Performance of second-moment differential stress and flux models for natural convection in an enclosure

Abstract In this paper the relative performance of two different differential stress and flux models for computing natural convection in an enclosure is examined. One model is the low-Reynolds number differential stress and flux model and the other model is a recently developed elliptic blending based differential stress and flux model. The primary emphasis of the study is placed on investigating the accuracy of the both models for the turbulent natural convection in an enclosure. Both models are used to predict turbulent natural convections in a square cavity with hot and cold side walls and conducting top and bottom walls ( Ra  = 1.58 × 10 9 ). The relative performance between both models is examined through comparing their solutions with the experimental data. It is shown that both models predict the vertical mean velocity component and mean temperature well. It is also shown that the low-Reynolds number differential stress and flux model slightly under-predicts the turbulent kinetic energy and vertical turbulent heat flux. It is also noted that the implementation of the elliptic blending second moment model is easier since this model does not contain any wall-related parameters and damping functions.