical benchmark data for different validation cases in both laminar and turbulent regimes. The present numerical method is then applied to predict the velocity and temperature distribution in two immiscible liquid layers with undeformable interface for a wide range of Marangoni numbers. The laminar-turbulent transition is demonstrated by obtaining the turbulence features at high interfacial temperature gradient which is characterized by high Marangoni number. The effect of increasing Marangoni number on the interface dynamics in turbulent regime is also investigated.     

The Oriented-Eddy Collision Turbulence Model

The Oriented-Eddy Collision (OEC) model treats turbulent flow as a non-Newtonian fluid where the average behavior of turbulence is modeled as a collection of interacting fluid particles which have inherent orientation. The model is derived from the two-point velocity correlation transport equation, and has the form of a collection of Reynolds-stress transport equations, with one set of transport equations for each representative eddy direction. The addition of eddy orientation information adds important physics to the model and allows the model to represent structural (two-point) information about the turbulence. This structural information is sufficient to allow the model to capture the effect of external forces and imposed mean strains (such as rapid distortion theory) exactly. The only physical effects that must be empirically modeled are those that are due to turbulence-turbulence interactions, referred to as eddy collisions. The performance of the model in a number of canonical flow situations is presented.     

Correcting Anisotropic Gradient Transport of k

The gradient transport model for k is extended to classes of turbulent flows for which the gradient transport hypothesis is relevant but the anisotropy of the Reynolds stress, to which the eddy diffusivity is proportional, is large and variable. In highly anisotropic turbulence the standard isotropic model used in engineering practice is fundamentally wrong and the conventional anisotropic approximation inadequate. The work is motivated by the important observations that the eddy diffusivity coefficient for a standard gradient transport model for various transported quantities is a factor of 3–10 times larger in highly anisotropic turbulence than that used in standard engineering models. While the conventional anisotropic eddy diffusivity approximation appears adequate for material conserved scalars it is inadequate for k. The problem is solved by addressing the anisotropy of the turbulent transport of k at the level of the underlying third order tensor. It is shown that, unlike the traditional transport models for k, the orientation of the anisotropy with respect to the direction of the gradient plays a crucial role not accounted for in conventional models used in engineering calculations. The new anisotropic eddy diffusivity tensor is quadratic in the anisotropy (the traditional model is linear in the anisotropy). It is shown that the new more rigorous anisotropic eddy diffusivity varies 300% more than the standard model comparing the isotropic limit to the value for the two-dimensional limit. The two-dimensional limit is important in strongly stably stratified flows, in pressure gradient or shock driven flows and in rotating flows. Using the simple shear and the homogeneous non-equilibrium Rayleigh Taylor turbulence the new anisotropic diffusivity tensor is validated in inhomogeneous Rayleigh Taylor turbulence at early and late times.     

An implicit three‐dimensional numerical model to simulate transport processes in coastal water bodies

A three‐dimensional baroclinic numerical model has been developed to compute water levels and water particle velocity distributions in coastal waters. The numerical model consists of hydrodynamic, transport and turbulence model components. In the hydrodynamic model component, the Navier–Stokes equations are solved with the hydrostatic pressure distribution assumption and the Boussinesq approximation. The transport model component consists of the pollutant transport model and the water temperature and salinity transport models. In this component, the three‐dimensional convective diffusion equations are solved for each of the three quantities. In the turbulence model, a two‐equation k–ϵ formulation is solved to calculate the kinetic energy of the turbulence and its rate of dissipation, which provides the variable vertical turbulent eddy viscosity. Horizontal eddy viscosities can be simulated by the Smagorinsky algebraic sub grid scale turbulence model. The solution method is a composite finite difference–finite element method. In the horizontal plane, finite difference approximations, and in the vertical plane, finite element shape functions are used. The governing equations are solved implicitly in the Cartesian co‐ordinate system. The horizontal mesh sizes can be variable. To increase the vertical resolution, grid clustering can be applied. In the treatment of coastal land boundaries, the flooding and drying processes can be considered. The developed numerical model predictions are compared with the analytical solutions of the steady wind driven circulatory flow in a closed basin and of the uni‐nodal standing oscillation. Furthermore, model predictions are verified by the experiments performed on the wind driven turbulent flow of an homogeneous fluid and by the hydraulic model studies conducted on the forced flushing of marinas in enclosed seas. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A structure-based model for transport in stably stratified homogeneous turbulent flows

We present an extension that allows a recently proposed structure-based model for turbulent scalar transport to account for buoyancy effects. The proposed model is based on a generalization of the Interactive Particle Representation Model (IPRM) and is accompanied by a four-equation transport model that provides the turbulence scales needed for the closure of the complete structure-based model (SBM). The structure tensors and their invariants are used to model the additional buoyancy terms that emerge in the four-equation transport equations. Model parameters are set by matching the asymptotic decay exponents in decaying turbulence. The validity of the model is considered for a large number of different types of stably stratified flows at different Richardson numbers (Ri), showing encouraging results. The complete structure-based model achieves fair agreement with LES and DNS predictions for vertical shear in the presence of vertical mean stratification, while the structure tensors are shown to be suitable for use as diagnostic tools for the morphology of highly anisotropic turbulent structures. Additionally, the proposed model is shown to be sensitive to the variation of the inclination angle θ between the direction of the mean velocity gradient and the orientation of the mean scalar gradient. Furthermore, the model correctly predicts that the evolution of the inverse shear parameter is insensitive to the choice of inclination angle, yielding a turbulent Prandtl number close to unity, in accordance with DNS results.     

A FENE-P k–ε turbulence model for low and intermediate regimes of polymer-induced drag reduction

A new low-Reynolds-number k–ε turbulence model is developed for flows of viscoelastic fluids described by the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic rheological constitutive equation with Peterlin approximation (FENE-P model). The model is validated against direct numerical simulations in the low and intermediate drag reduction (DR) regimes (DR up to 50%). The results obtained represent an improvement over the low DR model of Pinho et al. (2008) [A low Reynolds number k–ε turbulence model for FENE-P viscoelastic fluids, Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 154, 89–108]. In extending the range of application to higher values of drag reduction, three main improvements were incorporated: a modified eddy viscosity closure, the inclusion of direct viscoelastic contributions into the transport equations for turbulent kinetic energy (k) and its dissipation rate, and a new closure for the cross-correlations between the fluctuating components of the polymer conformation and rate of strain tensors (NLT_ij). The NLT_ij appears in the Reynolds-averaged evolution equation for the conformation tensor (RACE), which is required to calculate the average polymer stress, and in the viscoelastic stress work in the transport equation of k. It is shown that the predictions of mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, its rate of dissipation by the Newtonian solvent, conformation tensor and polymer and Reynolds shear stresses are improved compared to those obtained from the earlier model.     

The general form of representation of wall region of a turbulent boundary layer

On the basis of a formal similarity between turbulent momentum, heat/mass flux and probability function a concept of turbulent flux density distribution has been proposed. It has been shown that the characteristic bell shape of this distribution is almost the same, irrespective of the turbulence model from which it was calculated, and can reveal the structure of the turbulent boundary layer, especially the influence of molecularPr orSc number. This concept may also be used to test consistency and to compare differently formulated models of turbulent transport.     

Turbulent boundary-layer analysis using finite elements

The use of finite element methods for turbulent boundary-layer flow is relatively recent and of limited extent.¹ In the present study, we extend the group variable approach of Fletcher and Fleer^2,3 to treat turbulent boundary layer flows with heat transfer using a two-equation turbulence model. The main concepts in the formulations include a Dorodnitsyn-type transformation which uses a velocity component as the transverse variable, a ‘variational’ formulation for the transformed equations using special test functions and development of a two-equation turbulence model in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy and turbulence dissipation rate as additional field variables. Several numerical test cases have been examined comparing the results with finite difference calculations and comparing the two-equation turbulence model with an algebraic turbulence model.     

Finite element,stream function-vorticity solution of secondary flow in the channels of a rod bundle

A finite element method has been applied to predict the overall features of the fully developed turbulent flow in the non-circular channels of a rod bundle. The finite element discretization is based on the conventional Galerkin method using an isoparametric quadrilateral element with mixed interpolation. The primary axial flow and turbulent kinetic energy distributions have been predicted for fully developed turbulent flow conditions right up to the wall. The secondary velocity is represented by the stream function-vorticity formulation and the no-slip boundary conditions are explicitly introduced in the nonlinear equations by a boundary vorticity formula. The Newton-Raphson method is applied to the stream function-vorticity equations and solved simultaneously by the frontal solution technique. A one-equation eddy viscosity model of turbulence and an algebraic stress transport model have been used to predict primary axial velocity, secondary velocities and turbulent kinetic energy. The predictions obtained for a central subchannel of an equilateral-triangular rod array with p/d= 1.3 are in reasonable agreement with experimental data.     

Buoyancy effects on turbulent swirling flows

A three-parameter model of turbulence applicable to free boundary layers has been developed and applied for the prediction of axisymmetric turbulent swirling flows in uniform and stagnant surroundings under the action of buoyancy forces. The turbulent momentum and heat fluxes appearing in the time-averaged equations for the mean motion have been determined from algebraic expressions, derived by neglecting the convection and diffusion terms in the differential transport equations for these quantities, which relate the turbulent fluxes to the kinetic energy of turbulence, k, the dissipation length scale of turbulence, L, and the temperature covariance, T ′². Differential transport equations have been used to determine these latter quantities. The governing equations have been solved using fully implicit finite difference schemes. The turbulence model is capable of reproducing the gross features of pure jet flows, buoyant flows and swirling flows for weak and moderate swirl. The behaviour of a turbulent buoyant swirling jet has been found to depend solely on exit swirl and Froude numbers. The predicted results indicate that the incorporation of buoyancy can cause significant changes in the behaviour of a swirling jet, particularly when the buoyancy strength is high. The jet exhibits similarity behaviour in the initial region for weak swirl and weak buoyancy strengths only, and the asymptotic case of a swirling jet under the action of buoyancy forces is a pure plume in the far field. The predicted results have been found to be in satisfactory agreement with the available experimental data and in good qualitative agreement with other predicted results.     

KOLMOGOROV BEHAVIOR OF NEAR-WALL TURBULENCE AND ITS APPLICATION IN TURBULENCE MODELING

The near-wall behavior of turbulence is re-examined in a way different from that proposed by Hanjalic and Launder¹ and followers^2,3,4,5. It is shown that at a certain distance from the wall, all energetic large eddies will reduce to Kolmogorov eddies (the smallest eddies in turbulence). All the important wall parameters, such as friction velocity, viscous length scale, and mean strain rate at the wall, are characterised by Kolmogorov microscales. According t o this Kolmogorov behavior of near-wall turbulence, the turbulence quantities, such as turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, etc. at the location where the large eddies become “Kolmogorov” eddies, can be estimated by using both direct numerical simulation (DNS) data and asymptotic analysis of near-wall turbulence. This information will provide useful boundary conditions for the turbulent transport equations. As a n example, the concept is incorporated in the standard κ - εmodel which is then applied t o channel and boundary layer flows. Using appropriate boundary conditions (based on Kolmogorov behaviour of near-wall turbulence), there is no need for any wall-modification to the κ - ε equations (including model constants). Results compare very well with the DNS and experimental data.     

Applications of a higher‐order bounded numerical scheme to turbulent flows

This paper applies the higher‐order bounded numerical scheme Weighted Average Coefficients Ensuring Boundedness (WACEB) to simulate two‐ and three‐dimensional turbulent flows. In the scheme, a weighted average formulation is used for interpolating the variables at cell faces and the weighted average coefficients are determined from a normalized variable formulation and total variation diminishing (TVD) constraints to ensure the boundedness of the solution. The scheme is applied to two turbulent flow problems: (1) two‐dimensional turbulent flow around a blunt plate; and (2) three‐dimensional turbulent flow inside a mildly curved U‐bend. In the present study, turbulence is evaluated by using a low‐Reynolds number version of the k–ω model. For the flow simulation, the QUICK scheme is applied to the momentum equations while either the WACEB scheme (Method 1) or the UPWIND scheme (Method 2) is used for the turbulence equations. The present study shows that the WACEB scheme has at least second‐order accuracy while ensuring boundedness of the solutions. The present numerical study for a pure convection problem shows that the ‘TVD’ slope ranges from 2 to 4. For the turbulent recirculating flow, two different mixed procedures (Method 1 and Method 2) produce a substantial difference for the mean velocities as well as for the turbulence kinetic energy. Method 1 predicts better results than Method 2 does, comparing the analytical solution and the experimental data. For the turbulent flow inside the mildly curved U‐bend, although the predictions of velocity distributions with two procedures are very close, a noticeable difference of turbulence kinetic energy is exhibited. It is noticed that the discrepancy exists between numerical results and the experimental data. The reason is the limit of the two‐equation turbulence model to such complex turbulent flows with extra strain‐rates. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一类平衡大气边界层边界条件研究

基于标准k-ε湍流模型,首先利用湍流粘度方程和剪切应力在整个边界层内恒定的假设,推导出一类耗散率表达式,并根据常用的湍动能入口剖面方程以及平均风速剖面方程,计算获得相应的耗散率方程;然后在输运方程中添加自定义源项,通过已经确定的平均速度方程、湍动能方程、耗散率方程计算得到相应输运方程的自定义源项表达式,并进行空风洞数值模拟,从而得到了一类满足平衡大气边界层的来流边界条件．通过将这种边界条件与由湍流平衡条件得到的边界条件进行比较,表明本方法获得的边界条件更适用．并且,本方法无需考虑修正壁面函数和修正湍流模型常数,因而计算更为简单,可为平衡大气边界层的研究提供一种新的思路．     

A modular RANS approach for modelling laminar–turbulent transition in turbomachinery flows

In this study we propose a laminar–turbulent transition model, which considers the effects of the various instability modes that exist in turbomachinery flows. This model is based on a K–ω–γ three-equation eddy-viscosity concept with K representing the fluctuating kinetic energy, ω the specific dissipation rate and γ the intermittency factor. As usual, the local mechanics by which the freestream disturbances penetrate into the laminar boundary layer, namely convection and viscous diffusion, are described by the transport equations. However, as a novel feature, the non-local effects due to pressure diffusion are additionally represented by an elliptic formulation. Such an approach allows the present model to respond accurately to freestream turbulence intensity properly and to predict both long and short bubble lengths well. The success in its application to a 3-D cascade indicates that the mixed-mode transition scenario indeed benefits from such a modular prediction approach, which embodies current conceptual understanding of the transition process.     

Numerical study of dispersing pollutant clouds in a built-up environment

In this paper, we study numerically the dispersion of a passive scalar released from an instantaneous point source in a built-up (urban) environment using a Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method. A nonlinear k–? turbulence model [Speziale, C.G., 1987. On nonlinear k–l and k–? models of turbulence. J. Fluid Mech., 178, 459–475] was used for the closure of the mean momentum equations. A tensor diffusivity model [Yoshizawa, A., 1985. Statistical analysis of the anisotropy of scalar diffusion in turbulent shear flows. Phys. Fluids, 28, 3226–3231] was used for closure of the scalar transport equations. The concentration variance was also calculated from its transport equation, for which new values of Yoshizawa’s closure coefficients are used, in order to account for the instantaneous tracer release and the complex geometry. A new dissipation length-scale model, required for the modelling of the dissipation rate of concentration variance, is also proposed. The numerical results for the flow, the pollutant concentration and the concentration variance, are compared with experimental data. This data was obtained from a water-channel simulation of a full-scale field experiment of tracer dispersion through a large array of building-like obstacles known as the Mock Urban Setting Trial (MUST).