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Simulating turbulent Dean flow in Cartesian coordinates
Author(s) -
El Khoury George K.,
Andersson Helge I.,
Pettersen Bjørnar
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in fluids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1097-0363
pISSN - 0271-2091
DOI - 10.1002/fld.1886
Subject(s) - cartesian coordinate system , turbulence , curvature , navier–stokes equations , flow (mathematics) , physics , cylindrical coordinate system , vortex , classical mechanics , curvilinear coordinates , direct numerical simulation , dimensionless quantity , geometry , mathematical analysis , mathematics , mechanics , reynolds number , compressibility
A simplified approach to simulate turbulent flows in curved channels is proposed. A set of governing equations of motion in Cartesian coordinates is derived from the full Navier–Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates. Terms to first order in the dimensionless curvature parameter are retained, whereas higher‐order terms are neglected. The curvature terms are implemented in a conventional Navier–Stokes code using Cartesian coordinates. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent flow in weakly curved channels are performed. The pronounced asymmetries in the mean flow and the turbulence statistics observed in earlier DNS studies are faithfully reproduced by the present simplified Navier–Stokes model. It is particularly rewarding that also distinct pairs of counter‐rotating streamwise‐oriented vortices are embedded in the simulated flow field. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.