A Computational Investigation of a Turbulent Flow over a Backward Facing Step with OpenFOAM

A computational fluid dynamics study of three-dimensional turbulent flow over a backward facing step is presented. An available experimental study is investigated computationally using an open source tool. The wall static pressure distribution, the skin friction distribution and the reattachment length have been calculated and compared with the experimental data. Two different mathematical models were implemented using the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package. The long term goals for this research are to investigate and actively control the wake dynamics behind the step which will be useful to study the wake characteristics behind different types of bodies.