Comparison of Five Two-Equation Turbulence Models for Calculation of Flow in 90° Curved Rectangular Ducts

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative study of five most widely used two-equation turbulence models in predicting the developing flows in two 90° curved rectangular ducts. These include the standard k-ε model, the shear stress transport k-ω model, and three low-Reynolds number k-ε models by Jones and Launder, Launder and Sharma, and Nagano and Hishida, respectively. The computational time for convergent solutions, streamwise and secondary velocities, pressure distributions as well as the Reynolds-averaged turbulence quantities resolved by these models are compared and validated against available experimental data. The purpose of this paper are to provide a detailed comparative verification for applying the five most widely used two-equation turbulence models to predicting curved rectangular duct flows, which are a kind of proto type flows in fluids engineering, and to provide a reference for the selection of turbulence models in predicting such flows in industrial applications.