TECHNICAL PAPERS
Nov 1, 1991

Solving Turbulent Flows Using Finite Elements

Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 117, Issue 11

Abstract

A finite element computer code has been applied to turbulent flow under a sluice gate. The velocity and pressure results show reasonable agreement with measured values obtained from a model sluice gate. This code uses the q‐r variable substitution of the k‐ε turbulence model, which is a simplification of the q‐f model of Smith. Upwinding or parabolization is not employed in this code. Techniques used to obtain a converged solution include overrelaxation during the Newton‐Raphson iteration, addition and slow removal of artificial diffusion, and uniform production of turbulent kinetic energy within each element. Adoption of these techniques is recommended because they will significantly reduce divergence of the turbulence equations, without resorting to upwinding or permanent artificial diffusion.

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Information & Authors

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Published In

Go to Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 117Issue 11November 1991
Pages: 1513 - 1530

History

Published online: Nov 1, 1991
Published in print: Nov 1991

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Authors

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John I. Finnie, Associate Member, ASCE
Asst. Prof., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843
Roland W. Jeppson, Member, ASCE
Prof., Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., UMC 4110, Utah State Univ., Logan, UT 84322

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