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In numerous internal flow systems the velocity field can undergo all flow regimes, that is, from laminar, via transitional, to fully turbulent. Considering two test conduits with local constrictions, four turbulence models, with an emphasis on low-Reynolds-number (LRN) turbulence models, were compared and evaluated. The objective was to identify a readily available LRN turbulence model with which incompressible laminar-to-turbulent velocity and pressure fields in complex three-dimensional conduits can be directly computed. The comparison study revealed that the renormalization group (RNG) κ-e and Menter κ-ω models amplify the flow instabilities after tubular constrictions and hence fail to capture the laminar flow behavior at low Reynolds numbers
Zhang et al. (2003) studied this question.