Abstract
Many CFD software packages are commonly used for the modeling of thermal plasma jets. Unfortunately, according to some recent results reported in the literature, one may notice that two different software products do not always provide similar results for a similar case. For example, PHOENICS and FLUENT were recently used in a single study and some abnormal differences were observed in the numerical predictions [1]. After some intensive search, the reasons were identified and are explained in the present paper: it appears that all Fluent built-in k-å type turbulence models have to be modified especially for high temperature flows. Since Fluent is now extensively used for the modeling of plasma jets, it was considered useful to report the required correction to the scientific thermal spray community and this is the purpose of the present paper.
