Adaptive computations of turbulent forced convection

This article presents an adaptive finite element method for solving incompr essible turbulent flows with heat transfer. Solutions are obtained in primi tive variables using a highly accurate quadratic finite element method on u nstructured grids. Turbulence modeling is achieved using the k-epsilon mode l. A projection error estimator is presented that incorporates errors from various sources: velocity, temperature, pressure, and turbulence variables, including the eddy viscosity. The efficiency and reliability of the method ology are studied by solving a problem with a known analytical solution. Th e method is then applied to heat transfer over a backward facing step and t o a heated jet. In all cases, predictions are compared to experiments.