Evaluation of Turbulence Models in Predicting Hypersonic and Subsonic Base Flows using Grid Adaptation Techniques

Abstract

The flows behind the base of a generic rocket, at both hypersonic and subsonic flow conditions, are numerically studied in this paper. The main concerns are addressed to the evaluation of turbulence models and the using of grid adaptation technique. The investigation focuses on two configurations, related to hypersonic and to subsonic experiments respectively. The applicability tests of different turbulence models are started on the level of two-equation models calculating the steady state solution of the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations. All used models - the original Wilcox k-ω, the Menter SST and the EARSM formulation - predict an asymmetric base flow in both cases caused by the support of the models. A comparison with preliminary experimental results indicates a preference for the SST and EARSM results over the results from the older k-ω model. Some further calculation of the flow fields around these simplified configurations are suggested to reach a better agreement with experiment results.