Comparison of Turbulence Models for Simulation of Flow around an Orifice Flowmeter

An orifice flowmeter is widely used to measure a flow rate in a pipe in various applications due to its simplicity. From the view point of a fluid flow, a flow around an orifice flowmeter is very complex and hard to measure its flow pattern. There is a velocity increase upstream of the plate. The flow is accelerated due to a contraction of the flow area around the plate and is decelerated after the orifice bore. Due to a sudden change of the flow area the flow shows complex flow patterns. It has been reported that two-equation turbulence models can not predict a flow with a sudden change of flow configurations. In this study various turbulence modes are tested and compared for the orifice flow field