APPLICATION OF THE SAS TURBULENCE MODEL TO BUOYANCY DRIVEN CAVITY FLOWS

The SST-SAS model has been applied to compute variable-density flow and heat transfer in cavities subjected to intensive rotation. To validate the model, a benchmark test case was simulated first and numerical solutions were compared with the measurements at different mass flow rates and rotation rates. A fairly good agreement with the experiment is demonstrated compared with the characteristic flow features observed in the experiments (e.g., two counter-rotating vortices of global circulation and a radial arm flow) as well as for the trends in disk heat transfer. This justified the application of the model to a rotor cavity of a real aircraft engine. The simulations performed indicate that the SST-SAS model captures the large-scale vortical structures developing in the cavity and predicts measured temperature difference between the cavity inlet and outlet within the experimental uncertainty limits. For both considered flows, a grid sensitivity study has been performed confirming a sufficient accuracy of the numerical solutions obtained on the baseline grids.