1.3.2. Boussinesq Model

For buoyant flows where the density variation is driven only by small temperature variations, the Boussinesq model is used. In this model, a constant reference density is used for all terms other than the buoyancy source term. The buoyancy source term is approximated as:

(1–131)

where is the thermal expansivity:

(1–132)

and is the buoyancy reference temperature.