Reynolds Stress Modeling for Drag Reducing Viscoelastic Flows

Abstract

A Reynolds-stress transport equation model for turbulent drag-reducing viscoelastic flows, such as that which occurs for dilute polymer solutions, is presented. The approach relies on an extended set of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations which incorporate additional polymer stresses. The polymer stresses are specified in terms of the mean polymer conformation tensor using the FENE-P dumbbell model. The mean conformation tensor equation is solved in a coupled manner along with the Navier-Stokes equations. The presence of the polymer stresses in the equations of motion results in additional explicit polymer terms in the Reynolds-stress transport equations, as well as implicit polymer effects in the pressure-strain redistribution term. Models for both the explicit and implicit effects have been developed and implemented in a code suitable for boundary layer, rectangular channel and pipe-flow geometries. Calibration and validation is has been carried out using results from recent direct numerical simulation of viscoelastic turbulent flow.