STANDARD LOW REYNOLDS

NUMBER

Gutha Manikanta
17104069
Introduction:
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is considered a powerful and almost essential tool for the design,
development and optimization of engineering applications. CFD is now widely used within the
electronics packaging design community to thermally characterize the performance of both the electronic
component and system environment.
• The low Reynolds number k-ε model is similar to the k-ε model, but does not need wall functions: it can
solve for the flow everywhere.
• It is a logical extension of the k-ε model and shares many of its advantages, but generally requires a
denser mesh; not only at walls, but everywhere its low Reynolds number properties kick in and dampen
the turbulence.
• It can sometimes be useful to use the k-ε model to first compute a good initial condition for solving the
low Reynolds number k-ε model.
Introduction:
◦  An alternative way is to use the automatic wall treatment and start with a coarse boundary layer mesh to
get wall functions and then refine the boundary layer at the interesting walls to get the low Reynolds
number models.
◦ The low Reynolds number k-ε model can compute lift and drag forces and heat fluxes can be modeled
with higher accuracy compared to the k-ε model. It has also shown to predict separation and
reattachment quite well for a number of cases.
◦ The high Reynolds form of the k-e equations standard k-e has been developed for regions with
sufficiently high Reynolds number Therefore it is not valid in the vicinity of a wall where viscous effects
become important.
Example:
◦ the movement of microscopic organisms for which L is very small and the movement of glaciers for
which V is very small and p. very- large are given. In the latter case the flow was made apparent by a line
of red flags which was initially straight and was bowed out by the slow motion of the glacier after two
years.
◦ Pulling a knife vertically out of a pot of honey for which is large demonstrates two properties of a
viscous liquid.
◦ It can resist both tangential and tensile stresses.
◦ The honey can be lifted by a tangential force exerted by a knife's surface, and the stretching of the stream
as it falls gives rise to a tensile stress over a horizontal section.
Example2:
◦ Low-Reynolds-number flows are those in which inertia plays only a very small part in the conditions
which determine the motion, The Reynolds number of the flow of a fluid which is characterized only by
viscosity and density is defined as R LVp/p.
◦ Here L is chosen as a length connected with the solid boundaries of the flow which may be expected to
determine the scale of the fluid motion, V is a characteristic velocity, p and p. are the density and
viscosity of the fluid.
◦ In low-Reynolds-number flows, the numerical value of R provides a rough estimate of the relative
importance of inertia and viscosity. When R is small, the importance of inertia is small compared with
that of viscosity
 Example2:
◦ For wall bounded flows, two approaches are possible The first one consists of changing the equations in
such away that they are valid up to the wall this is the low Reynolds modelling approach.
◦ The second option consists of using the high Reynolds form only in fully developed turbulent regions
while using empirical wall functions to bridge the distance to the wall.
◦ Considering recirculating flows one of the focusses of this work it can be noticed that the test case of a
backward facing step is usually calculated using a high Reynolds model.
◦ In that approach the standard wall functions are used On one side it is difficult to and out what is
precisely meant by standard.
◦ on the other hand different authors calculating the same testcase with apparently the same type of wall
functions report different results.
Example2:
◦ Use of wall functions: near wall situation

◦ P represents the first point of the grid, while W is the corresponding point on the wall. If a high Reynolds
approach is considered, boundary conditions are required in the point P in order to be able to solve the
flow problem.