A Second Order Projection Scheme

for the k-epsilon Turbulence Model

Anirut Luadsong
AbstractIn this paper, we study the numerical method for solving
the k- turbulence model. This model consists of the Reynold and
transport equations. The standard incremental pressure-correction
projection scheme is applied for solving the Reynold equations which
this numerical scheme has fully second-order accurate. For avoiding
the nonlinear terms of the system of algebraic equations, we introduce
the second-order semi-implicit for the transport equations for kinetic
energy k and dissipation rate . For avoiding stability problems, the
convective terms in this model are discretizing with the mixed of
central differences and donor-cell schemes which the accuracy can
be adjusted by the weight parameter [0, 1].
Keywordsprojection scheme, k-epsilon model, splitting scheme,
turbulence, Van Kans method.
I. INTRODUCTION
T
he numerical simulation of turbulent ows modeled by
the k- model has been the subject of much research
in the last years. This article is mainly focused on the
stability of numerical approximations for this model. Though
mathematical results exist ensuring the well-posedness of the
Eq., the strong nonlinearities may interact with discretization
errors in such a way as to instabilize computations. This indeed
happens if, as frequently occurs, no physically meaningful
initial condition is at hand.
A typical behavior of unstable computations involves the
loss of positivity of k or . This changes the sign of several
terms in the equations, with disastrous effects. To avoid such
loss of positivity is not an easy task. One may limit k and
from below but the solution strongly depends on the limitation
strategy and numerical results are frequently unacceptable. The
failure of this simple approach motivates the use of numerical
techniques that preserve positivity, but in most unstructured
meshes obtuse angles exist that preclude these algorithms
from guaranteeing positive results. Though elaborate iterative
techniques provide further improvement, the difculty is not
removed. Another alternative is to solve for the logarithms of
k, and , but one then deals with a modied set of equations
involving exponentials of the unknowns.
The numerical trick we propose here is very simple and can
be implemented in most k- solvers. The idea is to look at the
linearized equations for k and as convection-diffusion reac-
tion equations, and to notice that their coefcients are always
positive for the exact solution. Since a negative coefcient
This work is supported by grants number MRG4680151 from Thailand
Research Fund (TRF) and was encouraged from Department of Mathematics,
KMUTT. by providing the facilities for working and researching.
A. Luadsong are with the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science,
King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok
10140, THAILAND.
must be due to discretization errors, it can be put to zero
remorselessly. One never touches the values of k, or , just
the coefcients of the linearized equations. This trick, together
with an improved treatment of the wall-law, results in a very
robust scheme. It was combined with a recent equal-order
method introduced by Codina and Blasco [2], using linear
interpolation for all the unknowns. The following sections
describe the proposed method, with numerical tests assessing
both its stability and accuracy.
II. PROBLEM FORMULATION
Let u, p, and g be the velocity, the pressure, and the
right-hand side of the Navier-Stokes equations, which are
decomposed into a mean part

U, P, and

G, respectively, and
the small and smallest variations u

, p

, and g

known as
uctuations, so that
u =

U + u

, p = P + p

, g =

G +g

. (1)
In the most general formulation, the main part is formed by
applying a lter , i.e., it holds that

U := u,

P := p,

G := g, (2)
and hence
u

= u u, p

= p +p, g

= g +g. (3)
The lter is applied to u and g componentwise.
The lter should possed the following properties:
1) is a linear operator: for two quantities q and r and a
real constant , there holds
q + r = q +r, q = q.
2) The time and spatial derivatives commute with the
ltering operator:
_
q
t
_
=
q
t
,
_
q
x
i
_
=
q
x
i
.
3) Filtered quantities remain invariant under additional l-
tering: q = q.
4) The ltered product of a quantity with a ltered quantity
is equal to the product of the two ltered quantities:
qr = qr.
We now introduce the vector form of the Navier-Stokes
equations as follows
u
t
+ (u u) +p = u +g, (4)
where a

b denotes a tensor with elements (a

b)
i,j
:= a
i
b
j
.
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
58
Following the application of the ltering operator, the
continuity equation becomes
u =

U = 0, (5)
and for the momentum equations, we obtain
u
t
+ u u +p = u +g. (6)
Furthermore, it holds that
u u = (

U + u

) (

U + u

)
=

U

U +

U u

U +u

=

U

U +u

.
Thus, the lter possesses properties can be used to derive
from the Navier-Stokes equations what are knows as the
Reynolds equations for the main velocity

U:

U
t
+ (

U

U) +P

U R(u

) =

G, (7)

U = 0, (8)
where R(u

) be the Reynolds stresses are dened as the tensor

R(u

) = u

. (9)
A. the k- Turbulence Model
The k- model is a two-equation model, which means that
two additional variables k and are introduced to model the
Reynolds stresses. Of there, k denotes the turbulent kinetics
energy and the dissipation rate:
k :=
1
2
|u

|, :=

2
|u

+u
T
|
2
. (10)
Two supplementary equations for the determination of k and
are also introduced, thereby closing the system of equations.
The following assumptions underly the k- model.
The Reynolds hypothesis holds, namely, that R(u

) =
u

depends exclusively on k, , and

U; i.e.,
R(u

) R(

U +

U
T
, k, ).
The uctuations u

and hence turbulence are isotropic,

meaning they are uniform in all directions.
Convective transport of the uctuating quantities corre-
sponds to a diffusive transport of the mean quantities.
u

and

U +

U
T
are proportional, and the
proportionality factor is the turbulent eddy viscosity

T
:= c

k
2

. (11)
The approximate Reynolds tensor
R(u

) R(

U, k, ) =
2
3
kI + c

k
2

U +

U
T
) (12)
thus obtained is now substituted in the momentum equations,
so that, setting

:= +
T
= + c

k
2

, (13)
we obtain

U
t
+ (

U)+P +
2
3
k (

U +

U
T
)) =

G,
(14)
or, written out in component form in two dimensions,
U
t
+
(U
2
)
x
+
(UV )
y
+
P
x
+
2
3
k
x
(15)

x
_
2

U
x
_

y
_

_
U
y
+
V
x
__
= G
x
V
t
+
(UV )
x
+
(V
2
)
y
+
P
y
+
2
3
k
y
(16)

x
_

_
V
x
+
U
y
__

y
_
2

V
y
_
= G
y
,
respectively.
The following transport equations are derived to determine
k and :
k
t
+ (

Uk)

T
2

U +

U
T

2
(17)
(
T
k) + = 0,

t
+ (

U)
c
1
2
k

U +

U
T

2
(18)
(
c

T
) + c
2

2
k
= 0.
The components c

, c

, c
1
, and c
2
occurring here are usually
chosen empirically in such a way that the model yields the
correct results for three well-known ow case. This calibration
leads to
c

= 0.09, c

= 0.07, c
1
= 0.126, c
2
= 1.92. (19)
B. Boundary Conditions for the k- Model
The Navier-Stokes equations in the previous subsection are
dened on a domain , that we assume bounded by . The
portion of corresponding to solid walls is denoted by
w
,
along which a layer of thickness has been removed and
replaced by a wall law. This amounts to the imposition of the
no-penetration condition

U n = 0 (n is the normal), of a
tangential stress
w
(opposite to local velocity) obeying
|

U|
_

ln
_
E

_
= 0 (20)
and of Dirichlet-type values for k and
k =
(u

)
2

, =
(u

)
3

. (21)
In equations (20) and (21), E = 9 for smooth walls, =
0.41, u

=
_
|
w
|

, and dening
+
= u

, the inequalities
20
+
100 must hold.
It is customary to specify the value for over
w
, so that in
order to nd
w
one must solve the nonlinear equation (20). A
second possibility has been successfully applied in this work:
To specify the value of
+
over the boundary with wall law
condition. The main advantage of this choice is that given
+
we can calculate
w
in a direct fashion (no iterations that could
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
59
fail to converge). As a balancing drawback, now depends on
the solution, and can take different values at different points on
the boundary. This is however not an issue when is negligible
compared to the dimensions of the domain.
III. PROJECTION SCHEME
In this section, we consider the standard incremental
pressure-correction projection scheme for solving the k-
turbulence model. This scheme was made popular by Van Kan
who proposed a second-order incremental pressure-correction
scheme in [3].
A. The Projection Scheme of the Reynold Equation
Using the Backward Difference Formula of second-order
(BDF2) to approximate the time derivative, the incremental
pressure-correction projection scheme of the Reynold equation
(14) as follows:
The rst substep:
1
2t
(3

U
n+1
4

U
n
+

U
n1
)
+ (

U
n+1

U
n+1
) +
2
3
k
n+1
(

U +

U
T
))
n+1
+P
n
=

G
n+1
,

U
n+1

= 0,

(22)
The second substep:
1
2t
(3

U
n+1
3

U
n+1
) +(P
n+1
P
n
) = 0,

U
n+1
= 0,

U
n+1
n

= 0.

(23)
The second substep is a projection since it is equivalent to

U
n+1
= P
H

U
n+1
, where P
H
is the L
2
-orthogonal projection
onto a solenoidal vector eld H.
The incremental pressure-correction projection scheme
needs to be initialized with (

U
1
,

U
1
, P
1
) and they are com-
puted as follows. Set

U
0
=

U
0
and P
0
= P(0), where
P(0) is determined by using (7) and (8) at t = 0, and
evaluate (

U
1
,

U
1
, P
1
) from the following rst-order pressure-
correction scheme:
1
t
(

U
1

U
0
)
+ (

U
1

U
1
) +
2
3
k
1
(

U +

U
T
))
1
+P
0
=

G
1
,

U
1

= 0,

(24)
and
1
t
(

U
1

U
1
) +(P
1
P
0
) = 0,

U
1
= 0,

U
1
n

= 0.

(25)
The accuracy of the above algorithm has been proved by
J.L. Guermond [4]. The scheme (22)-(23) is the second-order
accurate on the velocity in the L
2
-norm, it is plagued by a
numerical boundary layer that prevents it to be fully second-
order on the velocity in the H
1
-norm and on the pressure in
the L
2
-norm.
The rst substep of the incremental pressure-correction
projection scheme of the Reynold equations (22) can be
written in component form in two dimensions as follows
1
2t
(3

U
n+1
4U
n
+ U
n1
)
i,j
+
(

U
2
)
x

n+1
i,j
+
(

U

V )
y

n+1
i,j
+
P
x

n
i,j
+
2
3
k
x

n+1
i,j

x
_
2

U
x
_

n+1
i,j
(26)

y
_

U
y
+


V
x
__

n+1
i,j
= G
x
|
n+1
i,j
,
1
2t
(3

V
n+1
4V
n
+ V
n1
)
i,j
+
(

U

V )
x

n+1
i,j
+
(

V
2
)
y

n+1
i,j
+
P
y

n
i,j
+
2
3
k
y

n+1
i,j

y
_
2

V
y
_

n+1
i,j
(27)

x
_

V
x
+


U
y
__

n+1
i,j
= G
y
|
n+1
i,j
.
To evaluate

U
n+1
in the second substep of the incremental
pressure-correction projection scheme of the Reynold equa-
tions (23), we can rearrange the rst equation of (23) as
follows

U
n+1
=

U
n+1
+
2
3
t
_
P
n
P
n+1
_
. (28)
We sustitute the relation (28) for the velocity eld

U
n+1
into
the continuity equation in (23) and obtain

2
P
n+1
=
2
P
n
+
3
2t

U
n+1
. (29)
The Poisson equation (29) can be written in component form
in two dimensions as follows
_

2
P
x
2
+

2
P
y
2
_
n+1
=
_

2
P
x
2
+

2
P
y
2
_
n
+
3
2t
_

U
x
+


V
y
_
n+1
.(30)
In the same manner as the above, the equations (24) and
(25) can be written in component form of two dimensions as
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
60
follows
1
t
(

U
1
U
0
)
i,j
+
(

U
2
)
x

1
i,j
+
(

U

V )
y

1
i,j
+
P
x

0
i,j
+
2
3
k
x

1
i,j

x
_
2

U
x
_

1
i,j
(31)

y
_

U
y
+


V
x
__

1
i,j
= G
x
|
1
i,j
,
1
t
(

V
1
V
0
)
i,j
+
(

U

V )
x

1
i,j
+
(

V
2
)
y

1
i,j
+
P
y

0
i,j
+
2
3
k
y

1
i,j

y
_
2

V
y
_

1
i,j
(32)

x
_

V
x
+


U
y
__

1
i,j
= G
y
|
1
i,j
,

U
1
=

U
1
+ t
_
P
0
P
1
_
, (33)

2
P
1
=
2
P
0
+
1
t

U
1
. (34)
B. The Semi-Implicit Scheme of the Transport Equations
The turbulent kinetic energy k and dissipation rate are
discretized at the cell centers of the staggered grid as in Fig.
1. Using the Forward Difference Formula of second-order
(FDF2) to approximate the time derivative, the semi-implicit
scheme of the transport equations of k (17) and (18) as
follows:
k
n+1
+ 4k
n
3k
n1
2t
+ (

U
n
k
n+1
) +
n+1
(35)

_
T
2

U +

U
T

2
_
n
(
n
T
k
n+1
) = 0,

n+1
+ 4
n
3
n1
2t
+ (

U
n

n+1
)

_
c1
2
k

U +

U
T

2
_
n
(
c
c

n
T

n+1
) (36)
+c2

n
k
n

n+1
= 0.
The second-order semi-implicit forward scheme needs to be
initialized with (k
1
,
1
) and they are computed as follows. Set
k
0
= k
0
and
0
=
0
then evaluate (k
1
,
1
) from the following
j
j -1
j +1
i-1 i i+1
P(i, j +1)
u(i,, j -1 )
v(i, j +1)
y ( j )
x(i)
scalar
CV
u- CV
v- CV
v-node others u-node
u(i, j +1 )
u(i, j )
u(i-1, j )
u(i+1, j )
P(i, j -1)
P(i-1, j )
P(i+1, j )
P(i, j )
v(i, j -1)
v(i-1, j ) v(i+1, j ) v(i, j )
Fig. 1: Staggered locations for u, v and other variables
rst-order explicit scheme:
k
1
k
0
t
+
_
(

Uk)
_
0
+
0
(37)

_
T
2

U +

U
T

2
_
0
[ (T k)]
0
= 0,

0
t
+
_
(

U)
_
0

_
c1
2
k

U +

U
T

2
_
0

_
(
c
c
T )
_
0
(38)
+
_
c2

2
k
_
0
= 0.
C. Discretization of the Reynolds Equations
We return to the discretization on the staggered grid as in
Fig. 1. The Poisson equation (30) is discretized at the center
of each cell (i, j), i = 1, . . . , i
max
, j = 1, . . . , j
max
, by
replacing the spatial derivative by central differences using
half the mesh width as follows

U
x

i,j
=

U
i,j


U
i1,j
x
,

V
y

i,j
=

V
i,j


V
i,j1
y
,

2
P
x
2

i,j
=
P
i+1,j
2P
i,j
+ P
i1,j
x
2
,

2
P
y
2

i,j
=
P
i,j+1
2P
i,j
+ P
i,j1
y
2
.
In equation (26) for

U at the midpoint of the right edge of
cell (i, j), i = 1, . . . , i
max
1, j = 1, . . . , j
max
, by replacing
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
61
the spatial derivative by the donor-cell scheme using half the
mesh width as follows
(

U
2
)
x

i,j
=
1
x
_
_

U
i,j +

Ui+1,j
2
_
2

_

Ui1,j +

Ui,j
2
_
2
_
+
1
x
_
|

U
i,j +

Ui+1,j|
2
(

Ui,j

Ui+1,j)
2

Ui1,j +

Ui,j|
2
(

Ui1,j

Ui,j)
2
_
,
(

U

V )
y

i,j
=
1
y
_
(

V
i,j +

Vi+1,j)
2
(

Ui,j +

Ui,j+1)
2

Vi,j1 +

Vi+1,j1)
2
(

Ui,j1 +

Ui,j)
2
_
+
1
y
_
|

Vi,j +

Vi+1,j|
2
(

Ui,j

Ui,j+1)
2

Vi,j1 +

Vi+1,j1|
2
(

Ui,j1

Ui,j)
2
_
,
P
x

i,j
=
Pi+1,j Pi,j
x
,
k
x

i,j
=
ki+1,j ki,j
x
,

x
_

U
x
_

i,j
=
1
x
2
_

i+1,j
(

Ui+1,j

Ui,j)

i,j
(

Ui,j

Ui1,j)
_
,

x
_

V
x
+


U
y
__

i,j
=
1
x
_

i+
1
2
,j+
1
2
_

Vi+1,j

Vi,j
x
+

Ui,j+1

Ui,j
y
_

i
1
2
,j+
1
2
_

Vi,j

Vi1,j
x
+

Ui1,j+1

Ui1,j
y
__
.
In equation (27) for

V at the midpoint of the upper edge of
cell (i, j), i = 1, . . . , i
max
, j = 1, . . . , j
max
1, by replacing
the spatial derivative by the donor-cell scheme using half the
mesh width as follows
(

V
2
)
y

i,j
=
1
y
_
_

Vi,j +

Vi,j+1
2
_
2

Vi,j1 +

Vi,j
2
_
2
_
+
1
y
_
|

V
i,j +

Vi,j+1|
2
(

Vi,j

Vi,j+1)
2

Vi,j1 +

Vi,j|
2
(

Vi,j1

Vi,j)
2
_
,
(

U

V )
x

i,j
=
1
x
_
(

Ui,j +

Ui,j+1)
2
(

Vi,j +

Vi+1,j)
2

Ui1,j +

Ui1,j+1)
2
(

Vi1,j +

Vi,j)
2
_
+
1
x
_
|

Ui,j +

Ui,j+1|
2
(

Vi,j

Vi+1,j)
2

Ui1,j +

Ui1,j+1|
2
(

Vi1,j

Vi,j)
2
_
,
P
y

i,j
=
Pi,j+1 Pi,j
y
,
k
y

i,j
=
ki,j+1 ki,j
y
,

y
_

V
y
_

i,j
=
1
y
2
_

i,j+1
(

Vi,j+1

Vi,j)

i,j
(

Vi,j

Vi,j1)
_
,

y
_

U
y
+


V
x
__

i,j
=
1
y
_

i+
1
2
,j+
1
2
_

Ui,j+1

Ui,j
y
+

Vi+1,j

Vi,j
x
_

i+
1
2
,j
1
2
_

Ui,j

Ui,j1
y
+

Vi+1,j1

Vi,j1
x
__
,
where
f
1
|
i,j
= 1 +
_
0.05
f

|
i,j
_
3
,
f
2
|
i,j
= 1 exp
_
R
t
|
2
i,j
_
,
f

|
i,j
= (1 exp(0.0165R

|
i,j
))
2
_
1 +
20.5
R
t
|
i,j
_
,
R
t
|
i,j
=
k
2
i,j

i,j

i,j
,
R
t
|
i,j
=
_
k
i,j

i,j

i,j
,

T
|
i,j
= c

|
i,j
k
2
i,j

i,j
,

i,j
= +
T
|
i,j
,

i+
1
2
,j+
1
2
=

i+1,j+1
+

i,j+1
+

i+1,j
+

i,j
4
,
in which denotes the distance to the nearest wall. The
parameter in the above formulas lies between 0 and 1. For
= 0, we recover the central difference discretization, and
for = 1, a pure donor-cell scheme results. According to [9],
should be chosen such that

2
3
max
i,j
_
t
x

U
i,j

,
t
y

V
i,j

_
is satised.
D. Discretization of the Transport Equations for k and
The Semi-Implicit Scheme of the Transport Equations (35)
and (36) can be written in component form in two dimensions
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
62
as follows
1
2t
(k
n+1
+ 4k
n
3k
n1
)i,j
+
U
n
k
n+1
x

i,j
+
V
n
k
n+1
y

i,j
+
n+1
i,j

_

x
_

n
T
k
n+1
x
__
i,j

_

y
_

n
T
k
n+1
y
__
i,j
(39)

1
2
T |
n
i,j
_

U +

U
T

2
_
n
i.j
= 0,
1
2t
(
n+1
+ 4
n
3
n1
)i,j
+
U
n

n+1
x

i,j
+
V
n

n+1
y

i,j
+ c2 f2|
n
i,j

n
i,j
k
n
i,j

n+1
i,j

c
c
_

x
_
f
n

n
T

n+1
x
__
i,j
(40)

c
c
_

y
_
f
n

n
T

n+1
y
__
i,j

1
2
f1|
n
i,j
k|
n
i,j
_

U +

U
T

2
_
n
i.j
= 0.
The equation (39) and (40) are discretized at the cell center
of cell (i, j), i = 1, . . . , i
max
, j = 1, . . . , j
max
, by replacing
the spatial derivative by the donor-cell scheme using half the
mesh width as follows
Uk
x

i,j
=
1
x
_
Ui,j
ki,j + ki+1,j
2
Ui1,j
ki1,j + ki,j
2
_
+

x
_
|U
i,j|
ki,j ki+1,j
2
|U
i1,j|
ki1,j ki,j
2
_
,
V k
y

i,j
=
1
y
_
V
i,j
ki,j + ki,j+1
2
Vi,j1
ki,j1 + ki,j
2
_
+

y
_
|V
i,j|
ki,j ki,j+1
2
|Vi,j1|
ki,j1 ki,j
2
_
,
U
x

i,j
=
1
x
_
U
i,j
i,j + i+1,j
2
Ui1,j
i1,j + i,j
2
_
+

x
_
|U
i,j|
i,j i+1,j
2
|Ui1,j|
i1,j i,j
2
_
,
V
y

i,j
=
1
y
_
Vi,j
i,j + i,j+1
2
Vi,j1
i,j1 + i,j
2
_
+

y
_
|Vi,j|
i,j i,j+1
2
|Vi,j1|
i,j1 i,j
2
_
,
_

x
_

T
k
x
__
i,j
=
1
x
2
_

T |
i+
1
2
,j
(ki+1,j ki,j)
T |
i
1
2
,j
(ki,j ki1,j)
_
_

y
_
T
k
y
__
i,j
=
1
y
2
_
T |
i,j+
1
2
(ki,j+1 ki,j)
T |
i,j
1
2
(ki,j ki,j1)
_
,
_

x
_
f
T

x
__
i,j
=
1
x
2
_
f
|i,jT |
i+
1
2
,j
(i+1,j i,j)
f|i,jT |
i
1
2
,j
(i,j i1,j)
_
_

y
_
fT

y
__
i,j
=
1
y
2
_
f|i,jT |
i,j+
1
2
(i,j+1 i,j)
f|i,jT |
i,j
1
2
(i,j i,j1)
_
,
_

U +

U
T

2
_
i.j
= 4
_
U
x
_
2
i,j
+2
_
_
U
y
_
i,j
+
_
V
x
_
i,j
_
2
+ 4
_
V
y
_
2
i,j
,
U
x

i,j
=
Ui,j Ui1,j
x
,
U
y

i,j
=
(Ui,j+1 + Ui1,j+1) (Ui,j1 + Ui1,j1)
4y
,
V
y

i,j
=
Vi,j Vi,j1
y
,
V
x

i,j
=
(Vi+1,j + Vi+1,j1) (Vi1,j + Vi1,j1)
4x
,
where the parameter [0, 1] determines a weighted average
of discretizing with central differences and the donor-cell
discretization. Since the transport equations for k and is
discretized at cell centers, the averaging of U and V necessary
in the discretization of the Reynold equations is not necessary
here.
E. The Algorithm for solving k- Turbulence Model
The sequence of computations to be performed is summa-
rized as follows.
Algorithm 1 The Algorithm for solving k- Turbulence Model
Set t = 0, n = 0
Assign initial values to U
0
, V
0
, P
0
, k
0
, and
0
Set the boundary values for U
1
, V
1
, P
1
, k
1
, and
1
Compute k
1
and
1
according to the linear system (37)-(38)
Compute

U
1
according to the linear system (24)
Compute P
1
according to (34)
Compute

U
1
according to (33)
while t < t
end
do
Set the boundary values for U
n+1
, V
n+1
, P
n+1
, k
n+1
,
and
n+1
Compute k
n+1
and
n+1
according to the linear system
(35)-(36)
Compute

U
n+1
according to the linear system (22)
Compute P
n+1
according to (29)
Compute

U
n+1
according to (28)
t = t + t
n = n + 1
end while
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
63
IV. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
We study the numerical method for solving the k- turbu-
lence model. This model consists of the Reynold and transport
equations. The standard incremental pressure-correction pro-
jection scheme is applied for solving the Reynold equations
which this numerical scheme has fully second-order accurate.
For avoiding the nonlinear terms of the system of algebraic
equations, we introduce the second-order semi-implicit for the
transport equations for kinetic energy k and dissipation rate .
For avoiding stability problems, the convective terms in this
model are discretizing with the mixed of central differences
and donor-cell schemes which the accuracy can be adjusted
by the weight parameter [0, 1].
The standard incremental pressure-correction projection
scheme (22)-(23) is second-order accurate on the velocity in
the L
2
-norm, it is plagued by a numerical boundary layer that
prevents it to be fully second-order on the velocity in the h
1
-
norm and on the pressure in the L
2
-norm. Actually, from (23)
we observe that (P
n+1
P
n
) n|

= 0 which implies that

P
n+1
n|

= P
n
n|

= = P
0
n|

.
It is a non-physical Neumann boundary condition enforced
on the pressure that introduces the numerical boundary layer
referred to above and consequently limits the accuracy of the
scheme.
The algorithm is implemented with any A-stable second-
order time stepping which has been prove by Guermond
[4]. Since this scheme has an irreducible splitting error of
O(t
2
), using a higher than second-order time stepping for
approximating the operator
t

2
does not improve the
overall accuracy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author is very thankful to his mentor, Prof. Dr. Som-
chai Wongwises who directed his attention to uid mechanics
and heat transfer, and whose inuence in the formation of
his research interests can not be over estimated. This research
was supported by grants number MRG4680151 from Thailand
Research Fund (TRF) and was encouraged from Department of
Mathematics, KMUTT by providing the facilities for working
and researching. Finally, I would like to thank my family,
whose continuous encouragement and support sustained me
through the preparation of this work.
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Anirut Luadsong is with the Department of
Mathematics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkuts
University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT),
THAILAND, Email: anirut.lua@kmutt.ac.th. His
current research interests include computer aided
geometric design (CAGD), parallel numerical al-
gorithms and computing, and computational uid
dynamics.
International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 6:2 2010
64