A Gas-Kinetic Scheme For The Simulation Of Compressible Turbulent Flows

A gas-kinetic scheme for the continuum regime is applied to the simulation of turbu- lent compressible flow, by replacing the molecular relaxation time with a turbulent relaxation time in the BGK model. The turbulence dynamics is modelled on the basis of a standard, linear two-equation turbulence model. The hydrodynamic limit of the resulting turbulence model is linear in smooth flow and non-linear in the presence of stronger flow gradients. The non-linear correction terms in the numerical flux are weighed as a function of "rarefaction" - referred to turbulence dynamics and not to molecular dynamics, i.e. measured by the ratio of turbulence to mean flow scales of motion. Even though no assumptions on the nature of the turbulence have been made and a linear two-equation turbulence model is used, the turbulence gas-kinetic scheme seems able to correct the turbulent stress tensor in an effective way; on the basis of a number of turbulence modelling benchmark flow cases, characterized by strong shock - boundary layer interactions, the turbulent gas-kinetic scheme provides a level of accuracy comparable to that of more sophisticated turbulence models.