1

2
1. Introduction
1.1. Introduction to Driver and Seegmiller(1985) experiment

Fluid flow through channels and understanding behaviour is one of the common problems
encountered in Fluid dynamic industry (such as pipes) owning to different flow dynamics flow
Phenomenon such as separation, free shear layers, recirculation region, and flow reattachment. As a
solution to this in 1985 Driver and Seegmiller conducted a experiment to validate the numerical and
experimental data of such fluid flow by validating results of backword facing flow step problem as
shown in the figure below.

Separation and reattachment of turbulent flows occur in many practical engineering applications.
It is seen both in internal flow systems such as diffusers, combustors and channels with sudden
expansions, and in external flows like flow around airfoil and building. In these situations, the flow
experiences an adverse pressure gradient, which causes the boundary layer to separate from the solid
surface. The flow subsequently reattaches downstream forming a recirculation bubble. The presence of
a separated flow, together with a reattaching flow, gives rise to increased unsteadiness, pressure
fluctuations which may lead to structure vibrations and noise. therefore, it’s important to identify such
flow parameters in engineering field. There are 3 main ways which can identify these flow parameters
which are theoretical technique, experimental technique and numerical technique.

Theoretical techniques are related with theoretical equations and these techniques are very
limited due to the complexity of the flow governing equations and complex geometries. Experimental
technique involved with physical modelling. however, this is a very costly technique and take long time
to design physical model

3
 In Numerical technique discretised theoretical equation is used to generate approximate solution
and depending on the computational facilities available more accurate answers can be generated. Before
using this technique, it is important to understand all the flow governing equation related to the problem.
Also depending on the boundary conditions applying and flow domain the accuracy of the solution can
be controlled

1.2. CFD solver component and their use

There are three main components in CFD solver, which are physical modelling, Discretization Process
and acceleration technique which are used to maintain stability, numerical accuracy and numerical
efficiency respectively.

1. Physical modelling
In this component all the theoretical governing equation will be considered and then
depending on the assumption made for the fluid this equation will be simplified. Such as
incompressible, steady, inviscid flows, turbulent flow
2. Discretization process
In this component reduced form of theoretical equation will converted into to the
numerical equation depending on the assumption made theoretical equations can be
discretized as pressure based and density-based method. Pressure based methods are
typically used for the low-speed incompressible flows and pressure term will be
calculated for manipulation momentum and continuity equations.
Also, discretization process is used to create the grid for numerical simulations. Grid
refinement can be selected depending on the flow regions such ad near walls, flow
separation, reattachment, recirculation regions in order to get higher accurate results.
3. Acceleration Techniques
a. Technique which are used to converge numerical equations and methods with are used to
reduce computation time are considered in this component. Depending on the numerical
efficiency and stability explicit or implicit techniques can be selected. Also depending on
the flow behaviors of turbulence flows, RANS equations modelling or Large steady
simulation modellings can be used generate approximate solutions .

4
2. Flow Governing Equations
Flow through back-ward facing step is one of the classic internal flow problems in the fluid
mechanics. Basic governing equation equations of any flow problem depend on the conservation of
mass, conservation of energy and Newtons 2nd law for the force and momentum. In flow physics partial
differential form of these equations are named as Navier-stokes equations (N-S equations). All the
equations this section derived for the unsteady, compressible and three-dimensional flow.

2.1. Conservation of mass

In physics mass is conserved.by using this theorem following integral form equation can be derived and
these equations also called as continuity equations.

Eq.(1)
𝐷𝑀𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝐷 𝐷
= ∭ 𝜌𝑑𝑉 + ∬ 𝜌𝑣⃗𝑛 𝑑𝑆 = 0
𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡
𝑉 𝑆

Therefor, the net mass flow out of the element is equal to the Time rate of decrease of mass inside the
element. Also, the partial differential equation (PDE) for equations (1) can be expressed as below.

𝜕𝜌 Eq.(2)
⃗⃗ ) = 0
+ ∇. (𝜌. 𝑉
𝜕𝑡

2.2. Newton’s 2nd law of motion.

In Newton’s 2nd law of motion state that Time rate of change of the linear momentum of the system is
equal to the Sum of external forces acting on the system. The integral equation form of this theorem can
be expressed as below.

Eq.(3)
𝐷 𝐷
∭ 𝑣⃗𝜌𝑑𝑉 + ∬ 𝑣⃗𝜌𝑣⃗𝑑𝑆 = ΣF
𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡
𝑉 𝑆

The partial differential equation for momentum equation in x direction can be expressed as below
cartesian coordinate form,

Eq.(4)

5
2.3. Conservation of Energy

According to the 1st law of thermodynamics Energy is conserved. In fluid system this theorem can be
expressed as below,

Eq.(5)

In final form this equation in PDE form can be expressed as below,

Eq.(6)

3. Mathematical model
3.1. Flow problem assumptions

• Newtonian behavior of Air

the air is considered as Newtonian fluid which means viscous stresses are linearly proportional to the
local strain rate. Therefore, the kinetic viscosity of the air can be considered as a constant.

• Incompressible flow

In this flow problem the Mach number has calculated as 0.128(<0.3).[3] therefore, this flow can be
considered subsonic fluid and can be assumed as a incompressible flow. Hence, the density of the air
flow can be considered as a constant and any term in NS equation involve with density can be neglected.

• Isothermal

In the original experiment of Driver and Seegmiller(1985) have not mentioned in work done by the
system or heat transfer due to no temperature gradient in the system. Therefor, the system can be
considered as isothermal, and the energy equations can be neglected

• 2D flow

In the experiment conducted by Driver and Seegmiller(1985) large width to step hight wind tunnel and
they observed that there is no variation in width direction. Therefore in this problem fluid flow can be
considered as a 2-D flow.

6
 • Turbulent flow

Since the flow takes place at Reynolds number of 5000, it is classified as a turbulent flow. This is avery
important flow characteristic as it allows the use of a correct model to solve the flow physics.

• Steady state

The flow is modelled to be statically turbulent as the averaged velocity component is assumed to
show no significant variation of flow profile due to the adaption of constant boundary condition.

3.2. Simplified PDEs

𝜕𝜌
Eq 2 can be simplified as, is equal to 0 and the term 𝜌 is constant by using the assumption of flow
𝜕𝑡

incompressibility. Therefore Eq 2 can be simplified as below.

⃗⃗ ) = 0
∇. (𝜌. 𝑉 Eq.(7)

Also, assuming the 2-D behavior of the flow Eq(7) can be re-write in x-y co-ordinate system
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑣 Eq.(8)
D(dialation) =𝜕𝑥 + 𝜕𝑦 = 0

By using following assumptions term in Eq.4 can be simplified

𝜕(𝜌𝑢)
• assuming flow is steady =0
𝜕𝑡

• by neglecting body forces 𝜌𝑔𝑥 = 0

Therefore Eq.4 can write as,

𝜕𝑣𝑢 𝜕𝑢2 𝜕𝑝 𝜕 2𝑢 𝜕 2𝑢 Eq. (9.a)

𝜌( + )=− + 𝜇 ( 2 + 2)
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
Also written as,

𝜕𝑣𝑢 𝜕𝑢2 𝜕𝑝 1 𝜕 2𝑢 𝜕 2𝑢 Eq.(9.b)

( + )=− + ( + )
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝑅𝑒 𝜕𝑥 2 𝜕𝑦 2

Similarly in y direction following equations can be obtained.

𝜕𝑣𝑢 𝜕𝑣 2 𝜕𝑝 1 𝜕 2𝑣 𝜕 2𝑣 Eq.(9.c)
( + )=− + ( + )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝑅𝑒 𝜕𝑥 2 𝜕𝑦 2

7
4. Turbulence model
4.1. RANS modelling

There are various turbulence modelling methods available for modelling flow problems
including Direct numerical Simulation (DNS), Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Reynolds average
Navier stokes Equations (RANS). According to Literature review RANS model required less
computational time hence less computational cost (1). Also, due to the simple geometry the RANS
models and LES models shows very good agreement in numerical results. (2) hence RANS model is
selected to simply the Eq(9)

̅ + 𝑢′, 𝑣 = 𝑉̅ + 𝑣 ′ , and p= 𝑃̅ + 𝑝′, Eq.9 can modify into

Considering Reynolds decomposition, 𝑢 = 𝑈
RANS equations. Therefor final form of the RANS equation in 2-D direction can be shown as below,
̅ 𝜕𝑉̅
𝜕𝑈 Eq(10.a)
+ =0
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
In x direction coordinated

𝜕𝑉̅ 𝑈
̅ 𝜕𝑈̅̅̅̅2 𝜕𝑃̅ ̅ 𝜕 2𝑈
1 𝜕 2𝑈 ̅ ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝜕𝑢 ′𝑣 ′ ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝜕𝑢 ′ 𝑢′ Eq.(11.b)
( + )=− + ( 2 + 2) − ( + )
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝑅𝑒 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥

In y direction coordinates

𝜕𝑉̅ 𝑈
̅ 𝜕𝑌 ̅̅̅2 𝜕𝑃̅ 1 𝜕 2 𝑉̅ 𝜕 2 𝑉̅ ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝜕𝑢 ′𝑣 ′ ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝜕𝑣 ′𝑣′ Eq.(10.c)
( + )=− + ( 2 + 2) − ( + )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝑅𝑒 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

Also, according to the Boussinesq hypothesis

̅ ̅
′ 𝑣 ′ = 𝜇 (𝜕𝑈 + 𝜕𝑉 )
̅̅̅̅̅̅
−𝜌𝑢 Eq.(12)
𝑡 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥

𝜕𝑈̅ Eq.(13)
̅̅̅̅̅̅
−𝜌𝑢 ′ 𝑢 ′ = 2𝜇 (
𝑡 )
𝜕𝑥

However, for normal forces Eq.12 must corrected before applying due to the fact of turbulent energy
form. And the corrected form of normal force can be shown as below in 2-D direction.

8
 ̅ 1 𝜕𝑈
𝜕𝑈 ̅ 𝜕𝑉̅ 1 Eq.(14)
̅̅̅̅̅̅
−𝜌𝑢 ′ 𝑢 ′ = 2𝜇 (
𝑡 − ( + )) − (2𝜌𝑘)
𝜕𝑥 3 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 3
1
𝑘 = 2 (𝑢′ 𝑢′ + 𝑣 ′ 𝑣 ′ )

In general, for the programming this Eq (13) can be written as below in tensor notation.
𝜇 𝜕𝑈𝑖 𝜕𝑈𝑗 1 𝜕𝑈𝑘 2 Eq.(15)
−𝑢̅′ 𝑖 𝑢̅′𝑗 = 𝑡 [ + − 𝛿𝑖𝑗 ] − 𝑘𝛿𝑖𝑗 , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝛿𝑖𝑗 = 0(𝑖𝑓 𝑖 = 𝑗), 1(𝑖 ≠ 𝑗)
𝜌 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑖 3 𝜕𝑥𝑘 3

𝜕𝑈𝑘 𝜕𝑈 ̅ 𝜕𝑉̅
= +
𝜕𝑥𝑘 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

4.2. Turbulent viscosity

To Solve the eq. (15), the unknown variable of turbulaent viscosity should be calculated. However,
Reynold turbulence has no physical concept (virtual viscosity) and it must be numerically calculated.
there are various models to calculate turbulent viscosity and the simplest method is to consider it as a
constant, however this will give incorrect answers and can be used in very small range of applications.

One equation model fails to give correct answers due to the inability to calculate free shear and internally
separated flows.[5] Also, according to the past literature 𝑘 − 𝜀 model failed to predict the reattachment
length due to insensitivity toward positive pressure gradients.[4] RNG 𝑘 − 𝜀 model gives the closest
values to the experiment results of Driver and Seegmiller 1985.[4] however in this problem SST k-ω
turbulent model is chosen as it the most common method in present .

4.3. SST k-ω model

Turbulent kinetic energy:

Eq.(16)

Specific dissipation rate

Eq.(17)

Where,

9
 Eq.(18)

y is the nearest distance to the wall.

turbulence eddy viscosity:

Eq.(19)

5. Numerical parameters
5.1. Boundary conditions and Computational Domain

U, V are the velocity (x,y) coordinates and 𝜌 is the density, p is the pressure. The boundary conditions
applied for the problem as below:

Walls : U=V=0

Inlet : U=44.2 𝑚𝑠 −1 , V=0, P=0(gauge pressure), 𝜙1,𝑗 = 𝜙2,𝑗

𝜕𝑈 𝜕𝑉
Outlet : =0 , = 0 , P=0(gauge pressure), 𝜙 = 0
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

Initial values for all U, V, P are set to be 0. Except boundary condition value

To get correct experimental results Driver and Seegmiller, 1968 suggest that its important for the flow
to be fully developed before reaching the step. Therefore, Reynold number (𝑅𝑒𝑥 ) of 5000 has been
selected. Also, to get the fully developed flow domain of the inlet flow extended by 𝐿𝑖 distance and this
length can be calculated as below, wall boundary-layer thickness (𝛿𝑏 ) = 1.9 cm
1 Eq.(20)
𝛿𝑏 (𝑅𝑒𝑥 )7
≈ 𝐿𝑖
0.15

𝐿𝑖 = 0.401m

10
The step height = 1.27cm

The height of the tunnel after the step = 9h=11.43cm

5.2. Calculating y+ value

The flow was solved using the Shear Stress Transport (SST) K-ω turbulent model which required
the y+ value to be less than 1 to capture the viscous sub-layer, failure to impose the correct value of y+
would yield a large numerical error in the solution

𝜌𝑈𝜏 𝑦
𝑦+ =
𝜇

𝜏𝑤
𝑈𝜏 = √
𝜌

1
𝜏𝑤 = 𝐶𝑓 𝜌𝑈∝2
2

𝐶𝑓 = 0.058𝑅𝑒 −0.2

Target (y+ )=1, 𝜇 = 1.716 x 10^ − 5 , 𝑈∝ = 44.2 𝑚𝑠 −1 , 𝜌 = 1.204 kgm − 3 Re= 5000

Therefor the first step (y) should be 3.03*10^-6 in order to simulate K-ω model

11
Placement of field variable can be shown as below. Pressure and dilatation values are calculated for the
center of the meshed cell. And the u, v velocity components are defined on cell boundaries. ‘h’and ‘s’
are the cell boundary dimensions in x,y directions

5.3. Discretization of N-S equations

In this problem Finite difference model has been According to the Ref (6) at higher Reynolds numbers
iterative solution for the velocities can be diverge and therefor stabilize the calculations with relaxation
factor must be done. For the higher accuracy central difference method will be used with 2nd order
accuracy.

Therefore, the discretized NS equation for Eq (8), Eq (9.b) and Eq (9.c) can be written as below in eq.21
and Eeq.23) the quantities at all fractional indices are obtained as simple averages of the two adjacent
quantities

For example,

(𝑈𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑈𝑖+1,𝑗 )
𝑈𝑖+1,𝑗 =
2 2

Eq.(21)
𝑈 2 1 −𝑈 2 1 𝑈 1𝑉 1 −𝑈 1 𝑉 1
2 1 1 1 1 ∗ 𝑖+ ,𝑗
2
𝑖− ,𝑗
2
𝑖,𝑗+ 𝑖− ,𝑗+1
2 2
𝑖,𝑗− 𝑖− ,𝑗
2 2
{𝑅𝑒 (ℎ2 + 𝑠2 ) + 𝜇(ℎ + )}𝑈𝑖,𝑗 = −( + )+
𝑠 ℎ 𝑆
1 1 𝑃𝑖,𝑗 −𝑃𝑖−1,𝐽 1 1 1
𝜇 (ℎ + 𝑠 ) 𝑈𝑖,𝑗 − + 𝑅𝑒 [ℎ2 (𝑈𝑖+1,𝑗 + 𝑈𝑖−1,𝐽 ) + 𝑆2 (𝑈𝑖,𝑗+1 + 𝑈𝑖,𝐽−1 )] 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝜇 is
ℎ

the relation factor,

12
for the K+1 iteration
𝑘+1 𝑘 𝑘 ∗
𝑈𝑖,𝑗 = 𝑈𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑅𝐹𝑢 (𝑈𝑖,𝑗 -𝑈𝑖,𝑗 ) Eq.(22)

Where 𝑅𝐹𝑢 is the relaxation factor and this value can be chosen between 0,1 and lower the value the
stability increase, also the convergence time increase, and the accuracy of the solution will not
improve.in this problem 𝜇, 𝑅𝐹𝑢 , 𝑅𝐹𝑣 , 𝑅𝐹𝜙 is set to 1 to get quicker convergence.

Similarly in y coordinated

(23)
2 1 1 ∗ 1 1
{ ( + 𝑠2 ) + 𝜇(ℎ + 𝑠 )}𝑉𝑖,𝑗
𝑅𝑒 ℎ2
=
2
𝑉𝑖,𝑗+1/2 −𝑉 2 1 𝑈 1 𝑉 1 −𝑈 1𝑉 1
𝑖,𝑗−
2
𝑖+1,𝑗− 𝑖+ ,𝑗 𝑖,𝑗− 𝑖− ,𝑗
2 2 2 2 1 1
−( + ) + 𝜇 ( + ) 𝑉𝑖,𝑗 −
𝑠 ℎ ℎ 𝑠
𝑃𝑖,𝑗 −𝑃𝑖−1,𝐽 1 1 1
+ [ (𝑉𝑖+1,𝑗 + 𝑉𝑖−1,𝐽 ) + 2 (𝑉𝑖,𝑗+1 + 𝑉𝑖,𝐽−1 )]
𝑠 𝑅𝑒 ℎ2 𝑆

𝑘+1 𝑘 𝑘 ∗
𝑉𝑖,𝑗 = 𝑉𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑅𝐹𝑣 (𝑉𝑖,𝑗 -𝑉𝑖,𝑗 ) (24)

𝑘+1
𝑈𝑖+1,𝐽 − 𝑈𝑖,𝑗 𝑉𝑖,𝐽+1 − 𝑉𝑖,𝑗 𝐾+1 (25)
𝐷𝑖,𝑗 ={ − }
ℎ 𝑆

𝛿𝜙 𝛿𝜙
Also, the potential function 𝜙 (where, 𝐷 = ∇2 𝜙, 𝑢 = ,𝑣 = ) will be used to calculate the
𝛿𝑥 𝛿𝑦

velocities. Therefore, using central difference finite difference

1 1 1 1 𝑘 (26)
2 ( + ) 𝜙 ∗ 𝑖,𝑗 = 2 (𝜙𝑖+1,𝑗 + 𝜙𝑖−1,𝐽 ) + 2 (𝜙𝑖,𝑗+1 + 𝜙𝑖,𝐽−1 ) − 𝐷𝑖,𝑗
ℎ 𝑠 ℎ 𝑆
𝜙𝑖,𝑗 𝑘+1 = 𝜙𝑖,𝑗 𝑘 + 𝑅𝐹𝜙 (𝜙𝑖,𝑗 ∗ − 𝜙𝑖,𝑗 𝑘 )

In initial conditions for all 𝜙 = 0 and same as for the velocities the relaxation factor will be used to
determine the 𝜙 𝑘+1 in K+1 iteration. And using this value velocity values will be recalculated in order
to satisfy the continuity equation.

13
 𝜙𝑖,𝑗 𝑘+1 − 𝜙𝑖−1,𝑗 𝑘+1 (27)
𝑘+1 𝑘
𝑢𝑖,𝑗 = 𝑢𝑖,𝑗 −( )
ℎ

𝜙𝑖,𝑗 𝑘+1 − 𝜙𝑖,𝑗−1 𝑘+1

𝑘+1 𝑘
𝑣𝑖,𝑗 = 𝑣𝑖,𝑗 −( )
𝑠

These newly generated values will be used to calculate the 𝑃𝑖,𝑗 using Eq.(9.b)

𝑈 2 1 −𝑈 2 1 𝑈 1𝑉 1 −𝑈 1𝑉 1
𝑖+ ,𝑗
2
𝑖− ,𝑗
2
𝑖,𝑗+ 𝑖− ,𝑗+1
2 2
𝑖,𝑗− 𝑖− ,𝑗
2 2 𝑃𝑖,𝑗 −𝑃𝑖−1,𝐽 1 1
( + )=− + [ (𝑈𝑖+1,𝑗 + 𝑈𝑖−1,𝐽 ) +
ℎ 𝑆 ℎ 𝑅𝑒 ℎ2
1 1 1
𝑆2
(𝑈𝑖,𝑗+1 + 𝑈𝑖,𝐽−1 ) − 2(ℎ2 + 𝑠2)𝑈𝑖,𝑗 ]

5.4. Solution accuracy

According to the mass conversation 𝐷𝑖,𝑗 should be 0 for each point. however due to the round off error
this will get the different value. Therefore, maximum error in dilatation is defined by,

𝜀𝐷 = max{𝐷𝑖,𝑗 } Eq.(29)

When the 𝜀𝐷 < 0.01 the iteration process will be stopped.

𝑘+1
𝐷𝑖,𝑗
For get a converged solution 𝑘 should be less than 1. in steady flow simulation 𝜙 set equal to zero
𝐷𝑖,𝑗

𝑘+1
𝐷𝑖,𝑗
when 𝑘 is bigger than 1.
𝐷𝑖,𝑗

14
6. Reference list

Anwar-ul-Haque, Ahmad, F., Yamada, S. and Chaudhry, S.R. (2007). Assessment of Turbulence
Models for Turbulent Flow over Backward Facing Step. undefined. [online] Available at:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Assessment-of-Turbulence-Models-for-Turbulent-Flow-
Anwar-ul-Haque-Ahmad/6106246b7d321faf250269599562fb86e3f7e961 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].

Armaly, B.F., Durst, F., Pereira, J.C.F. and Schönung, B. (1983). Experimental and theoretical
investigation of backward-facing step flow. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, p.473.

Choi, H.H., Nguyen, V.T. and Nguyen, J. (2016). Numerical Investigation of Backward Facing Step
Flow over Various Step Angles. Procedia Engineering, 154, pp.420–425.

Kim, J.-Y., Ghajar, A.J., Tang, C. and Foutch, G.L. (2005). Comparison of near-wall treatment
methods for high Reynolds number backward-facing step flow. International Journal of
Computational Fluid Dynamics, [online] 19(7), pp.493–500.

LE, H., MOIN, P. and KIM, J. (1997). Direct numerical simulation of turbulent flow over a

backward-facing step. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 330, pp.349–374.

Remi Abgrall and Shu, C.-W. (2016). Handbook of Numerical Methods for Hyperbolic Problems.
Elsevier.

Terekhov, V.V., Barsukov, A.V. and Terekhov, V.I. (2020). RANS and LES simulation of separated
flow in a flat channel with a back-facing step. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1675(1),

Thabit, T., Thabet, S. and Jasim, Y. (2018). CFD Analysis of a Backward Facing Step Flows.
International Journal of Automotive Science And Technology, pp.10–16.

Chien, J.C. (1977). A general finite-difference formulation with application to Navier-Stokes

equations. Computers & Fluids, 5(1), pp.15–31. doi:10.1016/0045-7930(77)90003-2.

Efrat, I. (1989). Discretization of the Steady State Semiconductor Device Equations.

Neumann,J a,nd Wengle,H (2003) Flow Turbulence, Combus. 71 297

T. Lee, D. Mateescu, (1998) Experimental and numerical investigation of 2D backward-facing step

flow, Journal of Fluids and Structures

15