Numerical analysis of a turbulent boundary layer with pressure gradient using Reynolds-transport turbulence model

Abstract

Numerical study on turbulent and mean structures of a turbulent boundary layer with longitudinal and spanwise pressure gradient is carried out by using Reynolds-stress-model (RSM). The existence of pressure gradient in a turbulent boundary layer causes the skewing or divergence of rates of strain, which contributes to production of turbulent kinetic energy. Also, this augmentation of production due to extra rates of strain can increase the turbulent mixing and cause the anisotropy of turbulent intensities in the outer layer. This paper uses the Reynolds Stress Model to capture anisotropy of turbulent structures effectively and is devoted to compare the results computed by using RSM and the standard k-.epsilon. model with experimental data. It is concluded that the RSM can produce the more accurate predictions for capturing the anisotropy of turbulent structure than the standard k-.epsilon. model.