Computations of strongly swirling flows with second-moment closures

The present study is concerned with simulating turbulent, strongly swirling flows by eddy viscosity model and Reynolds stress transport model variants adopting linear and quadratic form of the pressure-strain models. Flows wi th different inlet swirl numbers, 2.25 and 0.85, were investigated. Detaile d comparisons of the predicted results and measurements were presented to a ssess the merits of model variants. For the swirl number 2.25 case, due to the inherent capability of the Reynolds stress models to capture the strong swirl and turbulence interaction, both the linear and quadratic form of th e pressure-strain models predict the flow adequately. In strong contrast, t he k-epsilon model predicts an excessively diffusive flow fields. For the s wirl number 0.85 case, both the k-epsilon and Reynolds stress model with li near pressure-strain process, show an excessive diffusive transport of the flow fields. The quadratic pressure-strain model, on the other hand, mimics the correct flow development with the recirculating region being correctly predicted. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.