A new methodology for Reynolds-averaged modeling based on the amalgamation of heuristic-modeling and turbulence-theory methods

Abstract

A new methodology for the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes modeling is presented on the basis of the amalgamation of heuristic-modeling and turbulence-theory methods. A characteristic turbulence time scale is synthesized in a heuristic manner through the combination of several characteristic time scales. An algebraic model of turbulent-viscosity type for the Reynolds stress is derived from the Reynolds-stress transport equation with the time scale embedded. It is applied to the state of weak spatial and temporal nonequilibrium, and is compared with its theoretical counterpart derived by the two-scale direct-interaction approximation. The synthesized time scale is justified through the agreement of the two expressions derived by these entirely different methods. The derived model is tested in rotating isotropic, channel, and homogeneous-shear flows. It is extended to a nonlinear algebraic model and a supersonic model. The latter is shown to succeed in reproducing the reduction in the growth rate of a free-shear layer flow, without causing wrong effects on wall-bounded flows such as channel and boundary-layer flows.