Relationship between turbulent and kinetic energy in a mixed substance

Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, No. 1, pp. 38–42, January–February, 1992.     

Modeling droplet dispersion and interphase turbulent kinetic energy transfer using a new dual-timescale Langevin model

Dispersion of spray droplets and the modulation of turbulence in the ambient gas by the dispersing droplets are two coupled phenomena that are closely linked to the evolution of global spray characteristics, such as the spreading rate of the spray and the spray cone angle. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent gas flows laden with sub-Kolmogorov size particles, in the absence of gravity, report that dispersion statistics and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) evolve on different timescales. Furthermore, each timescale behaves differently with Stokes number, a non-dimensional flow parameter (defined in this context as the ratio of the particle response time to the Kolmogorov timescale of turbulence) that characterizes how quickly a particle responds to turbulent fluctuations in the carrier or gas phase. A new dual-timescale Langevin model (DLM) composed of two coupled Langevin equations for the fluctuating velocities, one for each phase, is proposed. This model possesses a unique feature that the implied TKE and velocity autocorrelation in each phase evolve on different timescales. Consequently, this model has the capability of simultaneously predicting the disparate Stokes number trends in the evolution of dispersion statistics, such as velocity autocorrelations, and TKE in each phase. Predictions of dispersion statistics and TKE from the new model show good agreement with published DNS of non-evaporating and evaporating droplet-laden turbulent flow.     

Flow structures inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles:Eulerian simulation with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model

Turbulent fluidized bed reactors are widely used in industry. However, CFD simulations of the hydrodynamic characteristics of these reactors are relatively sparse, despite the urgent demand from industry. To address this problem, Eulerian simulations with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model, accounting for the effect of sub-grid scale structures on the inter-phase friction, are performed to study the hydrodynamics inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles. It is shown that the simulated a...     

Use of turbulent energy balance equation in the theory of turbulent flows along walls

The turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid is considered in a plane channel, a circular tube, and the boundary layer on a flat plate. The system of equations describing the motion of the fluid consists of the Reynolds equations and the mean kinetic energy balance equation for turbulent fluctuations. On the basis of an analysis of experimental data, hypotheses are formulated with respect to the eddy kinematic viscosity and lengthl entering into the expression for specific dissipation of turbulent energy into heat. It is assumed that in the central (outer) region of the flow in a channel, andl are constants, and expressions are taken for them which are used for a free boundary layer; near the walll varies linearly and almost linearly. Results of calculations of the turbulent energy distribution, the mean velocity, and the drag coefficient are in good agreement with the existing experimental data. The values of two empirical coefficients, which enter into the system of equations as the result of the hypotheses, are close to those obtained for a free boundary layer.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 25–33, May–June, 1973.     

Estimation of the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent lengthscales in grid-generated turbulence

We have compared direct measurements of the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, e, to estimates using Batchelor fitting techniques in controlled laboratory experiments. Turbulence was generated uniformly throughout a linearly salt stratified fluid by the continual horizontal oscillation of a rigid vertical grid. Batchelor estimates of e were obtained by processing data acquired from traversing fast response thermistors through the fluid in three orthogonal directions. It was found that the Batchelor estimates from the two probes traversing in the plane of the grid were similar to each other, and systematically larger than those from probes traversed perpendicular to the grid plane. We show that this is related to the spatial inhomogeneity of the high wavenumber content of the temperature gradient field generated by the grid. Hence, our experiments demonstrate that care needs to be taken when using these techniques to estimate e in grid-generated turbulence with zero mean flow. Turbulent lengthscales were also measured from the same traverse data, and it was found that the estimates of this quantity from all three traverse directions were similar.     

Measurement of the turbulent kinetic energy budget of a planar wake flow in pressure gradients

Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget measurements were conducted for a symmetric turbulent planar wake flow subjected to constant zero, favorable, and adverse pressure gradients. The purpose of this study is to clarify the flow physics issues underlying the demonstrated influence of pressure gradient on wake development, and provide experimental support for turbulence modeling. To ensure the reliability of these notoriously difficult measurements, the experimental procedure was carefully designed on the basis of an uncertainty analysis. Three different approaches were applied for the estimate of the dissipation term. An approach for the determination of the pressure diffusion term together with correction of the bias error associated with the dissipation estimate is proposed and validated with the DNS results of Moser et al (J Fluid Mech (1998) 367:255–289). This paper presents the results of the turbulent kinetic energy budget measurement and discusses their implications for the development of strained turbulent wakes.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Separation-induced boundary layer transition: Modeling with a non-linear eddy-viscosity model coupled with the laminar kinetic energy equation

We present an effort to model the separation-induced transition on a flat plate with a semi-circular leading edge, using a cubic non-linear eddy-viscosity model combined with the laminar kinetic energy. A non-linear model, compared to a linear one, has the advantage to resolve the anisotropic behavior of the Reynolds-stresses in the near-wall region and it provides a more accurate expression for the generation of turbulence in the transport equation of the turbulence kinetic energy. Although in its original formulation the model is not able to accurately predict the separation-induced transition, the inclusion of the laminar kinetic energy increases its accuracy. The adoption of the laminar kinetic energy by the non-linear model is presented in detail, together with some additional modifications required for the adaption of the laminar kinetic energy into the basic concepts of the non-linear eddy-viscosity model. The computational results using the proposed combined model are shown together with the ones obtained using an isotropic linear eddy-viscosity model, which adopts also the laminar kinetic energy concept and in comparison with the existing experimental data.     

Introduction of turbulent model in a mixed finite volume/finite element method

The aim of this work is to present a new numerical method to compute turbulent flows in complex configurations. With this in view, a k-? model with wall functions has been introduced in a mixed finite volume/finite element method. The numerical method has been developed to deal with compressible flows but is also able to compute nearly incompressible flows. The physical model and the numerical method are first described, then validation results for an incompressible flow over a backward-facing step and for a supersonic flow over a compression ramp are presented. Comparisons are performed with experimental data and with other numerical results. These simulations show the ability of the present method to predict turbulent flows, and this method will be applied to simulate complex industrial flows (flow inside the combustion chamber of gas turbine engines). The main goal of this paper is not to test turbulence models, but to show that this numerical method is a solid base to introduce more sophisticated turbulence model.     

Study of a new semi-continuous model of the Boltzmann equation

For a semi-continuous model of the Boltzmann equation (1) peculiar solutions are obtained and generally the global existence of solutions of the initial value problem is discussed. The global existence is possible even in some cases for partially negative initial number densities, which are not physical problems, but mathematical ones. It can be shown that in some cases the entropy begins to increase, reaches a maximum and decreases again.     

Nonlinear nonequilibrium kinetic model of the Boltzmann equation for a gas with power-law interaction

A model kinetic equation approximating the Boltzmann equation on a wide range of the intensities of nonequilibrium states of gases is derived to describe rarefied gas flows. The kinetic model is based on a distribution function dependent on the absolute velocity of gas particles. Themodel kinetic equation possesses a high computational efficiency and the problem of shock wave structure is solved on its basis. The calculated and experimental data for argon are compared.     

Analysis of heating a three-dimensional porous bed utilizing the two energy equation model

In this paper heating a three-dimensional porous packed bed by a non-thermal equilibrium flow of incompressible fluid is analytically investigated. A two energy equation model is employed to simulate the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases. Using the perturbation technique, an analytical solution for the problem is obtained. It is shown that the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases forms a wave localized in space and propagating from the fluid inlet boundary in the direction of the flow. The amplitude of the wave decreases while the wave propagates downstream.     

An application of Discontinuous Galerkin space and velocity discretisations to the solution of a model kinetic equation

An approach based on a Discontinuous Galerkin discretisation is proposed for the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook model kinetic equation. This approach allows for a high-order polynomial approximation of molecular velocity distribution function both in spatial and velocity variables. It is applied to model one-dimensional normal shock wave and heat transfer problems. Convergence of solutions with respect to the number of spatial cells and velocity bins is studied, with the degree of polynomial approximation ranging from zero to four in the physical space variable and from zero to eight in the velocity variable. This approach is found to conserve mass, momentum and energy when high-degree polynomial approximations are used in the velocity space. For the shock wave problem, the solution is shown to exhibit accelerated convergence with respect to the velocity variable. Convergence with respect to the spatial variable is in agreement with the order of the polynomial approximation used. For the heat transfer problem, it was observed that convergence of solutions obtained by high-degree polynomial approximations is only second order with respect to the resolution in the spatial variable. This is attributed to the temperature jump at the wall in the solutions. The shock wave and heat transfer solutions are in excellent agreement with the solutions obtained by a conservative finite volume scheme.     

Construction of solutions of the Boltzmann kinetic equation in a Knudsen layer

We consider the moment equation method for solving the Boltzmann equation in a Knudsen layer; the calculation of one of the moments of the collision integral is presented.     

Turbulent kinetic energy balance in the wake of a self-propelled body

An experimental study of the turbulent wake of a self-propelled body in a wind tunnel is reported. A significant difference is formed between the turbulent kinetic energy balance in a wake with drag and in the wake of a self-propelled body: the production term is very small in comparison with the other terms of the turbulent kinetic energy balance, and this result seems to be typical of self-propulsion. The axial evolution of the wake radius and turbulent kinetic energy profiles are described. Sufficiently far downstream from the body, a self-similar profile is found. Particular attention is devoted to the turbulent kinetic energy balance; all the terms in the energy balance are evaluated experimentally.List of Symbols D diameter of the body - L axial length scale - l radial length scale - R radius of the body - r radial coordinate - r ^* radius of the wake - U mean axial velocity scale - Û defect velocity - U _e freestream velocity - u fluctuating velocity scale - x axial coordinate - dissipation rate - = r/r ^* radial relative direction - azimuthal coordinate - kinematic viscosity - density     

Shock wave solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation in a 13-moment approximation

We consider the classic problem of a one-dimensional steady shock-wave solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation utilizing a new type of 13-moment approximation proposed by Oguchi (1997). The model, unlike previous ones, expresses the collision term in an explicit function of the molecular velocity. This enables us to examine directly the nature of the singularity of the distribution function to this particular problem caused by the vanishing molecular velocity. We can thus obtain moment integrals directly because of its explicit expression. The principal value is utilized for the moment integral to cope with the singularity, and we can have five relations for five unknown functions to be determined with respect to the coordinate x. These relations can be reduced to a first-order differential equation that is solved to provide the familiar smooth monotonic transition from the upstream supersonic state to the subsonic downstream state. Computed values of shock thickness for various shock Mach numbers agree well with existing results obtained by different methods to the certain Mach number beyond which no solution exists.Received: 17 May 2002, Accepted: 1 May 2003, Published online: 15 August 2003PACS: 51.10. + y     

A-priori testing of an eddy viscosity model for the density-weighted subgrid scale stress tensor in turbulent premixed flames

In this study, we report on the direct measurement of the density-weighted subgrid scale (SGS) stress tensor in turbulent premixed flames. In large-eddy simulations (LES), this unresolved tensor is typically modelled using eddy viscosity approaches. Additionally to the direct measurement, we provide a pure experimentally based a-priori test of the commonly used eddy viscosity model suggested by Smagorinsky. For two turbulent premixed V-shaped methane–air flames, a statistical analysis is presented where the correlation between the directly measured SGS stress tensor and the eddy viscosity model following Smagorinsky is tested. The measurement strategy is based on the application of a dual-plane stereo-PIV technique which enables the measurement of the 3D flow field in two parallel planes. This allows the determination of velocities as well as velocity gradients in all three directions. Here, a vector resolution of 118 μm was achieved. For a priori testing, the data are subjected to a spatial filtering procedure that reproduces the application of the filter function in LES. The calculation of velocity gradients is performed after the application of this spatial averaging. Additionally to the velocity field, the flame front position is deduced from the clearly observable step in the tracer particle number density between burnt and unburnt regions of the flame. This facilitates the direct single-shot-based evaluation of all components of the density-weighted SGS stress tensor. Additionally, the model expressions related to these terms can be determined, which is done in this first study for the static Smagorinsky model. With that, the instantaneous local comparison between directly measured stress terms and modelled terms is possible, based on the instantaneous local evaluation procedure. The measurement procedure is described, and first results are presented and discussed. They show a rather poor performance of the static form of the Smagorinsky model (with fixed Smagorinsky constant). Our future aims are to use the directly measured SGS data for the a-priori comparison with more advanced models.