Assessment of a Reynolds Stress Closure Model for Appendage-Hull Junction Flows

A multiblock numerical method, for the solution of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, has been used in conjunction with a near-wall Reynolds stress closure and a two-layer isotropic eddy viscosity model for the study of turbulent flow around a simple appendage-hull junction. Comparisons of calculations with experimental data clearly demonstrate the superior performance of the present second-order Reynolds stress (second-moment) closure over simpler isotropic eddy viscosity models. The second-moment solutions are shown to capture the most important features of appendage-hull juncture flows, including the formation and evolution of the primary and secondary horseshoe vortices, the complex three-dimensional separations, and interaction among the hull boundary layer, the appendage wake and the root vortex system.