K–omega turbulence model

In computational fluid dynamics, the k–omega (k–ω) turbulence model is a common two-equation turbulence model, that is used as an approximation for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS equations). The model attempts to predict turbulence by two partial differential equations for two variables, k and ω, with the first variable being the turbulence kinetic energy (k) while the second (ω) is the specific rate of dissipation (of the turbulence kinetic energy k into internal thermal energy).

Standard (Wilcox) k–ω turbulence model

The eddy viscosity ν_T, as needed in the RANS equations, is given by: ν_T = k/ω, while the evolution of k and ω is modelled as:^[1]

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&{\frac {\partial (\rho k)}{\partial t}}+{\frac {\partial (\rho u_{j}k)}{\partial x_{j}}}=\rho P-\beta ^{*}\rho \omega k+{\frac {\partial }{\partial x_{j}}}\left[\left(\mu +\sigma _{k}{\frac {\rho k}{\omega }}\right){\frac {\partial k}{\partial x_{j}}}\right],\qquad {\text{with }}P=\tau _{ij}{\frac {\partial u_{i}}{\partial x_{j}}},\\&\displaystyle {\frac {\partial (\rho \omega )}{\partial t}}+{\frac {\partial (\rho u_{j}\omega )}{\partial x_{j}}}={\frac {\alpha \omega }{k}}\rho P-\beta \rho \omega ^{2}+{\frac {\partial }{\partial x_{j}}}\left[\left(\mu +\sigma _{\omega }{\frac {\rho k}{\omega }}\right){\frac {\partial \omega }{\partial x_{j}}}\right]+{\frac {\rho \sigma _{d}}{\omega }}{\frac {\partial k}{\partial x_{j}}}{\frac {\partial \omega }{\partial x_{j}}}.\end{aligned}}}$

For recommendations for the values of the different parameters, see Wilcox (2008).