Turbulence Modeling

Industry Solutions

ANSYS fluid dynamics technology is a leader in turbulent flow

modeling, with an industry-tested suite of turbulence models
covering even the most complex flows.
Steady-State Turbulence Models
Turbulence has a strong effect on flow characteristics of interest
to engineers, such as drag or lift of aerodynamic bodies, mixing of
chemical components, heat transfer and combusting processes. Most
engineering flows are turbulent, and these flows are inherently
random, three-dimensional and unsteady. Such unsteady motion is
composed of a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. It may take
many decades or more for these physics to be computationally
resolved for practical engineering applications. Until then,
however, it is essential to accurately account for turbulence effects
in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by using various types of
approximations in the form of turbulence models.
ANSYS offers a number of advanced turbulence models in the form
of algebraic, one-equation, two-equation and Reynolds stress models.
These models are integrated into state-of-the-art CFD solvers.
The most widely used turbulence models are Reynolds-averaged
NavierStokes (RANS) models that are based on time-averaging of
the equations. Time-averaging filters out all turbulent scales from
the simulation, and the effect of turbulence on the mean flow is
then re-introduced through appropriate modeling assumptions.
The prediction of flow separation for equipment and parts such
as wings, vehicles and manifolds is very important because the
operating performance of the entire machine is affected by this
behavior. For flow separation, the shearstress transport (SST) model
has become accepted as the two-equation model industry standard.
The SST model unifies the advantages of the most widely employed
two-equation (k- and k-) models and is the most reliable model for
fluids with flow separation.
Consistent definition of near-wall processes allows accurate
prediction of heat transfer between the walls of solid parts and
internal or external flow. The use of ANSYS turbulence models
in combination with the ANSYS CFD advanced numerical solvers
provides a reliable and accurate basis for flow analysis.

Pressure contours and pathlines

Turbulent mixing
Courtesy Forschungszentrum Rossendorf e.V.

Vortex structures in a four-stroke engine

just after injection of fuel and intake
valve opening
Courtesy BMW Group

Industry Solutions

LaminarTurbulent Transition Models

The flow around turbine blades, wings and many other applications
often features upstream laminar boundary layers that transition into
a turbulent flow further downstream. To aid in analyzing this widely
observed physical behavior, ANSYS has pioneered the development of a
new class of models that allow the reliable prediction of the onset and
extent of laminarturbulent transition even in complex applications.
With one simulation using this SST-based turbulence transition model,
engineers can calculate laminar and turbulent flows including transition.
This model considers three important factors that cause transition:
Natural transition: classical transition in the boundary layer
Bypass transition: transition due to a turbulence transport into the
(laminar) boundary layer

Vortex structures generated by aircraft

landing gear

Separation-induced transition: transition induced by flow separation

The turbulence transition model closes the gap between laminar and
turbulent flows and significantly expands the range of applications for
fluid flow software from ANSYS. The model was originally developed
in CFD software from ANSYS, so the companys products offer a unique
advantage in model accuracy, quality and consistency of performance
that only the creator who fully understands the model can provide. The
company continually improves and enhances this model to maintain its
lead in this critical area.

A precessing vortex core colored by

axial velocity in an SAS simulation of a
combustion chamber
Courtesy German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute
of Combustion Technology.

Transient Turbulence Models

For swirl flows, flows with large separation zones, and free-shear and
mixed layer flows, it is advantageous to resolve the vortex structures
of turbulence to a certain extent. In these cases, transient turbulence
models also called scale-resolving simulation (SRS) models are
recommended. Using these models, partial resolution of turbulence is
possible and is limited only by mesh size and time increment. Turbulence
can be modeled if grid and time parameters are below the threshold
limits. These methods are advantageous because smaller scales do not
contribute significantly to the overall flow development and, therefore,
are easier to describe by a model.
Software from ANSYS offers a wide range of SRS models:
Scale-adaptive simulation (SAS)
Detached eddy simulation (DES)
Large eddy simulation (LES) and wall-modeled LES (WMLES)
Zonal and embedded LES models

Turbulence structures in a singleswirl burner

.

Mixing in swirl combustion chambers and the separated flow behind a

car are examples in which SRS models provide a significant improvement
in results when compared to steady-state RANS models. State-of-the-art
best practice in SRS modeling includes the application of hybrid models
such as SAS and DES.

Industry Solutions
0.01
Boundary Layer Code
Experiment
Laminar
Turbulent

0.008
0.006
Cf

ANSYS is leading the engineering simulation sector in the development

of SAS modeling the most attractive and easy-to-use approach to
unsteady flow simulations. The SAS model is capable of resolving largescale turbulent structures without the time and grid-scale resolution
restrictions of LES, often allowing the use of existing grids created for
RANS simulations. ANSYS maintains close links to the originators of the
DES approach, and the company works continually to increase accuracy
of these models for complex engineering flow simulations.

0.004
0.002

In addition to existing SAS, DES and LES models, ANSYS has recently
introduced an industry first wall-modeled LES (WMLES) and
embedded LES (ELES). WMLES allows the simulation of wall-bounded
flows at much higher Reynolds numbers than classical LES and thereby
removes one of the most severe restrictions of LES with respect to
industrial simulations. In addition, ELES and zonal LES offer even more
flexibility by allowing an embedded LES zone within a larger RANS
domain. This restricts the computationally expensive LES part to regions
where it is truly required, while covering less critical areas with RANS.

The ANSYS Turbulence Team

ANSYS delivers an unparalleled breadth of leading models to capture
the effects of turbulence accurately and efficiently. The ANSYS team
for turbulence model development is led by Dr. Florian R. Menter, a
widely recognized leader in the advancement of engineering turbulence
models. He is the originator of the SST turbulence model, now an
industrial standard in the aeronautics and astronautics community.
He and his team have contributed substantially to the formulation of
robust and accurate turbulence models for a wide range of industrial
applications. Contributions include y+-insensitive wall formulations,
which minimize the sensitivity of results to the near-wall grid resolution,
advanced one- and two-equation models for aerodynamic simulations,
novel models for laminarturbulent transition prediction, and
industrially applicable scale-resolving simulation methods.
The ANSYS turbulence team is continually engaged in high-level
research and development projects and interacts directly with leaders
in the turbulence research community. ANSYS actively participates in
a long-term cooperation with the NTS group a leader in unsteady
flow modeling and one of the originators of DES methodology of
Prof. Michael Strelets at the University of St. Petersburg. The joint
development covers improved RANS models as well as latest-generation
scale-resolving methods. The cooperative agreement enables ANSYS
to quickly transfer new technologies into its most recently released
software products. NTS and ANSYS test the model in independent
codes, which maintains optimal implementation quality.
Dr. Menter and his team help ensure that ANSYS turbulence models
remain at the leading edge of the technology and offer the highest
quality in terms of model formulation, consistency of implementation
and careful validation across the spectrum of industrial applications.

2e+05

4e+05

Rex

6e+05

8e+05

1e+06

Influence of the transition model in

predicting the friction coefficient

Embedded LES (ELES) for the NASA

hump flow experiment with synthetic
turbulence generated at the RANSLES
interface
Simulation performed for the EU project ATAAC.

Simulation of a wingbody with high-lift

devices for the AIAA High Lift Prediction
Workshop (HiLiPW-1), using the SST-based
laminarturbulent transition model.
Image is colored by wall shear stress with
laminar separation bubbles indicated.

Geometry courtesy CADFEM.

Industry Solutions

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and deepest suite of integrated advanced
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challenges. The engineered scalability of solutions from ANSYS delivers
the flexibility customers need, within an architecture that is adaptable
to the processes and design systems of their choice. No wonder the
worlds most successful companies turn to ANSYS with a track
record of 40 years as the industry leader for the best in engineering
simulation.

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