NASA NTRS1993
The realizability of Reynolds stress models in homogeneous turbulence is critically assessed from a theoretical standpoint. It is proven that a well known second-order closure formulated by Shih and Lumley using the strong realizability constraints of Schumann is, in fact, not a realizable model. The problem arises from the failure to properly satisfy the necessary positive second time derivative constraint when a principal Reynolds stress vanishes - a fatal flaw that becomes apparent when the non-analytic terms in their model are made single-valued as required on physical grounds. It is furthermore shown that the centrifugal acceleration generated by rotations of the principal axes of the Reynolds stress tensor can make the second derivative singular at the most extreme limits of realizable turbulence. This previously overlooked effect appears to make it impossible to identically satisfy the strong form of realizability in any version of the present generation of second-order closures. On the other hand, models properly formulated to satisfy the weak form of realizability - wherein states of one or two component turbulence are not accessible in finite time are found to be realizable. However, unlike the simpler and more commonly used second order closures, these models can be ill-behaved near the extreme limits of realizable turbulence due to the way that higher-degree nonlinearities are often unnecessarily introduced to satisfy realizability. Illustrative computations of homogeneous shear flows are presented to demonstrate these points which can have important implications for turbulence modeling.