A Note on the Numerical Treatment of the k-epsilon Turbulence Model*

Numerical solution of the equations arising from the κ mdash; ε turbulence model has difficulties inherent to nonlinear convection-reaction-diffusion equations with strong reaction terms, resulting in that numerical schemes easily become unstable. We present a formulation that stresses on the robustness of the solution method, tackling common problems that produce instability. The main contribution concerns the loss of positivity of κ and ε, which is addressed by acting on the coefficients of the reaction and diffusion terms rather than on the turbulent variables themselves. In addition, a linearized implicit, non-iterative, treatment of the wall law is proposed.