On turbulent forced convection in a square cavity

A finite-difference procedure is employed to predict turbulent flow in a square cavity driven by shear, with the shear being provided by either an adjoining channel flow or the motion of a sliding wall. The turbulence model used involves the solution of two differential equations, one for the kinetic energy of the turbulence and the other for its dissipation rate. The predicted flow and turbulence fields are presented, and the predictions of velocities and turbulence energy across the mid-planes of the cavity, as well as those of the pressure and skin-friction coefficients on the cavity walls, are compared with experimental data. The results indicate that for the wall-driven cavity flow, the effective velocity impelling the main vortex is about 42% of the velocity of the wall.