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k − ε simulations of the neutral atmospheric boundary layer: analysis and correction of discretization errors on practical grids
Author(s) -
Sumner Jonathon,
Masson Christian
Publication year - 2011
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.2709
Subject(s) - discretization , grid , boundary layer , turbulence , dissipation , boundary value problem , homogeneous , invariant (physics) , mechanics , flow (mathematics) , work (physics) , mathematics , kinetic energy , geometry , physics , statistical physics , mathematical analysis , classical mechanics , thermodynamics , mathematical physics
SUMMARY The Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations/ k − ε approach is the popular and practical choice for carrying out simulations involving the atmospheric boundary layer. However, despite its widespread use, implementation of this approach is not without its challenges—even when considering the simplest case of horizontally homogeneous conditions. Most notably, the distributions of turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate have proved difficult to maintain near solid boundaries, particularly in wind engineering applications where the near‐wall grid is relatively coarse. In this work, the origin of these errors is investigated, and it is shown that by applying appropriate discretization schemes in conjunction with the Richards and Hoxey boundary conditions, truly invariant profiles of all flow properties can be obtained on such grids. Furthermore, with this finding, a wall treatment for coarse grids is proposed that could be implemented for non‐homogeneous conditions. All simulations are carried out using OpenFOAM‐1.6.x. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.