The basic tool required for the derivation of the RANS equations from the instantaneous
Navier–Stokes equations is the
Reynolds decomposition. Reynolds decomposition refers to separation of the flow variable (like velocity u) into the mean (time-averaged) component (\overline{u}) and the fluctuating component (u^{\prime}). Because the mean operator is a
Reynolds operator, it has a set of properties. One of these properties is that the mean of the fluctuating quantity is equal to zero (\bar{u'}) Some authors prefer using U instead of \bar{u} for the mean term (since an overbar is sometimes used to represent a vector). In this case, the fluctuating term u^\prime is represented instead by u. This is possible because the two terms do not appear simultaneously in the same equation. To avoid confusion, the notation u, \bar{u}, and u' will be used to represent the instantaneous, mean, and fluctuating terms, respectively. The properties of
Reynolds operators are useful in the derivation of the RANS equations. Using these properties, the Navier–Stokes equations of motion, expressed in tensor notation, are (for an incompressible Newtonian fluid): \frac{\partial u_i}{\partial x_i} = 0 \frac{\partial u_i}{\partial t} + u_j \frac{\partial u_i}{\partial x_j} = f_i - \frac{1}{\rho} \frac{\partial p}{\partial x_i} + \nu \frac{\partial^2 u_i}{\partial x_j \partial x_j} where f_i is a vector representing external forces. Next, each instantaneous quantity can be split into time-averaged and fluctuating components, and the resulting equation time-averaged, {{efn| Splitting each instantaneous quantity into its averaged and fluctuating components yields, \frac{\partial \left( \bar{u_i} + u_i^\prime \right)}{\partial x_i} = 0 \frac{\partial \left( \bar{u_i} + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial t} + \left( \bar{u}_j + u_j^\prime\right) \frac{\partial \left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial x_j} = \left( \bar{f}_i + f_i^\prime\right) - \frac{1}{\rho} \frac{\partial \left(\bar{p} + p^\prime\right)}{\partial x_i} + \nu \frac{\partial^2 \left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial x_i \partial x_j}. Time-averaging these equations yields, \overline{\frac{\partial \left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime \right)}{\partial x_i}} = 0 \overline{\frac{\partial \left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial t}} + \overline{\left( \bar{u}_j + u_j^\prime\right) \frac{\partial \left( \bar{u_i} + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial x_j}} = \overline{\left( \bar{f}_i + f_i^\prime\right)} - \frac{1}{\rho} \overline{\frac{\partial \left(\bar{p} + p^\prime\right)}{\partial x_i}} + \nu \overline{\frac{\partial^2 \left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime\right)}{\partial x_i \partial x_j}}. Note that the nonlinear terms (like \overline{u_i u_j} ) can be simplified to \overline{u_i u_j} = \overline{\left( \bar{u}_i + u_i^\prime \right)\left( \bar{u_j} + u_j^\prime \right) } = \overline{\bar{u_i}\bar{u}_j + \bar{u}_i u_j^\prime + u_i^\prime\bar{u}_j + u_i^\prime u_j^\prime} = \bar{u}_i\bar{u}_j + \overline{u_i^\prime u_j^\prime} }} to yield: \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial x_i} = 0 \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial t} + \bar{u}_j\frac{\partial \bar{u}_i }{\partial x_j} + \overline{u_j^\prime \frac{\partial u_i^\prime }{\partial x_j}} = \bar{f}_i - \frac{1}{\rho}\frac{\partial \bar{p}}{\partial x_i} + \nu \frac{\partial^2 \bar{u}_i}{\partial x_j \partial x_j}. The momentum equation can also be written as, {{efn| This follows from the mass conservation equation which gives, \frac{\partial u_i}{\partial x_i} = \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial x_i} + \frac{\partial u_i^\prime}{\partial x_i} = 0 }} \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial t} + \bar{u}_j\frac{\partial \bar{u}_i }{\partial x_j} = \bar{f}_i - \frac{1}{\rho}\frac{\partial \bar{p}}{\partial x_i} + \nu \frac{\partial^2 \bar{u}_i}{\partial x_j \partial x_j} - \frac{\partial \overline{u_i^\prime u_j^\prime }}{\partial x_j}. On further manipulations this yields, \rho \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial t} + \rho \bar{u}_j \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i }{\partial x_j} = \rho \bar{f}_i + \frac{\partial}{\partial x_j} \left[ - \bar{p}\delta_{ij} + 2\mu \bar{S}_{ij} - \rho \overline{u_i^\prime u_j^\prime} \right] where, \bar{S}_{ij} = \frac{1}{2}\left( \frac{\partial \bar{u}_i}{\partial x_j} + \frac{\partial \bar{u}_j}{\partial x_i} \right) is the mean rate of strain tensor. Finally, since integration in time removes the time dependence of the resultant terms, the
time derivative must be eliminated, leaving: \rho \bar{u}_j\frac{\partial \bar{u}_i }{\partial x_j} = \rho \bar{f_i} + \frac{\partial}{\partial x_j} \left[ - \bar{p}\delta_{ij} + 2\mu \bar{S}_{ij} - \rho \overline{u_i^\prime u_j^\prime} \right]. ==Equations of Reynolds stress==