Numerical Assessment of Turbulent Flow Driving in a Two-Sided Lid-Driven Cavity with Antiparallel Wall Motion

Abstract

In this paper, the case of the steady two-dimensional flow in a two-sided lid-driven square cavity is numerically investigated by the finite volume method (FVM). The flow motion is due to the top and bottom horizontal walls sliding symmetrically in the opposite direction with equal velocities, UT and UB, obtained through three respective Reynolds numbers, Re1,2=10000, 15000, and 20000. Due to the lack of availability of experimental results in this Reynolds number margin for this type of flow, the problem is first examined by considering that the flow is turbulent with the inclusion of four commonly used RANS turbulence models: Omega RSM, SST k-ω, RNG k-ε and Spalart-Allmaras (SA). Next, the regime is considered being laminar in the same range of Reynolds numbers. A systematic evaluation of the flow characteristics is performed in terms of stream-function contour, velocity profiles, and secondary vortices depth. Examination of the calculation results reveals the existence of a great similarity of the predicted flow structures between the Omega RSM model and those from the laminar flow assumption. On the other hand, the computed flow with the SST k-ω model, the RNG k-ε model, and the SA model reveals a remarkable under-prediction which appears clearly in the size and number of secondary vortices in the near-wall regions. Various benchmarking results are presented in this study.