Study of Second-Moment Closure Models in Computations of Turbulent Shear Flows

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of the pressure-strain model in numerical calculations of wall-bounded and wall-free turbulent shear flows with second-moment closure models. Only high Reynolds number models are considered. Five pressure-strain models are utilized in the computations. Two flows with comparable levels of Reynolds stress anisotropy are studied; namely a plane channel flow and a plane mixing layer. Mean and turbulent flow fields are compared against experimental data. Most of the models give good predictions of mean flow quantities. Predictions of turbulent quantities are not so good. Only one of the models could predict reasonably the variation in the Reynolds stress anisotropy in the wall-bounded flow without the use of wall-reflection terms.