Assessment of transitional flow inside a simplified nasal cavity using a calibrated transitional model

Investigation of the transition phenomenon is one of the challenging issues in turbulence modeling. In the present study, the simulation of flow inside a simplified nasal cavity is presented using a calibrated transitional SST model. The flow characteristics, including velocity and turbulent kinetic energy are extracted at the flow rate of 20 L/min which shows flow regime is turbulent. Investigation of results shows the critical area for variation of flow variables is close to the sudden expansion section. To this end, a new variable is introduced as the local Reynolds number to show flow regimes at different locations. According to the variation of local Reynolds number, the transition phenomenon starts at the location close to the section attaches nostrils to the main nasal cavity. Furthermore, diffusion of transition to other areas of the nasal cavity is under the influence of the confined nature of flow. Therefore, it is concluded transition could preserve indefinitely for the internal flows.

Keywords:

Transition , Internal Flow , Nasal Cavity , Local Reynolds Number , RANS