Development of an Oriented-Eddy Collision Model for Turbulence

• Main Author: Andeme, Raeann
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 2008
• Subjects: turbulence; LES; fluids; CFD; reynolds; navier-stokes; Fluid dynamics
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/161; https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1275&context=theses

The exact governing equations of fluid dynamics are too computationally expensive to solve on a computer for practical applications. Hence, it is currently not possible to analytically describe the behavior of a turbulent flow -in particular its internal structures-, making turbulence one of the major remaining unsolved problems in Classical Physics. One solution to computationally predict the performance of engineering applications involving fluids is the formulation of alternative and computationally tractable equations. This work demonstrates the feasibility of modeling turbulence as a collection of interacting particles with intrinsic orientation. It also discusses current efforts regarding its accuracy and computational overhead in numerous turbulent flows. The goal of this thesis is to focus on numerical implementation as well as model evaluation and validation. The Oriented-Eddy Collision Model is tested for basic flow cases and incorporated inhomogeneity. The project is successful in demonstrating that with appropriate extensions, the model can be applied to a very wide variety of turbulent flows with high predictive accuracy.