Block-implicit calculation of steady turbulent recirculating flows

A solution algorithm based on a fully-coupled solution of the time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations is proposed to calculate steady multidimensional turbulent recirculating flows. The governing elliptic partial differential equations are discretized by finite differences and the nonlinear algebraic equations are solved by a block implicit algorithm employing Newton's method and sparse matrix techniques. The technique is applied to the analysis of two recirculating flow geometries of relevance to gas turbine combustors and furnace flows. The algorithm is observed to be rapidly convergent and stable. The calculated flow characteristics are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.