A numerical study on aerodynamic resonance in transonic separated flow

Abstract

An ongoing numerical investigation of unsteady shock/boundary layer interaction on a 2-d supercritical airfoil in transonic flow is presented. Initially, the finitevolume URANS solver DLR-TAU is used to simulate self-sustained periodic shock oscillations well known as shock buffet. Next, emphasis is put on the fixed-point stability of the steady flow field below the shock buffet onset. Therefore the flow is perturbed in time with small sinusoidal deflections of the airfoil geometry and random impulses. With increasing angle of attack the mean flow is shown to develop a damped aerodynamic resonance, that degenerates finally towards self-amplification. The occurrence of the aerodynamic resonance is closely related to the development of shock-induced separation, accompanied by quasi-steady inverse shock motion.