Selected problems in turbulence theory and modeling

Abstract

Three different topics of turbulence research that cover modeling, theory and model computation categories are selected and studied in depth. In the first topic, "velocity gradient dynamics in turbulence" (modeling), the Lagrangian linear diffusion model that accounts for the viscous-effect is proposed to make the existing restricted-Euler velocity gradient dynamics model quantitatively useful. Results show good agreement with DNS data. In the second topic, "pressure-strain correlation in homogeneous anisotropic turbulence subject to rapid strain-dominated distortion" (theory), extensive rapid distortion calculation is performed for various anisotropic initial turbulence conditions in strain-dominated mean flows. The behavior of the rapid pressure-strain correlation is investigated and constraining criteria for the rapid pressure-strain correlation models are developed. In the last topic, "unsteady computation of turbulent flow past a square cylinder using partially-averaged Navier-Stokes method" (model computation), the basic philosophy of the PANS method is reviewed and a practical problem of flow past a square cylinder is computed for various levels of physical resolution. It is revealed that the PANS method can capture many important unsteady flow features at an affordable computational effort.