Showing papers in "Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics in 2008"

Large eddy simulation of compressible channel flow

Abstract: The present study is a contribution to the analysis of wall-bounded compressible flows, including a special focus on wall modeling for compressible turbulent boundary layer in a plane channel. large eddy simulation (LES) of fully developed isothermal channel flows at Re = 3,000 and Re = 4,880 with a sufficient mesh refinement at the wall are carried out in the Mach number range 0.3 ≤ M ≤ 3 for two different source term formulations: first the classical extension of the incompressible configuration by Coleman et al. (J. Fluid Mech. 305:159–183, 1995), second a formulation presently derived to model both streamwise pressure drop and streamwise internal energy loss in a spatially developed compressible channel flow. It is shown that the second formulation is consistent with the spatial problem and yields a much stronger cooling effect at the wall than the classical formulation. Based on the present LES data bank, compressibility and low Reynolds number effects are analysed in terms of coherent structure and statistics. A study of the universality of the structure of the turbulence in non-hypersonic compressible boundary layers (M≤5) is performed in reference to Bradshaw (Annu. Rev. Fluid. Mech. 9:33–54, 1977). An improvement of the van Driest transformation is proposed; it accounts for both density and viscosity changes in the wall layer. Consistently, a new integral wall scaling (yc+) which accounts for strong temperature gradients at the wall is developed for the present non-adiabatic compressible flow. The modification of the strong Reynolds analogy proposed by Huang et al. (J. Fluid Mech. 305:185–218, 1995) to model the correlation between velocity and temperature for non-adiabatic wall layers is assessed on the basis of a Crocco–Busemann relation specific to channel flow. The key role of the mixing turbulent Prandtl number Prm is pointed out. Results show very good agreement for both source formulations although each of them involve a very different amount of energy transfer at the wall.

Hybrid LES–RANS technique based on a one-equation near-wall model

Abstract: In order to reduce the high computational effort of wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES), the present paper suggests a hybrid LES–RANS approach which splits up the simulation into a near-wall RANS part and an outer LES part. Generally, RANS is adequate for attached boundary layers requiring reasonable CPU-time and memory, where LES can also be applied but demands extremely large resources. Contrarily, RANS often fails in flows with massive separation or large-scale vortical structures. Here, LES is without a doubt the best choice. The basic concept of hybrid methods is to combine the advantages of both approaches yielding a prediction method, which, on the one hand, assures reliable results for complex turbulent flows, including large-scale flow phenomena and massive separation, but, on the other hand, consumes much fewer resources than LES, especially for high Reynolds number flows encountered in technical applications. In the present study, a non-zonal hybrid technique is considered (according to the signification retained by the authors concerning the terms zonal and non-zonal), which leads to an approach where the suitable simulation technique is chosen more or less automatically. For this purpose the hybrid approach proposed relies on a unique modeling concept. In the LES mode a subgrid-scale model based on a one-equation model for the subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy is applied, where the length scale is defined by the filter width. For the viscosity-affected near-wall RANS mode the one-equation model proposed by Rodi et al. (J Fluids Eng 115:196–205, 1993) is used, which is based on the wall-normal velocity fluctuations as the velocity scale and algebraic relations for the length scales. Although the idea of combined LES–RANS methods is not new, a variety of open questions still has to be answered. This includes, in particular, the demand for appropriate coupling techniques between LES and RANS, adaptive control mechanisms, and proper subgrid-scale and RANS models. Here, in addition to the study on the behavior of the suggested hybrid LES–RANS approach, special emphasis is put on the investigation of suitable interface criteria and the adjustment of the RANS model. To investigate these issues, two different test cases are considered. Besides the standard plane channel flow test case, the flow over a periodic arrangement of hills is studied in detail. This test case includes a pressure-induced flow separation and subsequent reattachment. In comparison with a wall-resolved LES prediction encouraging results are achieved.

Effect of Schmidt number on the structure and propagation of density currents

Abstract: The results of a numerical study of two- and three-dimensional Boussinesq density currents are described. They are aimed at exploring the role of the Schmidt number on the structure and dynamics of density driven currents. Two complementary approaches are used, namely a spectral method and a finite-volume interface capturing method. They allow for the first time to describe density currents in the whole range of Schmidt number 1 ≤ Sc ≤ ∞ and Reynolds number 102 ≤ Re ≤ 104. The present results confirm that the Schmidt number only weakly influences the structure and dynamics of density currents provided the Reynolds number of the flow is large, say of O(104) or more. On the contrary low- to moderate-Re density currents are dependant on Sc as the structure of the mixing region and the front velocities are modified by diffusion effects. The scaling of the characteristic density thickness of the interface has been confirmed to behave as (ScRe)−1/2. Three-dimensional simulations suggest that the patterns of lobes and clefts are independent of Sc. In contrast the Schmidt number is found to affect dramatically (1) the shape of the current head as a depression is observed at high-Sc, (2) the formation of vortex structures generated by Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. A criterion is proposed for the stability of the interface along the body of the current based on the estimate of a bulk Richardson number. This criterion, derived for currents of arbitrary density ratio, is in agreement with present computed results as well as available experimental and numerical data.

Determining modes and Grashof number in 2D turbulence: a numerical case study

Abstract: We study how the number of numerically determining modes in the Navier–Stokes equations depends on the Grashof number. Consider the two-dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in a periodic domain with a fixed time-independent forcing function. We increase the Grashof number by rescaling the forcing and observe through numerical computation that the number of numerically determining modes stabilizes at some finite value as the Grashof number increases. This unexpected result implies that our theoretical understanding of continuous data assimilation is incomplete until an analytic proof which makes use of the non-linear term in the Navier–Stokes equations is found.

Implicit large-eddy simulation applied to turbulent channel flow with periodic constrictions

Abstract: The subgrid-scale (SGS) model in a large-eddy simulation (LES) operates on a range of scales which is marginally resolved by discretization schemes. Accordingly, the discretization scheme and the subgrid-scale model are linked. One can exploit this link by developing discretization methods from subgrid-scale models, or the converse. Approaches where SGS models and numerical discretizations are fully merged are called implicit LES (ILES). Recently, we have proposed a systematic framework for the design, analysis, and optimization of nonlinear discretization schemes for implicit LES. In this framework parameters inherent to the discretization scheme are determined in such a way that the numerical truncation error acts as a physically motivated SGS model. The resulting so-called adaptive local deconvolution method (ALDM) for implicit LES allows for reliable predictions of isotropic forced and decaying turbulence and of unbounded transitional flows for a wide range of Reynolds numbers. In the present paper, ALDM is evaluated for the separated flow through a channel with streamwise-periodic constrictions at two Reynolds numbers Re = 2,808 and Re = 10,595. We demonstrate that, although model parameters of ALDM have been determined for isotropic turbulence at infinite Reynolds number, it successfully predicts mean flow and turbulence statistics in the considered physically complex, anisotropic, and inhomogeneous flow regime. It is shown that the implicit model performs at least as well as an established explicit model.

Near-wall scaling for turbulent boundary layers with adverse pressure gradient

Abstract: A new extended inner scaling is proposed for the wall layer of wall-bounded flows under the influence of both wall shear stress and streamwise pressure gradient. This scaling avoids problems of the classical wall coordinates close to flow separation and reattachment. Based on the proposed extended velocity and length scales a universal nondimensional family of velocity profiles is derived for the viscous region in the vicinity of a wall that depend on wall distance and a parameter α quantifying the importance of the streamwise pressure gradient with respect to the wall shear stress in the momentum balance. The performance of the proposed extended scaling is investigated in two different flow fields, a separating and reattaching turbulent boundary layer and a turbulent flow over a periodic arrangement of smoothly contoured hills. Both flows are results of highly resolved direct numerical simulation (DNS). The results show that the viscous assumptions are valid up to about two extended wall units. If the profiles are scaled by the extended inner coordinates, they seem to behave in a universal way. This gives rise to the hope that a universal behavior of velocity profiles can be found in the proposed extended inner coordinates even beyond the validity of the extended viscous law of the wall.

A continuum mechanical theory for turbulence: a generalized Navier–Stokes-α equation with boundary conditions

Abstract: We develop a continuum-mechanical formulation and generalization of the Navier–Stokes-α equation based on a recently developed framework for fluid-dynamical theories involving higher-order gradient dependencies. Our flow equation involves two length scales α and β. The first of these enters the theory through the specific free-energy α2|D|2, where D is the symmetric part of the gradient of the filtered velocity, and contributes a dispersive term to the flow equation. The remaining scale is associated with a dissipative hyperstress which depends linearly on the gradient of the filtered vorticity and which contributes a viscous term, with coefficient proportional to β2, to the flow equation. In contrast to Lagrangian averaging, our formulation delivers boundary conditions and a complete structure based on thermodynamics applied to an isothermal system. For a fixed surface without slip, the standard no-slip condition is augmented by a wall-eddy condition involving another length scale l characteristic of eddies shed at the boundary and referred to as the wall-eddy length. As an application, we consider the classical problem of turbulent flow in a plane, rectangular channel of gap 2h with fixed, impermeable, slip-free walls and make comparisons with results obtained from direct numerical simulations. We find that α/β ~ Re0.470 and l/h ~ Re−0.772, where Re is the Reynolds number. The first result, which arises as a consequence of identifying the specific free-energy with the specific turbulent kinetic energy, indicates that the choice β = α required to reduce our flow equation to the Navier–Stokes-α equation is likely to be problematic. The second result evinces the classical scaling relation η/L ~ Re−3/4 for the ratio of the Kolmogorov microscale η to the integral length scale L.

Hamiltonian structure for a neutrally buoyant rigid body interacting with N vortex rings of arbitrary shape: the case of arbitrary smooth body shape

Abstract: We present a (noncanonical) Hamiltonian model for the interaction of a neutrally buoyant, arbitrarily shaped smooth rigid body with N thin closed vortex filaments of arbitrary shape in an infinite ideal fluid in Euclidean three-space. The rings are modeled without cores and, as geometrical objects, viewed as N smooth closed curves in space. The velocity field associated with each ring in the absence of the body is given by the Biot–Savart law with the infinite self-induced velocity assumed to be regularized in some appropriate way. In the presence of the moving rigid body, the velocity field of each ring is modified by the addition of potential fields associated with the image vorticity and with the irrotational flow induced by the motion of the body. The equations of motion for this dynamically coupled body-rings model are obtained using conservation of linear and angular momenta. These equations are shown to possess a Hamiltonian structure when written on an appropriately defined Poisson product manifold equipped with a Poisson bracket which is the sum of the Lie–Poisson bracket from rigid body mechanics and the canonical bracket on the phase space of the vortex filaments. The Hamiltonian function is the total kinetic energy of the system with the self-induced kinetic energy regularized. The Hamiltonian structure is independent of the shape of the body, (and hence) the explicit form of the image field, and the method of regularization, provided the self-induced velocity and kinetic energy are regularized in way that satisfies certain reasonable consistency conditions.

Large-eddy simulation of flow separation on an airfoil at a high angle of attack and Re= 10 5 using Cartesian grids

Abstract: Incompressible flow separating from the upper surface of an airfoil at an 18° angle of attack and a Reynolds number of Re = 105, based on the freestream velocity and chord length c, is studied by the means of large-eddy simulation (LES) The numerical method is based on second-order central spatial discretization on a Cartesian grid using an immersed boundary technique The results are compared with an LES using body-fitted nonorthogonal grids and with experimental data

Identifying the radiating core of Lighthill’s source term

Abstract: A decomposition of the Lighthill source term is effected which yields ten sub-terms comprising velocity, vorticity, dilatation and density fields. An analysis methodology is then developed, aimed at understanding the respective roles played by these sub-terms in the production of sound. By Direct Numerical Simulation of a temporal mixing-layer—chosen both for its simplicity and its amenability to analysis in wavenumber space—the radiating components of the different sub-terms are isolated and studied. Interesting identities are observed between specific events in the evolution of the flow and the various sub-terms of the source, and the essence of the sound production mechanism is found to comprise subtle imbalances which disrupt inherent space–time symmetries which exist between the various sub-terms.

Linear stability analysis in compressible, flat-plate boundary-layers

Abstract: The stability problem of two-dimensional compressible flat-plate boundary layers is handled using the linear stability theory. The stability equations obtained from three-dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equations are solved simultaneously with two-dimensional mean flow equations, using an efficient shoot-search technique for adiabatic wall condition. In the analysis, a wide range of Mach numbers extending well into the hypersonic range are considered for the mean flow, whereas both two- and three-dimensional disturbances are taken into account for the perturbation flow. All fluid properties, including the Prandtl number, are taken as temperature-dependent. The results of the analysis ascertain the presence of the second mode of instability (Mack mode), in addition to the first mode related to the Tollmien–Schlichting mode present in incompressible flows. The effect of reference temperature on stability characteristics is also studied. The results of the analysis reveal that the stability characteristics remain almost unchanged for the most unstable wave direction for Mach numbers above 4.0. The obtained results are compared with existing numerical and experimental data in the literature, yielding encouraging agreement both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Smagorinsky constant in LES modeling of anisotropic MHD turbulence

Abstract: Turbulent fluctuations in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows can become strongly anisotropic or even quasi-2D under the action of an applied magnetic field. We investigate this phenomenon in the case of low magnetic Reynolds numbers. It has been found in earlier DNS and LES of homogeneous turbulence that the degree of anisotropy is predominantly determined by the value of the magnetic interaction parameter and only slightly depends on the Reynolds number, type of large-scale dynamics, and the length scale. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the dynamic Smagorinsky model is capable of self-adjustment to the effects of anisotropy. In this paper, we capitalize on these results and propose a simple and effective generalization of the traditional non-dynamic Smagorinsky model to the case of anisotropic MHD turbulence.

A return toward equilibrium in a 2D Rayleigh–Taylor instability for compressible fluids with a multidomain adaptive Chebyshev method

Abstract: We numerically simulate a single-mode Rayleigh–Taylor instability between compressible miscible fluids with a highly accurate self-adaptive pseudospectral Chebyshev multidomain method in two two-dimensional boxes at small aspect ratios. The simulations are started from rest and pursued until the return toward mechanical equilibrium of the mixing. Four regimes—linear and weakly nonlinear, nonlinear steady bubble rise, return toward equilibrium, and finally a system of acoustic waves—can be identified. We show that this one-dimensional system of stationary acoustic waves is damped by the physical viscosity. This provides a reference solution.

Nonlinear dynamics of hydrostatic internal gravity waves

Abstract: Stratified hydrostatic fluids have linear internal gravity waves with different phase speeds and vertical profiles. Here a simplified set of partial differential equations (PDE) is derived to represent the nonlinear dynamics of waves with different vertical profiles. The equations are derived by projecting the full nonlinear equations onto the vertical modes of two gravity waves, and the resulting equations are thus referred to here as the two-mode shallow water equations (2MSWE). A key aspect of the nonlinearities of the 2MSWE is that they allow for interactions between a background wind shear and propagating waves. This is important in the tropical atmosphere where horizontally propagating gravity waves interact together with wind shear and have source terms due to convection. It is shown here that the 2MSWE have nonlinear internal bore solutions, and the behavior of the nonlinear waves is investigated for different background wind shears. When a background shear is included, there is an asymmetry between the east- and westward propagating waves. This could be an important effect for the large-scale organization of tropical convection, since the convection is often not isotropic but organized on large scales by waves. An idealized illustration of this asymmetry is given for a background shear from the westerly wind burst phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation; the potential for organized convection is increased to the west of the existing convection by the propagating nonlinear gravity waves, which agrees qualitatively with actual observations. The ideas here should be useful for other physical applications as well. Moreover, the 2MSWE have several interesting mathematical properties: they are a system of nonconservative PDE with a conserved energy, they are conditionally hyperbolic, and they are neither genuinely nonlinear nor linearly degenerate over all of state space. Theory and numerics are developed to illustrate these features, and these features are important in designing the numerical scheme. A numerical method is designed with simplicity and minimal computational cost as the main design principles. Numerical tests demonstrate that no catastrophic effects are introduced when hyperbolicity is lost, and the scheme can represent propagating discontinuities without introducing spurious oscillations.

Temporal large-eddy simulation: theory and implementation

Abstract: Large-eddy simulation (LES) has relied almost exclusively on spatial filtering to separate resolved and unresolved scales. For many reasons, temporal filtering may be more natural, particularly for flows of engineering interest. The paper develops the theory of temporal LES (TLES) and provides a demonstration of the concept by simulations of viscous Burger’s flow and incompressible plane-channel flow. The latter is accomplished by adapting the approximate deconvolution model (ADM) of Stolz and Adams (Phys. Fluids 11:1699, 1999) to causal, time-domain filtering. The temporal variant of the ADM is termed the TADM.

Zonal RANS/LES coupling simulation of a transitional and separated flow around an airfoil near stall

Abstract: The objective of the current study is to examine the course of events leading to stall just before its occurrence. The stall mechanisms are very sensitive to the transition that the boundary layer undergoes near the leading edge of the profile by a so-called laminar separation bubble (LSB). In order to provide helpful insights into this complex flow, a zonal Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)/large-eddy simulation (LES) simulation of the flow around an airfoil near stall has been achieved and its results are presented and analyzed in this paper. LSB has already been numerically studied by direct numerical simulation (DNS) or LES, but for a flat plate with an adverse pressure gradient only. We intend, in this paper, to achieve a detailed analysis of the transition process by a LSB in more realistic conditions. The comparison with a linear instability analysis has shown that the numerical instability mechanism in the LSB provides the expected frequency of the perturbations. Furthermore, the right order of magnitude for the turbulence intensities at the reattachment point is found.

A numerical study of the frontal region of gravity currents propagating on a free-slip boundary

Abstract: We investigate numerically the three-dimensional flow near the head of gravity currents propagating along a free-slip boundary. The simulations show that two states are possible: a high-mixing state, where the flow departs from the analytic inviscid solution 0.5 channel heights downstream of the front location, and with characteristics similar to the ones observed for purely two-dimensional simulations; and a low-mixing state, where billows are weaker and appear further downstream. To access the high-mixing state, it is necessary to add a source of perturbation upstream of the head in the form of turbulence. At high values of the Reynolds number, the intensity of rms turbulent fluctuations necessary to switch to the high-mixing state is small (0.5% of the speed of propagation) and may explain why the low-mixing state has so far eluded experimental detection. In the low-mixing state, the flow becomes three-dimensional near the front due to centrifugal instabilities caused by the curved streamlines. This instability of the outer flow is coupled to overturning instabilities that develop within the heavy fluid in the head, and suppresses the formation of billows. This complex behavior, which feeds on the interplay of streamline curvature and stratification, should be considered a good model to understand how instabilities occur in other types of strongly nonlinear stratified flows.

From stratified wakes to rotor–stator flows by an SVV–LES method

Abstract: We extend a large-eddy simulation (LES) methodology, based on using the spectral vanishing viscosity (SVV) method to stabilize spectral collocation approximations, from the Cartesian to the cylindrical geometry. The capabilities of the SVV-LES approach are illustrated for two very different physical problems: (1) the influence of thermal stratification on the wake of a cylinder, and (2) the instabilities that develop in transitional and fully turbulent rotor-stator flows.

A cylindrical model for rotational MHD instabilities in aluminum reduction cells

Abstract: Large-scale horizontal vortices associated with deformations of the aluminum-electrolyte interface have been observed in operating aluminum reduction cells as well as in physical and numerical models. To expose their importance, we analyze a particular class of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interfacial instabilities which are induced by rotation. As we focus on a single vortex, a cylindrical geometry is preferred. Two analytical models are proposed. In a first model based on the MHD shallow-water approximation, we consider a vortex that has a solid rotation profile to obtain a wave equation and a dispersion relation. A more realistic second model includes a viscous rotation profile and the treatment of the base-state interface deformation. Energetics of the flow gives further insight on how an initial perturbation evolves as an oscillatory or a non-oscillatory instability, depending on the direction of rotation. We find that the mechanism at the very origin of these instabilities is neither due to a shear between the two layers—and are therefore not Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities—nor simply due to magnetic force alone, but rather to the indirect action of the centripetal pressure due to the rotation induced by magnetic force.

Interaction of a weak discontinuity wave with a characteristic shock in a dusty gas

Abstract: In this paper, the evolution of a characteristic shock in a dusty gas is investigated and its interaction with a weak discontinuity wave is studied. The transport equation for the amplitude of the weak discontinuity wave, which is of Bernoulli type, is obtained. The amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves after interaction of the weak discontinuity with the characteristic shock are evaluated by using the results of the general theory of wave interaction.

Mean flow generated by an internal wave packet impinging on the interface between two layers of fluid with continuous density

Abstract: Internal waves propagating in an idealized two-layer atmosphere are studied numerically. The governing equations are the inviscid anelastic equations for a perfect gas atmosphere. The numerical formulation eliminates all variables in the linear terms except vertical velocity, which are then treated implicitly. Nonlinear terms are treated explicitly. The basic state is a two-layer flow with continuous density at the interface. Each layer has a unique constant for the Brunt–Vaisala frequency. Waves are forced at the bottom of the domain, are periodic in the horizontal direction, and form a finite wave packet in the vertical. The results show that the wave packet forms a mean flow that is confined to the interface region that persists long after the wave packet has moved away. Large-amplitude waves are forced to break beneath the interface.

Investigation of trajectories of inviscid fluid particles in two-dimensional rotating boxes

Abstract: The particle trajectories of inviscid fluid flow within two-dimensional rotating (elliptic, triangular, and square) boxes are numerically investigated. The source panel method is employed to represent the instantaneous potential interior flow field, and the Runge–Kutta method is used to track the fluid particles. The analytic solutions for the fluid trajectories for the elliptic box are used to verify the numerical accuracy of the method. The numerical error can be reduced to the level of the round-off error if the panels are properly configured and an appropriate number of panels is used. The stagnation of the particles at the corners of the triangular box is successfully predicted with this method. The corner of the square box is found to be a singularity. A logarithmic complex potential is proposed to account for the singularity, using which the stagnation of the particles at the corner in the square box is also captured. The natural frequency of the particles in the rotating elliptic box is constant throughout the flow domain, and the fluid trajectories are epitrochoidal curves. In the triangular box and the square box, the natural frequency strongly depends on the particle position, and the particle trajectories are similar to epitrochoidal curves. In general, the trajectory patterns depend only on the box rotating frequency and the natural frequency of the fluid particle motion.

Direct simulation of isolated elliptic vortices and of their radiated noise

Abstract: The aerodynamic evolution and the acoustic radiation of elliptic vortices with various aspect ratios and moderate Mach numbers are investigated by solving numerically the full compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Three behaviours are observed according to the aspect ratio σ = a/b where a and b are the major and minor semi-axes of the vortices. At the small aspect ratio σ = 1.2, the vortex rotates at a constant angular velocity and radiates like a rotating quadrupole. At the moderate aspect ratio σ = 5, the vortex is initially unstable. However the growth of instability waves is inhibited by the return to axisymmetry which decreases its aspect ratio. The noise level becomes lower with time and the radiation frequency increases. For vortices with larger aspect ratios σ ≥ 6, the return to axisymmetry does not occur quickly enough to stop the growth of instabilities, which splits the vortices. Various mergers are then found to occur. For instance in the case σ = 6, several successive switches between an elliptic state and a configuration of two co-rotating vortices are observed. The present results show that the initial value of the aspect ratio yields the relative weight between the return to axisymmetry which stabilizes the vortex and the growth of instabilities which tends to split it. Moreover the noise generated by the vortices is also calculated using the analytical solution derived by Howe (J. Fluid Mech. 71:625-673, 1975) and is compared with the reference solution provided by the direct compu- tation. This solution is found to be valid for σ = 1.2. An extended solution is proposed for higher aspect ratios. Finally, the pressure field appears weakly affected by the switches between the two unstable configurations in the case σ = 6, which underlines the difficulty to detect the split or the merger of vortices from the radiated pressure. This study also shows that elliptic vortices can be used as a basic configuration of aerodynamic noise generation.

Theoretical investigation of some thermal effects in turbulence modeling

Abstract: Fluid compressibility effects arising from thermal rather than dynamical aspects are theoretically investigated in the framework of turbulent flows. The Mach number is considered low and not to induce significant compressibility effects which here occur due to a very high thermal gradient within the flowfield. With the use of the Two-Scale Direct Interaction Approximation approach, essential turbulent correlations are derived in a one-point one-time framework. In the low velocity gradient limit, they are shown to directly depend on the temperature gradient, assumed large. The impact of thermal effects onto the transport equations of the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate is also investigated, together with the transport equation for both the density and the internal energy variance.