Comparison of Various Turbulence Models for Unsteady Flow around a Finite Circular Cylinder at Re=20000

Abstract

This paper compares the performance of eight Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) two-equation turbulence models and two sub-grid scale (SGS) large eddy simulation (LES) models in the scenario of unsteady flow around a finite circular cylinder at an aspect ratio (AR) of 1.0 and a Reynolds number of Re=20000. It is found that, among all the eight RANS turbulence models considered, the K-Omega-SST model (viz. SST-V2003) developed by Menter et al. [1, 2] possesses the best overall performance (being closest to the numerical results of the two LES models considered, which can be deemed as the quasi-exact solution in view of the very fine computational mesh employed by the two LES models in this study) in terms of the mean surface pressure coefficient distribution (i.e. C p ), the mean drag coefficient (i.e. C d ), the mean streamline profiles in some characteristic planes (such as the mid-height plane and the symmetry plane of the cylinder) and the distribution of mean bed-shear-stress amplification on the bottom wall.