Turbulence Modeling
What is turbulence?
Turbulence is the three-dimensional unsteady random motion
observed in fluids at moderate to high Reynolds numbers
Usually fluid flows involves fluids of low viscosity therefore, all flows
are turbulent
Many quantities depends on turbulence such as
Pressure
Heat transfer
Velocity
Laminar vs Turbulent flow
Approach to solve Turbulence
Solving Navier Stocks Equations directly using Direct Numerical
Simulation (DNS)
Very costly as CPU requirements would be very high
Another approach is to average Navier Stocks Equations to filter out
part of the turbulent spectrum
Most widely applied averaging procedure is Reynold Average
Navier Stock Equation (RANS) models
RANS Models
RANS models offer the most economic approach for computing
complex turbulent industrial flows. Typical examples of such models
are the k-ε or k-w
These models simplify the problem to the solution of two additional
transport equations
More complex RANS models are available that solve an individual
equation for each of the six independent Reynolds Stresses directly
RANS models are suitable for many engineering applications and
typically provide the level of accuracy required
RANS Models in ANSYS Fluent
Spalart-Allmaras model
K-ε models
K-w models
Transition k-kl-w
Transition SST Model
Large eddy simulation
Detached Eddy simulation
Choosing Turbulent Model
No single model is sufficient for all flow problems
The choice of turbulence model will depend on
Physics of flow
Established practice for a specific class of problem
The level of accuracy required
The available computation resources
Amount of time available for simulation
Mostly SST-kw serves the purpose
Spalart-Allmaras One-Equation
Model
The Spalart-Allmaras model is a relatively simple one-equation
model that
Solves a modeled equation for the kinematic eddy (turbulent)
viscosity. The Spalart-Allmaras model was designed
specifically for aeronautics and aerospace applications involving
wall-bounded flows and has been
shown to give good results for boundary layers subjected to adverse
pressure gradients
K-ε Model
Robustness, economy, and reasonable accuracy for a wide range
of turbulent flows explain its popularity in industrial flow and heat
transfer simulations.
Draw-back is its insensitivity to adverse pressure gradient and
boundary layer separation. It typically predicts a delayed and
reduced separation relative to observations.
In Ansys Fluent, the use of the Realizable - model is recommended
relative to other variants of the K-ε family with Enhance wall
treatment
K-w Model
It is better at predicting adverse pressure gradient boundary layer,
flows, and separation
The downside of the standard w-equation is a relatively strong
sensitivity of the solution depending on the freestream values of k
and w outside the shear layer
Standard k-w model is not recommended
The BSL and SST k-w is recommended which combine the elements
of w-equation and ε-equation
SST k-w
Used in an analysis of KaGem
This model is calibrated to accurately compute flow separation from
smooth surfaces
It is recommended in the family of k-w model
This along with the BSL model is accurate in modeling most of the
aerodynamic problem
They are typically somewhat more accurate in predicting the details
of the wall boundary layer characteristics than the Spalart-Allmaras
model.
SST k-w serves both functions
Act like k-ε as we move away from the wall
Act like k-w as moves closer to wall
Reynold Stress Models
Reynolds Stress models (RSM) include several effects that are not easily handled
by Eddy-Viscosity models. The most important effect is the stabilization of
turbulence due to strong rotation and streamline curvature (as observed for
example, in cyclone flows).
RSM on the other hand often demand a significant increase in computing time
partly due to the additional equations but mostly due to reduced convergence.
This additional effort is not always justified by increased accuracy.
Their usage is therefore not generally recommended and should be restricted to
flows for which their superiority has been established, especially flow with strong
swirl and rotation.
Scale-Resolving Simulation (SRS)
Models
The alternative to RANS models are models that resolve at least a
portion of the turbulence for at least a portion of the flow domain.
Large Eddy Simulations
Detached Eddy Simulations
Hybrid RANS-LES Models
Large Eddy Simulations
LES is only recommended for flows where wall boundary layers are
not relevant and need not be resolved
For flows where the boundary layers are laminar due to the low
Reynolds number.
The most balanced LES model is the WALE model (Wall-Adapting
Local Eddy-Viscosity (WALE) Model) It offers a good compromise
between model complexity and generality.
It also allows computing laminar shear (boundary) layers without
any model impact.
Example
Let us do the CFD for NACA 61212 in Ansys Fluent
Steps
Geometry generation
Domain generation
Mesh generation
Defining the inlets and outlets
Selecting solver type
Turbulence Model
Boundary Condition
Solution controls
Run simulations
Post processing
Geometry and Domain creation
Done in design modeler
Grid Generation
Solver and Turbulence Model
Air properties
Viscosity is chosen
Sutherland which compute
Viscosity variation with the
Temperature and commonly
used
Boundary condition
Pressure far field is used as per instruction from the user guide
It is used with ideal gas formula
Solution Control
Post Processing
Thank You
