Assessment of three turbulence model performances in predicting water jet flow plunging into a liquid pool

The main purpose of the current study is to numerically investigate, through computational fluid dynamics modeling, a water jet injected vertically downward through a straight circular pipe into a water bath. The study also aims to obtain a better understanding of jet behavior, air entrainment and the dispersion of bubbles in the developing flow region. For these purposes, three dimensional air and water flows were modeled using the volume of fluid technique. The equations in question were formulated using the density and viscosity of a 'gas-liquid mixture', described in terms of the phase volume fraction. Three turbulence models with a high Reynolds number have been considered i.e. the standard κ-ε model, realizable κ-ε model, and Reynolds stress model. The predicted flow patterns for the realizable κ-ε model match well with experimental measurements found in available literature. Nevertheless, some discrepancies regarding velocity relaxation and turbulent momentum distribution in the pool are still observed for both the standard κ-ε and the Reynolds stress model. (author)