Significance of turbulent kinetic energy
 

Hi,

I was wondering how one can use the information about turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in the design and optimization of industrial products, where the main objective is to design products that create least pressure drop possible. While I generally rely on the judgement and the information available about the influencing geometrical factors, I would like to make use of some indicators from the contours/isosurfaces of TKE/turbulent intensity etc and identify the regions of major turbulence, which of course eat the energy of the flow. But then, when I stare at it, these don't intuitively suggest the design/optimization changes I have to make to improve the design.

Thanks
OJ

If you are designing for pressure drop then the best thing to look at is the pressure (obviously). TKE does contribute, but as you see the link between TKE and pressure is complex. You are correct in saying a region of high TKE means that it is a lossy region, but inferring what design change you need to do to improve things is not obvious.