Modifications for an explicit algebraic stress model

An extension of the explicit algebraic stress model, developed by Gatski and Speziale [Gatski TB, Speziale CG. On the explicit algebraic stress models for complex turbulent flows. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 1993; 254: 59–78] is proposed. The extension implicates some essential characteristics of second‐order closure models. The strain‐dependent coefficients are modified, resulting in an alleviation of the numerical instabilities involved in the model. A new near‐wall damping function f_μ in the eddy viscosity relation is introduced. To enhance dissipation in near‐wall regions, the model constant C_ϵ1 is modified and an extra positive source term is included in the dissipation equation. In addition, a realizable time scale is incorporated to remove the wall singularity. Computed results show that the modified Gatski–Speziale (MGS) model predictions are in better agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data than those of the original Gatski–Speziale (OGS) model. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fully explicit and self-consistent algebraic Reynolds stress model

A fully explicit, self-consistent algebraic expression (for Reynolds stress) which is the exact solution to the Reynolds stress transport equation in the weak-equilibrium limit for two-dimensional mean flows for all linear and some quasi-linear pressure-strain models, is derived. Current explicit algebraic Reynolds stress models derived by employing the weak-equilibrium assumption treat the production-to-dissipation (P/) ratio as a constant, resulting in an effective viscosity that can be singular away from the equilibrium limit. In this paper the set of simultaneous algebraic Reynolds stress equations in the weak-equilibrium limit are solved in the full nonlinear form and the eddy viscosity is found to be nonsingular. Preliminary tests indicate that the model performs adequately, even for three-dimensional mean-flow cases. Due to the explicit and nonsingular nature of the effective viscosity, this model should mitigate many of the difficulties encountered in computing complex turbulent flows with the algebraic Reynolds stress models.This research was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Contract No. NAS1-19480.     

Computations of strongly swirling flows with second‐moment closures

The present study is concerned with simulating turbulent, strongly swirling flows by eddy viscosity model and Reynolds stress transport model variants adopting linear and quadratic form of the pressure–strain models. Flows with different inlet swirl numbers, 2.25 and 0.85, were investigated. Detailed comparisons of the predicted results and measurements were presented to assess the merits of model variants. For the swirl number 2.25 case, due to the inherent capability of the Reynolds stress models to capture the strong swirl and turbulence interaction, both the linear and quadratic form of the pressure–strain models predict the flow adequately. In strong contrast, the k–ϵ model predicts an excessively diffusive flow fields. For the swirl number 0.85 case, both the k–ϵ and Reynolds stress model with linear pressure–strain process, show an excessive diffusive transport of the flow fields. The quadratic pressure–strain model, on the other hand, mimics the correct flow development with the recirculating region being correctly predicted. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accounting for Buoyancy Effects in the Explicit Algebraic Stress Model: Homogeneous Turbulent Shear Flows

Most explicit algebraic stress models are formulated for turbulent shear flows without accounting for external body force effects, such as the buoyant force. These models yield fairly good predictions of the turbulence field generated by mean shear. As for thermal turbulence generated by the buoyant force, the models fail to give satisfactory results. The reason is that the models do not explicitly account for buoyancy effects, which interact with the mean shear to enhance or suppress turbulent mixing. Since applicable, coupled differential equations have been developed describing these thermal turbulent fields, it is possible to develop corresponding explicit algebraic stress models using tensor representation theory. While the procedure to be followed has been employed previously, unique challenges arise in extending the procedure for developing the algebraic representations to turbulent buoyant flows. In this paper the development of an explicit algebraic stress model (EASM) is confined to the homogeneous buoyant shear flow case to illustrate the methodology needed to develop the proper polynomial representations. The derivation is based on the implicit formulation of the Reynolds stress anisotropy at buoyant equilibrium. A five-term representation is found to be necessary to account properly for the effect of the thermal field. Thus derived, external buoyancy effects are represented in the scalar coefficients of the basis tensors, and structural buoyancy effects are accounted for in additional terms in the stress anisotropy tensor. These terms will not vanish even in the absence of mean shear. The performance of the new EASM, together with a two-equation (2-Eq) model, the non-buoyant EASM of Gatski and Speziale (1993) and a full second-order model, is assessed against direct numerical simulations of homogeneous, buoyant shear flows at two different Richardson numbers representing weak and strong buoyancy effects. The calculations show that this five-term representation yields better results than the 2-Eq model and the EASM of Gatski and Speziale where buoyancy effects are not explicitly accounted for. Received 5 March 2001 and accepted 15 January 2002     

Turbulence modelling of problem aerospace flows

Unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) and detached eddy simulation (DES) related approaches are considered for high angle of attack NACA0012 airfoil, wing–flap, generic tilt‐rotor airfoil and double‐delta geometry flows. These are all found to be problem flows for URANS models. For DES fifth‐order upwinding is found too dissipative and the use of, for high speed flows, instability prone centred differencing essential. An existing hybrid ILES–RANS modelling approach, intended for flexible geometry, relatively high numerical dissipation codes is tested along with differential wall distance algorithms. The former gives promising results. The standard turbulence modelling approaches are found to give perhaps a surprising results variation. Results suggest that for the problem flows, the explicit algebraic stress and Menter shear stress transport (SST) URANS models are more accurate than the economical Spalart–Allmaras (SA). However, the explicit algebraic stress model (EASM) in its k–ε form is impractically expensive to converge. Here, SA predictions lack a rotation correction term and this is likely to improve these results. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An explicit algebraic Reynolds stress and heat flux model for incompressible turbulence: Part II Buoyant flow

This paper presents a derivation of an explicit algebraic model for two-dimensional (2-D) buoyant flows. It is an extension of the work reported in Part I (So et al. [27]). The tensor representation method of Jongen and Gatski [14] is extended to derive an explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model (EASM) for 2-D buoyant flow invoking the Boussinesq approximation. The projection methodology is further extended to treat the heat flux transport equation in the derivation of an explicit algebraic heat flux model (EAHFM) for buoyant flow. Again, the weak equilibrium assumption is invoked for the scaled Reynolds stress and scaled heat flux equation. An explicit algebraic model for buoyant flows is then formed with the EASM and EAHFM. From the derived EAHFM, an expression for the thermal diffusivity tensor in buoyant shear flows is deduced. Furthermore, a turbulent Prandtl number (Pr_T) for each of the three heat flux directions is determined. These directional Pr_T are found to be a function of the gradient Richardson number. Alternatively, a scalar Pr_T can be derived; its value is compared with the directional Pr_T. The EASM and EAHFM are used to calculate 2-D homogeneous buoyant shear flows and the results are compared with direct numerical simulation data and other model predictions, where good agreement is obtained. Dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Charles G. Speziale of Boston University     

Computation of strongly swirling confined flows with cubic eddy‐viscosity turbulence models

An investigation on the predictive performance of four cubic eddy‐viscosity turbulence models for two strongly swirling confined flows is presented. Comparisons of the prediction with the experiments show clearly the superiority of cubic models over the linear k–εmodel. The linear k–εmodel does not contain any mechanism to describe the stabilizing effects of swirling motion and as a consequence it performs poorly. Cubic models return a lower level of Reynolds stresses and the combined forced‐free vortex profiles of tangential velocity close to the measurements in response to the interaction between swirl‐induced curvature and stresses. However, a fully developed rotating pipe flow is too simple to contain enough flow physics, so the calibration of cubic terms is still a topic of investigation. It is shown that explicit algebraic stress models require fewer calibrations and contain more flow physics. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applications of URANS on predicting unsteady turbulent separated flows

Accurate prediction of unsteady separated turbulent flows remains one of the toughest tasks and a practi cal challenge for turbulence modeling. In this paper, a 2D flow past a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 3,900 is numerically investigated by using the technique of unsteady RANS （URANS）. Some typical linear and nonlinear eddy viscosity turbulence models （LEVM and NLEVM） and a quadratic explicit algebraic stress model （EASM） are evaluated. Numerical results have shown that a high-performance cubic NLEVM, such as CLS, are superior to the others in simulating turbulent separated flows with unsteady vortex shedding.     

Predicting Buoyant Shear Flows Using Anisotropic Dissipation Rate Models

This paper examines the modeling of two-dimensional homogeneous stratified turbulent shear flows using the Reynolds-stress and Reynolds-heat-flux equations. Several closure models have been investigated; the emphasis is placed on assessing the effect of modeling the dissipation rate tensor in the Reynolds-stress equation. Three different approaches are considered; one is an isotropic approach while the other two are anisotropic approaches. The isotropic approach is based on Kolmogorov's hypothesis and a dissipation rate equation modified to account for vortex stretching. One of the anisotropic approaches is based on an algebraic representation of the dissipation rate tensor, while another relies on solving a modeled transport equation for this tensor. In addition, within the former anisotropic approach, two different algebraic representations are examined; one is a function of the Reynolds-stress anisotropy tensor, and the other is a function of the mean velocity gradients. The performance of these closure models is evaluated against experimental and direct numerical simulation data of pure shear flows, pure buoyant flows and buoyant shear flows. Calculations have been carried out over a range of Richardson numbers (Ri) and two different Prandtl numbers (Pr); thus the effect of Pr on the development of counter-gradient heat flux in a stratified shear flow can be assessed. At low Ri, the isotropic model performs well in the predictions of stratified shear flows; however, its performance deteriorates as Ri increases. At high Ri, the transport equation model for the dissipation rate tensor gives the best result. Furthermore, the results also lend credence to the algebraic dissipation rate model based on the Reynolds stress anisotropy tensor. Finally, it is found that Pr has an effect on the development of counter-gradient heat flux. The calculations show that, under the action of shear, counter-gradient heat flux does not occur even at Ri = 1 in an air flow. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nonlinear turbulence models for predicting strong curvature effects

Prediction of the characteristics of turbulent flows with strong streamline curvature, such as flows in turbomachines, curved channel flows, flows around airfoils and buildings, is of great importance in engineering applications and poses a very practical challenge for turbulence modeling. In this paper, we analyze qualitatively the curvature effects on the structure of turbulence and conduct numerical simulations of a turbulent Uduct flow with a number of turbulence models in order to assess their overall performance. The models evaluated in this work are some typical linear eddy viscosity turbulence models, nonlinear eddy viscosity turbulence models （NLEVM） （quadratic and cubic）, a quadratic explicit algebraic stress model （EASM） and a Reynolds stress model （RSM） developed based on the second-moment closure. Our numerical results show that a cubic NLEVM that performs considerably well in other benchmark turbulent flows, such as the Craft, Launder and Suga model and the Huang and Ma model, is able to capture the major features of the highly curved turbulent U-duct flow, including the damping of turbulence near the convex wall, the enhancement of turbulence near the concave wall, and the subsequent turbulent flow separation. The predictions of the cubic models are quite close to that of the RSM, in relatively good agreement with the experimental data, which suggests that these models may be employed to simulate the turbulent curved flows in engineering applications.     

CALCULATION OF WALL-BOUNDED COMPLEX FLOWS AND FREE SHEAR FLOWS

Various wall-bounded flows with complex geometries and free shear flows have been studied with a newly developed realizable Reynolds stress algebraic equation model. The model development is based on the invariant theory in continuum mechanics. This theory enables us to formulate a general constitutive relation for the Reynolds stresses. Pope (J. Fluid Mech., 72 , 331–340 (1975)) was the first to introduce this kind of constitutive relation to turbulence modelling. In our study, realizability is imposed on the truncated constitutive relation to determine the coefficients so that, unlike the standard k–ϵ eddy viscosity model, the present model will not produce negative normal stresses in any situations of rapid distortion. The calculations based on the present model have shown encouraging success in modelling complex turbulent flows.     

Progress in the extension of a second-moment closure for turbulent environmental flows

An advanced second-moment closure for the double-averaged turbulence equations of porous medium and vegetation flows is proposed. It treats three kinds of second moments which appear in the double-averaged momentum equation. They are the dispersive covariance, the volume averaged (total) Reynolds stress and the micro-scale Reynolds stress. The two-component-limit pressure–strain correlation model is applied to model the total Reynolds stress equation whilst a novel scale-similarity non-linear $k''–''\epsilon$ two-equation eddy viscosity model is employed for the micro-scale turbulence. For the dispersive covariance, an algebraic relation is applied. Model validation in several fully developed homogeneous porous medium flows, porous channel flows and aquatic vegetation canopy flows is performed with satisfactory agreement with the data.     

An eddy viscosity model with near‐wall modifications

An extended version of the isotropic k–ε model is proposed that accounts for the distinct effects of low‐Reynolds number (LRN) and wall proximity. It incorporates a near‐wall correction term to amplify the level of dissipation in nonequilibrium flow regions, thus reducing the kinetic energy and length scale magnitudes to improve prediction of adverse pressure gradient flows, involving flow separation and reattachment. The eddy viscosity formulation maintains the positivity of normal Reynolds stresses and the Schwarz' inequality for turbulent shear stresses. The model coefficients/functions preserve the anisotropic characteristics of turbulence. The model is validated against a few flow cases, yielding predictions in good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. Comparisons indicate that the present model is a significant improvement over the standard eddy viscosity formulation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model in turbulence

A new algebraic Reynold stress model is constructed with recourse to the realizability constraints. Model coefficients are made a function of strain and vorticity invariants through calibration by reference to homogeneous shear flow data. The anisotropic production in near‐wall regions is accounted for substantially by modifying the model constants C_{ε(1, 2)} and adding a secondary source term in the ε equation. Hence, it reduces the kinetic energy and length scale magnitudes to improve prediction of adverse pressure gradient flows, involving flow separation and reattachment. To facilitate the evaluation of the turbulence model, some extensively used benchmark cases in the turbulence modelling are convoked. The comparisons demonstrate that the new model maintains qualitatively good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Compound wall treatment with low‐Re turbulence model

A generalized treatment for the wall boundary conditions relating to turbulent flows is developed that blends the integration to a solid wall with wall functions. The blending function ensures a smooth transition between the viscous and turbulent regions. An improved low Reynolds number k?ε model is coupled with the proposed compound wall treatment to determine the turbulence field. The eddy viscosity formulation maintains the positivity of normal Reynolds stresses and Schwarz' inequality for turbulent shear stresses. The model coefficients/functions preserve the anisotropic characteristics of turbulence. Computations with fine and coarse meshes of a few flow cases yield appreciably good agreement with the direct numerical simulation and experimental data. The method is recommended for computing the complex flows where computational grids cannot satisfy a priori the prerequisites of viscous/turbulence regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling the turbulent heat and momentum transfer in flows under different thermal conditions

Two-equation turbulence models for velocity and temperature (scalar) fields are developed to calculate wall shear flows under various flow conditions and related turbulent heat transfer under various wall thermal conditions. In the present models, we make the modified dissipation rates of both turbulent energy and temperature variance zero at a wall, though the wall limiting behavior of velocity and temperature fluctuations is reproduced exactly. Thus, the models assure computational expediency and convergence. Also, the present k- model is construted using a new type of expression for the Reynolds stress proposed by Abe et al. [Trans. JSME B 61 (1995) 1714–1721], whose essential feature lies in introducing the explicit algebraic stress model concept into the nonlinear k- formulation, and the present two-equation heat transfer model is constructed to properly take into account the effects of wall thermal conditions on the eddy diffusivity for heat. The models are tested with five typical velocity fields and four typical thermal fields. Agreement with experiment and direct simulation data is quite satisfactory.     

An unsymmetric constitutive equation for anisotropic viscoelastic fluid

A continuum constitutive theory of corotational derivative type is developed for the anisotropic viscoelastic fluid–liquid crystalline (LC) polymers. A concept of anisotropic viscoelastic simple fluid is introduced. The stress tensor instead of the velocity gradient tensor D in the classic Leslie–Ericksen theory is described by the first Rivlin–Ericksen tensor A and a spin tensor W measured with respect to a co-rotational coordinate system. A model LCP-H on this theory is proposed and the characteristic unsymmetric behaviour of the shear stress is predicted for LC polymer liquids. Two shear stresses thereby in shear flow of LC polymer liquids lead to internal vortex flow and rotational flow. The conclusion could be of theoretical meaning for the modern liquid crystalline display technology. By using the equation, extrusion–extensional flows of the fluid are studied for fiber spinning of LC polymer melts, the elongational viscosity vs. extension rate with variation of shear rate is given in figures. A considerable increase of elongational viscosity and bifurcation behaviour are observed when the orientational motion of the director vector is considered. The contraction of extrudate of LC polymer melts is caused by the high elongational viscosity. For anisotropic viscoelastic fluids, an important advance has been made in the investigation on the constitutive equation on the basis of which a series of new anisotropic non-Newtonian fluid problems can be addressed. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10372100, 19832050) (Key project). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

A non‐linear k–ε model with realizability for prediction of flows around bluff bodies

The incompressible flow around bluff bodies (a square cylinder and a cube) is investigated numerically using turbulence models. A non‐linear k–ε model, which can take into account the anisotropy of turbulence with less CPU time and computer memory then RSM or LES, is adopted as a turbulence model. In tuning of the model coefficients of the non‐linear terms are adjusted through the examination of previous experimental studies in simple shear flows. For the tuning of the coefficient in the eddy viscosity (=C_μ), the realizability constraints are derived in three types of basic 2D flow patterns, namely, a simple shear flow, flow around a saddle and a focal point. C_μ is then determined as a function of the strain and rotation parameters to satisfy the realizability. The turbulence model is first applied to a 2D flow around a square cylinder and the model performance for unsteady flows is examined focussing on the period and the amplitude of the flow oscillation induced by Karman vortex shedding. The applicability of the model to 3D flows is examined through the computation of the flow around a surface‐mounted cubic obstacle. The numerical results show that the present model performs satisfactorily to reproduce complex turbulent flows around bluff bodies. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isolating curvature effects in computing wall-bounded turbulent flows

An adjoint optimization method is utilized to design an inviscid outer wall shape required for a turbulent flow field solution of the So–Mellor convex curved wall experiment using the Navier–Stokes equations. The associated cost function is the desired pressure distribution on the inner wall. Using this optimized wall shape with a Navier–Stokes method, the abilities of various turbulence models to simulate the effects of curvature without the complicating factor of streamwise pressure gradient are evaluated. The one-equation Spalart–Allmaras (SA) turbulence model overpredicts eddy viscosity, and its boundary layer profiles are too full. A curvature-corrected version of this model improves results, which are sensitive to the choice of a particular constant. An explicit algebraic stress model does a reasonable job predicting this flow field. However, results can be slightly improved by modifying the assumption on anisotropy equilibrium in the model's derivation. The resulting curvature-corrected explicit algebraic stress model (EASM) possesses no heuristic functions or additional constants. It slightly lowers the computed skin friction coefficient and the turbulent stress levels for this case, in better agreement with experiment. The effect on computed velocity profiles is minimal.