Computational Investigation of Turbulent Flow Development in 180° Channel with Circular Cross Section

Abstract

The present study focuses on the analysis of flow characteristics inside a 180° bent channel by adopting two distinct RANS model namely, Realizable k-? and Reynolds Stress Model (RSM). The computation results, obtained from both case study have been validated against experimental data at different cross-sections throughout the bend region and downstream tangent for velocity distribution. The anisotropic behavior of turbulent flow was illustrated for both case study inside the bend region and it has been established that after 3° the flow gradually became more intense at the outer core. Pressure coefficient throughout the u-channel was depicted for both turbulence model and a characteristic feature has been obtained. Due to centrifugal force and high inlet Reynolds number, a pair of counter-rotating Dean vortices were constructed at different stations inside the bend region. From both demonstrations, it was revealed that, Realizable k-? model provided relatively better approximation.