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Gerald Recktenwald∗
August 3, 2009
1 Overview
This article gives a very brief overview of the basic k − turbulence model used in CFD codes. The
major topics discussed are
• The Reynolds Averaged Equations
• The modified Boussinesq Eddy-Viscosity Concept
• Prandtl’s Mixing Length Hypothesis
• The k and equations
• Boundary Conditions and Wall Functions
Good background reading for this material can be found in the books by Ferziger and Perić [1,
Chapter 9] Panton [4, Chapter 23], Pope [5, Chapter 10], and Tannehill et al. [7, § 5.2, § 5.4].
Unsteadiness Imagine using a probe to measure the fluid velocity at a point in a turbulent flow.
To be specific, consider inserting a probe through a small hole in a duct so that the sensing element
of the probe is located near the centerline. Assume that the probe has a high frequency response,
meaning that it is capable of detecting any time variation in the velocity signal. Figure 1 shows the
output of the probe as it would be displayed on an oscilloscope. The velocity signal is characterized
by a nominal average U , and a superimposed fluctuation, u0 . The average value is representative
of the mass flow rate through the duct. The fluctuating component is an essential feature of the
turbulence.
∗ Associate Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department Portland State University, Portland,
Oregon, gerry@me.pdx.edu
1.1 What Is Turbulence? 2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
u
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
t
Figure 1: Turbulent velocity signal at a point. The Reynolds decomposition separates the signal
into an average, U , and a fluctuating component, u0 .
Flow Irregularity Let us continue with our imagined experiment with duct flow. Suppose there
was some way to make the flow patterns inside the duct visible. First of all, assume that the duct
walls were transparent. Then suppose that we were to inject smoke from a series of small pipes
having outlets at a small number of vertical locations on the center plane of the duct. Finally, in
order to keep the smoke from obscuring all the details, illuminate the center plane of the duct with
a sheet of laser light. The light has the effect of showing smoke that is only in the plane. All other
smoke in the duct is not illuminated and, therefore, invisible. Figure 2 is an example of such a flow
visualization.
The first thing apparent from the smoke visualization is that the flow is extremely complicated.
The flow swirls and fluctuates with no apparent pattern. It would be difficult, for example, to trace
out the trajectory of a particular puff of smoke.
Further complicating an identification of flow patterns is the realization that our visualization
system is illuminating the flow in a single plane. The smoke that we see is not confined to move in
the plane. In fact, any smoke that we see at one instant is likely to be swept out of the plane in
the next instant. Thus, although our view is two-dimensional, the flow features are fundamentally
three-dimensional as well as being unsteady.
Multiple Scales After staring at the smoke in the duct, we may begin to adjust our perspective.
In particular, if we allow our eyes to follow a billow of smoke as it is carried downstream, we will
see small whorls of smoke turning and tumbling. If we were to take photographs of the smoke, we
would be able to identify whorls of many different sizes. Fluid dynamicists call the whorls “eddies”.
An exact definition of a turbulent eddy is somewhat elusive. Pope [5, p. 183] describes an eddy
as “a turbulent motion, localized within a region of size `, that is at least moderately coherent over
this region”. Although the shape of an eddy is not precise, we often think of it as being roughly
circular in cross-section. Because an eddy is embedded in an unsteady, three-dimensional flow, it
is in constant motion. Furthermore, the eddy will be stretched and twisted until it breaks up into
other smaller eddies. The notion that the eddy is coherent means that it exists for a period of time,
1.2 Why is Modeling Necessary? 3
Figure 2: Turbulent wake behind a cylinder at Re = 1770. White areas are oil fog illuminated by a
sheet of laser light. Image is from the compilation of Van Dyke [9].
and that while it exists, the fluid that constitutes the eddy, has a temporary degree of organization.
For a high Reynolds number turbulent flow, there will be eddies of many different sizes1 . In fact
a large scale eddy will likely be composed of many smaller scale eddies. All of these eddies, these
somewhat ill-defined, transient structures in the flow, are in constant motion.
In our imaginary duct flow, the largest eddy will be no larger than D/2, where D is the char-
acteristic size of the duct cross-section. The size of the smallest eddy depends on the Reynolds
number of the flow, but in general it will be much smaller than D/2. The size of the smallest eddy
is determined by the mechanism of viscous dissipation.
The largest eddies tumble and interact largely under the influence of inertia, and to some extent
pressure. The largest eddies are virtually immune to viscous effects. As the large eddies break up
into smaller eddies, the role of inertia continues to dominate until the eddies become small enough
that viscous resistance converts their kinetic energy (of translation and rotation) to heat.
Rapid Mixing To complete our visualization of the turbulent duct flow, we turn off the laser
light sheet, and the streams of smoke. We illuminate the duct with a broad beam of light, and
introduce a small puff of smoke in the center of the duct. The puff of smoke is quickly dispersed as
it moves downstream. For a high Reynolds number flow, the dispersal happens so quickly that the
puff might seem to disappear almost as soon as it is introduced. The smoke disappears because it
has been diluted by rapid mixing with the rest of the air in the duct. The smoke particles remain,
but at such a low concentration that they are no longer visible.
The rapid mixing of the turbulent flows is due to bulk transport of fluid. A blob of fluid is
stretched and reshaped by the eddy motion. This mixing is order of magnitudes more effective
than the Brownian motion that is responsible for the transport properties that we call viscosity and
thermal conductivity.
Table 1: Computational cost for direct numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence. Adapted from
Pope [5, Table 9.2, p. 349]. In November 2005, the Blue Gene/L computer was the fastest computer
in the world. Blue Gene/L has 131072 processors and achieved a sustained 280 TFlops on the
LINPACK benchmark. 1 Tflop = 1012 floating point operations per second. A high end personal
computer has a theoretical performance of between 1 and 10 Gflop. 1 Gflop = 109 floating point
operations per second.
CPU Time
Supercomputer Blue Gene/L
ReL N N3 PC at 1 Gflop
at 1 Tflop at 280 Tflop
6
100 52 1.1 × 10 3 minutes 1.94 µsec 0.2 µsec
1000 291 1.0 × 107 47 hours 0.05 sec 0.2 msec
10,000 1640 1.2 × 108 5.3 years 47 sec 0.2 sec
9
100,000 9200 2.0 × 10 5300 years 5.3 years 6.9 days
10
1,000,000 52000 3.8 × 10 53,000 centuries 5300 years 19 years
Pope [5, § 9.1.2] presents the following estimates of the computational cost of using DNS to
simulate a homogeneous turbulent flow. Homogeneous turbulence is an idealization of turbulent
flow far from any bounding walls, and free of any shear or other flow structure. For a homogeneous
turbulent flow in a region of size L, and having maximum mean velocity U , the Reynolds number
is Re = U L/ν. Let N be the number of points necessary to resolve all relevant flow scales in any
one coordinate direction. The total number of mesh points necessary to simulate the flow is
9/4
N 3 ∼ 4.4ReL
If the simulation is performed on a computer with a sustained throughput of one Gigaflop (109
floating point operations per second) the time to complete the simulate in days is
3
ReL
TG ∼
800
Evaluating these formulas for a range of ReL gives the results in Table 1. Clearly, DNS is not
applicable for engineering design work.
where the velocity vector is u = êx u + êy v + êz w, and the shear stresses are
∂u 2 ∂v 2 ∂w 2
τxx = µ 2 − (∇ · u) τyy = µ 2 − (∇ · u) τzz = µ 2 − (∇ · u)
∂x 3 ∂y 3 ∂z 3
∂u ∂v ∂u ∂w ∂v ∂w
τxy = τyx = µ + τxz = τzx = µ + τyz = τzy = µ +
∂y ∂x ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂y
u = U + u0 (5)
ū = U
∂f ∂ f¯
3. =
∂s ∂s
4. f¯g = f¯ḡ
In general both the average and fluctuating component are functions of space. For time averaging,
as defined by Equation (6) the average velocity will not be a function of time, i.e., the average flow
is steady. Some turbulent flows are unsteady in the mean, for example the flow inside the cylinder
of an IC engine. In these cases the ensemble average (see below) is used.
The averaging process has the important property that although u0 = 0,
u0 u0 6= 0
Terms like u0i u0j are called Reynolds stresses, and arise from the to process of Reynolds averaging of
the momentum equations.
2.2 Ensemble Averaging 6
6
Sample 1
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
6
Sample 2
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
6
Sample 3
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
6
Ensemble
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Figure 3: Ensemble averaging of a velocity at a point in a turbulent flow with a periodic forcing
function.
where n is the total number of samples and i is the index of the sample. U(x, t) is the ensemble
average of u at a fixed location, x.
Ensemble averaging satisfies the Reynolds averaging rules. By applying the Reynolds averag-
ing rules to the governing equations, a new set of equations is obtained. These equations have
ensemble averaged velocities (U, V, W ) and second order turbulence correlations as dependent vari-
ables. Note that if ensemble averaging is used, the average velocities will be functions of time, e.g.,
U = U (x, y, z, t). The ensemble averaging has achieved a separation of the fluctuations from the
average quantities.
u = U + u0 v = V + v0 w = W + w0
2.2 Ensemble Averaging 7
Apply the Reynolds averaging rules to the left side of Equation (2). For simplicity, assume that
there are no fluctuations of pressure or density, i.e., p0 = 0 and ρ0 = 0. Consider each term
∂ ∂
(ρu) = (ρu) rule 3
∂t ∂t
∂
= (ρū) rule 2, with ρ = constant
∂t
∂
= (ρU ) by definition of U
∂t
∂ ∂ h i
(ρuu) = ρ(U + u0 )(U + u0 ) rule 3
∂x ∂x
∂
= ρ U U + 2U u0 + u0 u0 rule 2, with ρ = constant
∂x
∂
= ρU U + ρu0 2 by definition of U , and since U u0 = U u0 = 0
∂x
Similarly,
∂ ∂
(ρvu) = ρV U + ρu0 v 0
∂y ∂y
∂ ∂
(ρwu) = ρW U + ρu0 w0
∂z ∂z
Thus,
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
(ρu) + (ρuu) + (ρvu) + (ρwu) = (ρU ) + (ρU U ) + (ρV U ) + (ρW U )
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂
+ ρu0 u0 + ρu0 v 0 + ρu0 w0
∂x ∂y ∂z
The second line of the preceding equation consists of second order correlations that are a direct result
of the averaging process. These second order correlations of the fluctuating velocity components are
called the Reynolds stresses.
Applying the Reynolds averaging rules to the right hand side of Equation (2) gives
Equation (8) suggests how the Reynolds stresses get their name. Averaging the governing equations
(to simplify the analysis) results in additional terms that appear as stresses.
2.3 Flow That Is “Steady in the Mean” 8
Repeating the averaging process for the continuity and the y and z momentum equations gives
∂ρ ∂ ∂ ∂
+ (ρU ) + (ρV ) + (ρW ) = 0 (9)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
(ρV ) + (ρU V ) + (ρV V ) + (ρW V ) (10)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂p ∂ ∂ ∂
=− + τ̄yx − ρv 0 u0 + τ̄yy − ρv 0 v 0 + τ̄yz − ρu0 w0
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
(ρW ) + (ρU W ) + (ρV W ) + (ρW W ) (11)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂p ∂ ∂ ∂
=− + τ̄zx − ρw0 u0 + τ̄zy − ρw0 v 0 + τ̄zz − ρw0 w0
∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z
By direct analogy we propose (guess, assume, hope) that the Reynolds stresses have the same
form as the viscous stresses. This model introduces a turbulence viscosity µt or eddy viscosity such
that [2, 5, 7]
0 0 ∂Uj ∂Ui 2 ∂Uk 2
−ρ ui uj = µt + − δij − ρ δij k (13)
∂xi ∂xi 3 ∂xk 3
where k is called the turbulence kinetic energy
1 0 0 1 0 0
k = uk uk = u u + v 0 v 0 + w0 w0 (14)
2 2
Equation (13) effectively replaces the Reynolds stresses by two new unknowns, k and µt . Both
µt and k vary from point to point in the flow. It is important to realize that Equation (13) is used
because it is convenient, not because it is an accurate model of the Reynolds stresses.
Substituting Equation (12) and Equation (13) into the Reynolds averaged momentum equations,
and simplifying for steady, incompressible flow gives
∂ ∂ ∂
(ρU U ) + (ρV U ) + (ρW U )
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ p̂ ∂ ∂U ∂ ∂U ∂ ∂U
=− + µeff + µeff + µeff + SU (15)
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂
(ρU V ) + (ρV V ) + (ρW V )
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ p̂ ∂ ∂V ∂ ∂V ∂ ∂V
=− + µeff + µeff + µeff + SV (16)
∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂
(ρU W ) + (ρV W ) + (ρW W )
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ p̂ ∂ ∂W ∂ ∂W ∂ ∂W
=− + µeff + µeff + µeff + SW (17)
∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
where
µeff = µ + µt (18)
1 2
p̂ = p − µeff ∇ · u + ρk (19)
3 3
and SU , SV , and SW are additional source terms due to the non-uniform viscosity. For example,
∂µeff ∂V ∂V ∂µeff ∂µeff ∂W ∂W ∂µeff
SU = − + − .
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂z ∂z ∂z ∂x
Use of the eddy viscosity concept in a CFD code involves replacing the true viscosity, µ, by µeff .
In general µeff µ. We now turn to the job of computing µt .
3.2 Prandtl Mixing Length Hypothesis 10
Table 2: Comparison of the molecular model of viscosity from the kinetic theory of gases with
Prandtl’s mixing length hypothesis.
One problem with the mixing length hypothesis is that µt is not defined wherever ∂U/∂y = 0,
e.g. at the centerline of a pipe. Another problem is that the mixing length hypothesis does not
include the influence of upstream events, i.e. turbulence cannot be convected downstream. Yet
another problem is that the mixing length model requires specification of the mixing length. For
some flows, e.g. boundary layers, and the far field of isolated turbulent jets and wakes, experimental
data is available so that specification of a mixing length is possible. For a general flow, especially
one involving strong recirculation, identification of a single mixing length is not possible. The idea
of the mixing length is still useful as a conceptual model, and as a point of reference for more
sophisticated models.
will not allow accurate prediction of the smaller scale features of the flows. An estimate of µeff is
obtained by assuming `m is uniform throughout the flow.
4 The k − Model
The k − model was first proposed by Jones and Launder [3]. It is now consider the standard
turbulence model for engineering simulation of flows.
The modified Boussinesq eddy viscosity model overcomes the first problem of the mixing length
hypothesis, viz. that µt is not defined in regions of zero shear (∂U/∂y = 0). To relate µt to the
Reynolds stresses, and assume that √
Vt ∝ k
so that
µt = C ρ`m k 1/2 (20)
where C is a constant. Using this model µt is nonzero everywhere in the flow that k is nonzero.
The new independent variables of the turbulence model are `m and k.
Like the Reynolds averaged equations this equation also has higher order correlations. The solution
is to model these correlations. The standard form of the model is (see [7])
ρ k 3/2
Dk ∂ µeff ∂k ∂Ui ∂Uj 2 ∂Uj
= + µt + − ρ δij k − cD (21)
Dt ∂xi σk ∂xi ∂xj ∂xi 3 ∂xi `m
| {z } | {z } | {z }
diffusion production dissipation
Note that the model equation for k includes the mixing length, `m in the dissipation term.
Equation (21) is a conservation equation for k. The left hand side has terms for storage and
convection. These terms are balanced on the right hand side by diffusion, and source terms due to
turbulence production (source) and turbulence dissipation (sink).
If `m were known, then we could obtain a numerical solution to Equation (21) using the same
approximations applied to the momentum equations. The result would be a spatial distribution of
k on the computational mesh. From the discrete k(x, y, z) field, Equation (20) would be used to
compute the local µt , which in turn would be used in the discrete form of the momentum equations.
The net effect is that solution of the momentum equations would require simultaneous solution of
the k equation. This would be an improvement over the constant viscosity model.
The question remains, “How can `m be specified?”
Ultimately all of this energy is dissipated. In a steady flow the amount of energy dissipated is equal
to the amount of energy that must be continually supplied to the flow.
In a turbulent flow the energy is dissipated at the smallest scales. Thus, although Equation (22)
provides an estimate for the magnitude of the dissipation rate, it does not correspond to the actual
dissipation mechanism. The turbulence kinetic energy, k is a measure of the energy in the velocity
4.3 Calculation of Effective Viscosity 14
k 3/2
∼ CD (23)
`
where CD is to be a constant that is assumed adjust the magnitude of the right hand side to the true
magnitude of . Equation 23 is a scaling relationship, not the equation that allows us to compute
the distribution of .
We can develop a relationship between µt and as follows. Solve Equation (23) for ` .
k 3/2
` ∼ CD (24)
Use ` as an indication of the scale for `m . We do not assert that ` and `m are equal. Rather
assume that their ratio is constant. Thus, if `m = C 0 ` , where C 0 is a constant, then we use the
following estimates in Prandtl’s mixing length model
µt ∼ ρVt `m Prandtl
√
Vt ∼ k isotropic turbulence
k 3/2
` ∼ CD scale estimate
to get
k 3/2 1/2
µt = Cρ CD k
or
k2
µt = Cµ ρ (25)
The standard form of the modeled conservation equation for is (check this?)
ρ 2
D ∂ µeff ∂ ∂Ui ∂Uj 2 ∂Uj
= + c,1 µt + − ρ δij k − c,1 (26)
Dt ∂xi σ ∂xi ∂xj ∂xi 3 ∂xi k
| {z } | {z } | {z }
diffusion production dissipation
ue
overlap layer
(a.k.a. log region,
inerial sublayer)
<
δ ~ 0.1δ 30 ~ y+
buffer layer
8 <~ y+ <~ 30
viscous sublayer
~ 0.1δ 0 ² y+ <~8
In the left half of Figure 4 the velocity profile is divided into two regions: an inner region between
the wall and roughly 0.1δ, and an outer region between approximately 0.1δ and the free stream.
The inner region is further divided into three layers as shown in the right half of Figure 4. Wall
functions are computational models used to bridge the numerical approximation in the turbulent
core flow (the edge of which corresponds to the outer region), and the wall without resolving the
details of the inner region. In other words, wall functions are models of the turbulent momentum
transport in the region 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.1δ.
The extent of the sublayers of the inner region are characterized by a dimensionless variable
yu∗
y+ = (27)
ν
where y is the distance normal to the wall, u∗ is called the friction velocity and ν is the kinematic
viscosity of the fluid. Note that y + has the same form as a Reynolds number where the characteristic
velocity is u∗ instead of ue .
The delineation of an inner region (y < 0.1δ) and outer region (y > 0.1δ) reflects a fundamental
truth about turbulent boundary layers. The outer region is characterized by the flow outside the
boundary layer, and the inner region is characterized by the conditions at the wall. Near the wall
the velocity profile has the functional form (see, e.g., [4])
where τw is the wall shear stress, and w is a length scale characterizing the wall roughness4 . In the
outer region the velocity profile has the functional form
dp
u − ue = fout y, δ, ρ, , τw (29)
dx
Comparing Equation (28) and (29) we see that the near wall region is insensitive to the external
pressure gradient, the boundary layer thickness, δ, and the external velocity, ue . Also note that the
wall shear stress, τw , affects both the inner and outer profiles.
The dimensionless form of the inner part of the profile (Equation (28)) is
u+ = Fin (y + , +
w) (30)
where
u
u+ = (31)
u∗
and the friction velocity is defined by r
τw
u∗ = (32)
ρ
Note that τw has the units of pressure (stress), and (by definition of u∗ ) τw = ρu2∗ . The dimensionless
wall roughness is
w u∗
+
w = (33)
ν
Equation (30) is called the law-of-the-wall. This so-called law is a semi-empirical model which
describes the near-wall behavior of boundary layers and flow in ducts. The law-of-the-wall covers
the three sublayers depicted in the right half of Figure 4.
4 Do not confuse the roughness scale, w , with the turbulence dissipation rate, , used in the k − model.
4.4 Wall Functions 17
Figure 5: Wall functions apply to thin layers between solid walls and the central part of the flow
domain.
In the viscous sublayer the shear stress is dominated by viscous forces5 . The velocity profile in
the viscous sublayer is
u+ = y + or u=y (34)
i.e., the mean velocity profile in the viscous sublayer is nominally linear. Equation (34) is hard to
verify experimentally because the region y + < 5 is very close to the wall. It is difficult to build a
probe that is small enough to accurately measure the velocity in this region. We do know, however,
that all velocity fluctuations are zero at the wall so the importance of the Reynolds stresses vanish
as y → 0.
The middle part of the inner layer is called the buffer layer. It has no simple correlating equation.
The outer part of the inner layer is called the overlap layer or the log-law layer. The log-law layer
is correlated by an equation of the form
u+ = c1 ln y + + c2 (35)
In a CFD code the outer part of the velocity profile is not used.
the flow in the sublayer is characterized by slower motions driven by the turbulent eddies outside of the viscous
sublayer. Although viscous forces are dominant in this sublayer, the flow in the sublayer is not necessarily smooth
and sheet-like — the defining characteristic of laminar flow.
4.4 Wall Functions 18
I
yI
ures
B
Figure 6: Wall functions model the variation of dependent variables between nodes adjacent to a
solid boundaries. Node B is on the boundary. Node I is the nearest interior node close to node B.
nodes (cells) to be placed very close to the wall. This consumes memory (to store element and node
data) and increases the CPU time to achieve a converged solution6 . Instead of resolving the details
of the wall boundary layers, wall functions attempt to impose the boundary condition information
on the core flow in such a way that the correct flux of momentum (drag) and heat at the wall is
obtained. One way to look at wall functions is to consider them as a computational device for
specifying µeff for nodes on and near the wall. The µeff near the wall needs to be modified by the
presence of the wall, and wall functions achieve approximate values of µeff from the law-of-the-wall.
Figure 5 depicts the flow very close to a solid wall. The circles labeled “B” and “I” represent
a node on the boundary, and the nearest internal node on the computational mesh. In the wall
function model, node I is assumed to lie outside of the log-law region, i.e. yI+ > 30. The purpose
of the wall function is to model the wall shear stress from the value of the mean velocity at node I.
The model enables a prediction of the wall shear stress (and wall heat flux if there energy transport
is being simulated) without resolving the detailed structure of the boundary layer with many nodes
between node B and node I.
The log-law part (cf. Equation (35)) of the law-of-the-wall can be written (see e.g. Rodi [6])
ures 1
= ln(y + E) (37)
u∗ κ
where ures is the resultant velocity parallel to the wall, κ = 0.4 is von Kármán’s constant, and E
is the roughness parameter (E = 9.0 for smooth walls). Use a finite-difference model to relate the
wall shear stress to the velocity gradient in the y direction
∂u uI − uB
τw = µeff ≈ µeff (38)
∂y w yI
where µeff is the effective viscosity. Note that the velocity profile between node B and node I is
assumed to look like the right half of Figure 4. The role of the wall function is to provide the estimate
of µeff that compensates for the crude estimate of the velocity gradient given by Equation (38).
Since the no-slip condition requires uB = 0, Equation (38) can be rearranged as
yI
µeff = τw
uI
Using the definitions of y + , u+ , and u∗ the preceding equation becomes
(yI+ ν/u∗ ) τw y + y+
µeff = τw + = 2 + = µ I+ (39)
uI u∗ u∗ u uI
6 Because the solution is a superlinear function of the total number of cells in the mesh.
5 SUMMARY 19
5 Summary
1. Reynolds averaging leads to equations governing the mean or ensemble averaged flow field
2. Reynolds averaging also introduces the Reynolds stresses and creates the closure problem
• represents the action of the small eddies that are responsible for dissipating the kinetic
energy of turbulence into heat.
• an exact differential equation for can be derived, but it contains higher order correlations
that cannot be directly computed
6 ADVICE 20
6 Advice
Turbulence modeling is an inexact art. Most commercial codes offer a variety of turbulence models.
Here we have described the standard k − model. We have barely scratched the surface of this
important topic.
It is important that you do additional research on your application to determine which turbulence
model should be used. You should not expect the k − model to give good results in flow with
rapid streamwise changes in the mean flow variables, or in flows with strong swirling components.
Other models to investigate are the k − ω model and Reynolds stress models. Many commercial
CFD codes include these models as options. The k − ω model has some advantage over the standard
k − model for simulating near-wall flows and flows with strong streamwise pressure gradients. The
Reynolds stress models are theoretically more sound because they do not rely on the eddy viscosity
model to relate the Reynolds stresses to the mean flow gradients.
Research in this area is continuing, and you should expect to be faced with more choices in
turbulence modeling in the future. Above all, remember this: just because you have obtained a
simulation of a turbulent flow with a turbulence model, in no way guarantees that this simulation
is accurate.
References
[1] Joel H. Ferziger and Milovan Perić. Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics. Springer-
Verlag, Berlin, third edition, 2001.
[2] J.O. Hinze. Turbulence. McGraw-Hill, New York, second edition, 1975.
[3] W.P. Jones and B. E. Launder. The prediction of laminarization with a two-equation model of
turbulence. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 15:301–314, 1972.
[4] Ronald L. Panton. Incompressible Flow. Wiley, New York, second edition, 1996.
[5] Stephen B. Pope. Turbulent Flows. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000.
[6] Wolfgang Rodi. Turbulence Models and Their Application in Hydraulics. International Associ-
ation for Hydraulic Research, Delft, Netherlands, second edition, 1984.
[7] John C. Tannehill, Dale A. Anderson, and Richard A. Pletcher. Computational Fluid Mechanics
and Heat Transfer. Taylor and Francis, Washington, D.C., second edition, 1997.
[8] H. Tennekes and J.L. Lumley. A First Course in Turbulence. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA,
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[9] Milton Van Dyke, editor. An Album of Fluid Motion. The Parabolic Press, Stanford, CA, 1982.
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