Low Reynolds number turbulence

We are essentially assuming that the small scales are in dynamic equilibrium with the large scales. This may also hold in low-Reynolds-number turbulent flows. However, for low-Reynolds-number flows, one may need to account also for dissipation rate anisotropy by modeling all components in the dissipation-rate tensor s j. 

Hanks, R. W. 1978. Low Reynolds number turbulent pipeline flow of pseudohomogeneous slurries, in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on the Hydraulic Transport ofSolids in Pipes Hydrotransport. May 8-11. Paper C2, p. C2-23 to C2-34, Hanover, West Germany, cited in Garcia and Steffe 1987. 

There are two main approaches to modeling the near-wall region. In one approach, the so-called wall function approach, the viscosity-affected inner regions (viscous and buffer layers) are not modeled. Instead, semi-empirical formulae (wall functions) are used to bridge the viscosity-affected region between the wall and the fully turbulent region. In another approach, special, low Reynolds number turbulence models are developed to simulate the near-wall region flow. These two approaches are shown schematically in Fig. 3.5(b) and 3.5(c). 

Pennell, W. T., E. M. Sparrow and E. R. G. Eckert, "Turbulence Intensity and Time Mean Velocity Distributions in Low Reynolds Number Turbulent Pipe Flows", Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 15, (1972) 1067-1074... 

In order to support the experimental work, COPO experiments were simulated numerically with the PHOENICS code [8]. Since the main interest was in simulating the flow and heat transfer on the boundaries, a low-Reynolds number turbulence model by Lam and Bremhorst [9], instead of the standard k-e model, was chosen as the turbulence model to be primarily used. In this model, some of the constants in the k- and... 

A low Reynolds number indicates laminar flow and a paraboHc velocity profile of the type shown in Figure la. In this case, the velocity of flow in the center of the conduit is much greater than that near the wall. If the operating Reynolds number is increased, a transition point is reached (somewhere over Re = 2000) where the flow becomes turbulent and the velocity profile more evenly distributed over the interior of the conduit as shown in Figure lb. This tendency to a uniform fluid velocity profile continues as the pipe Reynolds number is increased further into the turbulent region. 

Turbulence, which prevails in the great majority of fluid-flow situations, poses special problems. Due to the wide range of space and time scales in turbulence flow, its exact numerical simulation is possible only at relatively low Reynolds number (around 100 or below) and if the geometry is simple. 

If the surface over which the fluid is flowing contains a series of relatively large projections, turbulence may arise at a very low Reynolds number. Under these conditions, the frictional force will be increased but so will the coefficients for heat transfer and mass transfer, and therefore turbulence is often purposely induced by this method. 

The transition from laminar to turbulent flow will normally occur at a Reynolds number of 100 to 400, depending on the plate design. With some designs, turbulence can be achieved at very low Reynolds numbers, which makes plate heat exchangers very suitable for use with viscous fluids. 

Even nowadays, a DNS of the turbulent flow in, e.g., a lab-scale stirred vessel at a low Reynolds number (Re = 8,000) still takes approximately 3 months on 8 processors and more than 17 GB of memory (Sommerfeld and Decker, 2004). Hence, the turbulent flows in such applications are usually simulated with the help of the Reynolds Averaged Navier- Stokes (RANS) equations (see, e.g., Tennekes and Lumley, 1972) which deliver an averaged representation of the flow only. This may lead, however, to poor results as to small-scale phenomena, since many of the latter are nonlinearly dependent on the flow field (Rielly and Marquis, 2001). 

The left-hand sides of Eqs. (25)-(29) have the same form as Eq. (5) and represent accumulation and convection. The terms on the right-hand side can be divided into spatial transport due to diffusion and source terms. The diffusion terms have a molecular component (i.e., /i and D), and turbulent components. We should note here that the turbulence models used in Eqs. (26) and (27) do not contain corrections for low Reynolds numbers and, hence, the molecular-diffusion components will be negligible when the model is applied to high-Reynolds-number flows. The turbulent viscosity is defined using a closure such as... 

---