Extending the bounds of 'steady' RANS closures: Toward an instability-sensitive Reynolds stress model

The incapability of the conventional Unsteady RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes) models to adequately capture turbulence unsteadiness presents the prime motivation of the present work, which focuses on formulating an instability-sensitive, eddy-resolving turbulence model on the Second-Moment Closure level. The model scheme adopted, functioning as a 'sub-scale' model in the Unsteady RANS framework, represents a differential near-wall Reynolds stress model formulated in conjunction with the scale-supplying equation governing the homogeneous part of the inverse turbulent time scale (omega(h) (omega(h) = epsilon(h)/k). The latter equation was straightforwardly obtained from the model equation describing the dynamics of the homogeneous part of the total viscous dissipation rate epsilon, defined as epsilon(h) = epsilon - 0.5v partial derivative(2)k/(partial derivative x(j)partial derivative x(j)) (Jakirlic and Hanjalic, 2002), by applying the derivation rules to the expression for omega(h). The model capability to account for vortex length and time scales variability was enabled through an additional term in the corresponding length-scale determining equation, providing a selective enhancement of its production, pertinent particularly to the highly unsteady separated shear layer region, modeled in terms of the von Karman length scale (comprising the second derivative of the velocity field) in line with the SAS (Scale-Adaptive Simulation) proposal (Menter and Egorov, 2010). The present model formulation, termed as SRANS model (Sensitized RANS), does not comprise any parameter depending explicitly on grid spacing. The predictive capabilities of the newly proposed length-scale determining model equation, solved in conjunction with Jakirlic and Hanjalic's (2002) Reynolds stress model equation, are presently demonstrated by computing the flow configurations of increasing complexity featured by boundary layer separation from sharp-edged and continuous curved surfaces: backward-facing step flow, flow over a wall-mounted fence, flow over smoothly contoured periodically arranged hills and flow in a 3-D diffuser. The model performances are also assessed in capturing the natural decay of the homogeneous isotropic turbulence and the near-wall Reynolds stress anisotropy in a plane channel. In most cases considered the fluctuating velocity field was obtained starting from steady RANS results. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.