School of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Introduction

3rd Year Fluid Mechanics

In earlier lectures we have considered how flow instabilities develop, and

noted that above some critical Reynolds number flows become turbulent.

We have seen how the Reynolds

averaging approach can be used
to describe turbulent flows.

Turbulence and its Modelling

T. J. Craft
George Begg Building, C41

Contents:
Navier-Stokes equations
Inviscid flows
Boundary layers
Transition, Reynolds averaging
Mixing-length models of turbulence
Turbulent kinetic energy equation
One- and Two-equation models
Flow management

Reading:
F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics
J. Mathieu, J. Scott, An Introduction to Turbulent Flow
P.A. Libby, Introduction to Turbulence
P. Bernard, J. Wallace, Turbulent Flow: Analysis Measurement & Prediction
S.B. Pope, Turbulent Flows
D. Wilcox, Turbulence Modelling for CFD
Notes: http://cfd.mace.manchester.ac.uk/tmcfd
- People - T. Craft - Online Teaching Material

~
U(t)

Here, we begin to consider how one might use the Navier-Stokes or the
RANS equations to compute engineering-related turbulent flows.

This will lead to the conclusion that we need to introduce mathematical

models (approximations) for the Reynolds stresses.

We saw the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, and

the appearance in these of the Reynolds stresses, ui uj .

Before examining how such models might be devised, we will first

consider some of the physical features of turbulent flows and the
behaviour of the Reynolds stresses in certain, fairly simple, flows.

We can then examine how some of these features are (or ar not)
accounted for in some of the more widely-used, but still relatively simple,
turbulence models.

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The Energy Cascade

Turbulence and its Modelling

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u(t)
u

0
0

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Turbulence is characterized by a wide range of eddy sizes.

Flow instabilities develop across a

range of wavenumbers, leading to
large eddies breaking down into
smaller ones, these breaking into
still smaller ones, etc. . .

The turbulent kinetic energy, k = 0.5(u 2 + v 2 + w 2 ), is mainly transferred

from the mean flow via the larger eddies in the flow.

As these eddies break up, kinetic energy gets transferred into smaller
eddies and, as these break up, into even smaller ones.

Thus, one gets a cascade of turbulent kinetic energy transferred down

the scale spectrum, from the largest eddies to the smallest ones.

At the smallest scales (which will also be examined later) the kinetic
energy is dissipated into heat.

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Turbulent Eddy Sizes

The turbulence energy spectrum

shows how much kinetic energy
is contained in the different
scales of motion.
0.5 ui ui =

E(k , t)dk

(1)

The largest eddies in the flow generally scale with the flow geometry, eg.:

With pipe diameter or channel width.

With boundary layer thickness.

k in the figure represents the wavenumber of the different scales of

motion. Large k corresponds to small eddies, and small k to large eddies.

The lowest wavenumbers (largest eddies) are typically related to the flow
geometry.

As the Reynolds number increases, the size of the smallest scales

present (largest wavenumbers) decreases.

Thus, as the Reynolds number increases there is a wider range of

turbulent eddy sizes in the flow.

At the smallest scales the turbulence energy is dissipated to heat by the

action of viscosity.

Dimensional analysis suggests that the size of these smallest eddies will
be related to ( 3 / )1/4 where is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and
is the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy.

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Note that as decreases (as the Reynolds number increases), the size
of the smallest eddies decreases. Thus, as the Reynolds number
increases one expects to get a wider range of turbulent eddy sizes.
The large eddies can be very anisotropic. At the smaller scales the
turbulence is generally reckoned to become more isotropic.

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Computation of Turbulent Flow

The Navier-Stokes equations do still describe a turbulent flow including

all the turbulent eddy details.

In principle, one could solve these directly (numerically) and obtain full
details of the turbulent flow field (averaging the results to obtain mean
velocities, etc., if desired).

If we consider a flow with velocity and

length scales U and L, we would need a
computational domain of size L.

However, a consideration of the range of scales involved shows this is not

actually possible, with current technology, for most flows of engineering
interest.

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As noted above, the smallest eddy size is of order ( 3 / )1/4 . If we

assume can be scaled with U 3 /L (on dimensional grounds), then the
smallest eddy sizes are of order ( 3 L/U 3 )1/4 .

The number of computational nodes needed to cover a length L, whilst

resolving the smallest eddies is therefore of order
L/( 3 L/U 3 )1/4 = (UL/ )3/4 = Re3/4 .

Since turbulent flows are 3-D, we need this many points in each direction,
so the total number of computational nodes scales as Re9/4 .

The grid requirements thus increase rapidly as the Reynolds number of

the flows goes up.

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Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS)

For rather low Reynolds numbers the Navier-Stokes equations can be

solved numerically, providing full resolution of a turbulent flow.

The numerical solution methods require more accuracy than the standard
finite volume schemes studied in Modelling & Simulation or CFD-1, and
this often restricts their use to simple geometries.

Fully developed turbulent channel flows at Reynolds numbers (based on

bulk velocity and channel half-width) of around 2500 were performed in
the 1980s.

More recent channel flow simulations at Re 40000 have been reported.

These were performed on a 2048 processor machine, required 6 106
processor hours (the entire machine for around 4 months), and produced
around 25TB of raw data.

In engineering applications, much higher Reynolds numbers than this are

often encountered. Large gas pipelines, for example, can be operating at
Reynolds numbers of several million.

DNS can give very useful, detailed, data for fundamental turbulence
studies, and can be used to guide turbulence model development.

Cross-stream flow & streamwise fluctuations

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RANS Modelling

There are modelling approaches such as Large Eddy Simulation (LES),

where only the large-scale turbulence structures are resolved, and
approximations introduced for the effects of the smaller eddies.

These are computationally cheaper than DNS, but often still too
expensive for routine use in an engineering environment.

Most turbulent flow simulations thus employ the RANS equations, solving
for the mean, or average, flow field.

For incompressible flow without body forces, the governing equations are
then:


Ui

1 P
DUi
(2)

+
ui uj
=
Dt
xi xj
xj
Ui
=0
(3)
xi

Vorticity isosurfaces

However, it clearly is not a tool for everyday engineering use.

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In 3-D we have 3 momentum equations and continuity. However, the

unknowns are 3 velocity components, pressure, and the 6 Reynolds
stresses.

To close the system we thus need to introduce models (approximations)

for the Reynolds stresses, ui uj .

There are many such turbulence models available, having different levels
of complexity, and providing differing levels of accuracy in various flows.

To understand which model to choose for a particular application it is

necessary to have some appreciation of how they were devised, and
hence some knowledge of their strengths and/or weaknesses.

In order to assess a models accuracy, we need to know what behaviour

would be found in a real fluid flow.

Thus, before considering how models may be devised, we examine some

features of a few simple turbulent flow situations, and the behaviour
exhibited by the turbulence statistics.

(note the use of tensor summation convention).

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Shear Stresses Across a Boundary Layer

With the usual boundary layer approximations the

mean U-momentum equation may be written


U 2 UV

U
1 P

(4)
+
=
+
uv
x
y
x y
y

Uo

In a turbulent boundary layer, the turbulent shear stress uv is thus the

most important component of the Reynolds stress tensor.

If we assume that convection is negligible, then the U-momentum

equation becomes
P

=
(5)
x
y
where is the total shear stress, given by the sum of the molecular and
turbulent shear stresses:
U
=
uv
(6)
|{z}
y
| {z } Turbulent

In a zero pressure gradient boundary layer the total shear stress is thus
constant across the layer, / y = 0.
At the wall, uv = 0 and U/ y = w where w is the wall shear stress.
We thus obtain
U
(7)
uv = Constant = w

Immediately adjacent to the wall the turbulent shear stress is negligible

(since uv = 0 at the wall), and the molecular stress is the dominant.

Outside the thin viscous sublayer, in the fully turbulent part of the
boundary layer, molecular effects are negligible and the turbulent shear
stress is then essentially equal to the total stress.

In the fully turbulent near-wall region of

a zero pressure gradient boundary layer
the turbulent shear stress is thus equal
in magnitude to the wall shear stress:

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With a favourable pressure gradient we get / y < 0 so the total shear

stress decreases with distance from the wall.

Mol. shear stress

In practice, the above approximations do not hold in the outer boundary

layer regions, but are not too far from reality in the near-wall regions.

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It is often convenient to non-dimensionalize near-wall flow quantities

using wall parameters, rather than the global velocity/length scales.

(w / )1/2 is a velocity scale, and /(w / )1/2 a length scale.

The velocity and distance from the wall are then non-dimensionalized as

y + = y (w / )1/2 /

1
log(Ey + )

(8)

with constants 0.41 and E 9.

Favourable pressure gradient

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and

In the fully turbulent near-wall region

of a zero pressure gradient boundary
layer the velocity profile is found to fit
a log-law:
U+ =

Zero pressure gradient

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Near-Wall Non-Dimensionalization

U + = U/(w / )1/2

Turbulence and its Modelling

Viscous sublayer
Turbulence and its Modelling

Conversely, in an adverse pressure gradient we get / y > 0 and the

total shear stress increases with distance from the wall (although as
separation is approached the above approximations may not be valid).

Turb. shear stress

uv = w /

Molecular

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w /

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Plotting the shear stresses against y + we can see the viscous sublayer
typically extends to around y + 30 40 (although the exact value is
rather flow-dependent).

Turbulent Kinetic Energy Transport Equation

Zero pressure gradient

In an earlier lecture we examined the mean kinetic energy transport

equation in a turbulent flow.
The turbulent kinetic energy is defined by k 0.5ui2 0.5(u 2 + v 2 + w 2 ).

To derive its transport equation, we can use

Dui
Dk
D  2 
u /2 = ui
=
Dt
Dt i
Dt

A transport equation for the fluctuating velocity, ui , can be obtained by

subtracting the Reynolds-averaged momentum equation from the Navier
Stokes equation:
e i DUi
DU
Dui
=

Dt
Dt
Dt
Note that here the mean velocities are used in the convective
contributions to the total derivative D/Dt. ie. we interpret

Favourable pressure gradient

(9)

+ Uj
Dt
t
xj
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The derivation is left as an exercise, but the result is:

Turbulence and its Modelling

2 ui
1 p
ui
u
Ui

+ Uj i =
uj
+
ui uj ui uj

t
xj
xi
xj
xj2 xj

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(10)

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Pk

Pk

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Ui
Ui 2
K

Ui ui uj + ui uj
xj
xj
xj
| {z }

Dk
Ui
u ui

= ui uj
Dt
xj
xj xj xi
| {z } | {z }

The second term on the right hand side of equation (11) represents the
dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy by viscosity at the smallest scales.
It is usually denoted as .

The term ui uj Ui / xj must therefore represent the generation of

turbulent kinetic energy. It is often denoted by Pk and called the
production, or generation, rate of k .

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Pk appears in both mean and turbulent kinetic energy equations (with

opposite signs), and is thus interpreted as the rate at which kinetic
energy is lost from the mean flow and transferred to the turbulent eddies.

DK
1
(PUj ) +
=
Dt
xj
xj

Multiplying this equation by the fluctuating velocity ui (note the implied

summation over the index i), and averaging, we can arrive at:


k
k
Ui
u ui

k
uj2 ui /2 + ui p/
(11)
= ui uj
i

+Uj
t
xj
xj
xj xj xi
xi

The last term represents diffusion, as a result of viscous and turbulent

mixing.

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k
uj2 ui /2 + ui p/
xi

In most circumstances Pk is positive, representing a transfer of kinetic

energy from the mean flow to the turbulence. However, there are flow
conditions under which Pk can be locally negative in certain regions.

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Boundary Layer Form of the k Equation

With the usual approximations for a steady boundary layer (or other thin
shear flow) the k equation reduces to


k
(Uk ) (Vk )

u2 ui ui /2 pu2 /
(12)
+
= Pk +
x
y
y
y
The generation rate Pk now reduces to
Pk = uv

Uo

U
y

As seen earlier, in the fully turbulent region of the boundary layer we can
approximate the turbulent shear stress as a constant (uv w / ), and
the mean velocity fits a logarithmic profile, so differentiating gives
U/ y 1/y .

In the fully turbulent region Pk thus

decreases with distance from the wall
as Pk 1/y .

At the wall itself, Pk = 0, since the

turbulent shear stress vanishes.

Hence, Pk must have a maximum

somewhere between the wall and the
fully turbulent region ie. within the
viscous sublayer.

In an earlier lecture we saw this peak

occurs roughly where the molecular
and viscous shear stresses are equal.

Note that, as in the boundary layer U-momentum equation, it is the shear

stress component, uv , that is the most important element of the
Reynolds stress tensor.

We can now explain why the peak levels of turbulent kinetic energy
generally occur near the wall.

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Plane Channel Flow at Reb 5500

Shear stresses

Mean kinetic energy budget

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Normal Reynolds Stresses

Turbulent kinetic energy

Turbulent kinetic energy budget

In a boundary layer, or other shear

flow, the 3 normal stresses (u 2 ,
v 2 and w 2 ) are not equal.

In general, the streamwise stress is

largest, and the wall-normal the
smallest.

Transport equations can be derived for each Reynolds stress component,

ui uj , similar to that obtained for k . The result is of the form
Dui uj
= Pij ij + ij + dij
Dt

(13)

where the generation rate Pij = ui uk Uj / xk uj uk Ui / xk and ij , dij

and ij represent dissipation, diffusion and a redistribution term.
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P11 = 2 uv

Wall-Limiting Stress Behaviour

In a simple shear flow the generation terms are given by

U
y

P22 = P33 = 0

P12 = v 2

U
y

As expected, since k = 0.5(u 2 + v 2 + w 2 ), we see that

P11 + P22 + P33 = 2Pk .

To examine the immediate near-wall behaviour of the stresses, we can

express the near-wall velocities as Taylor series expansions in powers of
y (the wall-normal distance):

Note, however, that all the turbulent kinetic energy generation actually
happens in the u 2 component.

= a1 y + b1 y 2 + c1 y 3 + . . .

= a2 y + b2 y 2 + c2 y 3 + . . .

= a3 y + b3 y 2 + c3 y 3 + . . .

where the as, bs, cs etc. are functions of x , z and t.

Other processes then redistribute this kinetic energy into v 2 and w 2 .

This explain why the streamwise normal stress is generally larger than
the other two components.

The above expansions ensure that the velocities vanish at the wall, but
they must also satisfy continuity ( u/ x + v / y + w/ z = 0).

Substituting the expansions for the velocities into the continuity equation:
y a1 / x
+

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Hence close to the wall the velocities

behave as u y , w y , but v y 2 .

The Reynolds stresses thus behave

as u 2 y 2 , v 2 y 4 , w 2 y 2 and
uv y 3 for small y .

Since k = 0.5(u 2 + v 2 + w 2 ), then

k y 2.

Plotting the near-wall stresses on log-log axes shows they do closely

match these wall-limiting forms.

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a2

2 y b2

y a3 / z

y 2 b1 / x

3 y 2 c2

y 2 b3 / z

+
+

...
...

... = 0

Considering the O(1) terms leads to a2 = 0.

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