Correlation-based Transition Modeling for Three-dimensional Aerodynamic Configurations

Abstract

The prediction of boundary-layer transition is an important element of airfoil and wing design as the correct prediction of transition locations influences the resulting lift and drag forces and, thus, the overall performance. Boundary-layer transition is characterized by boundary-layer quantities like the velocity profiles in the boundary layer along a streamline or the momentum thickness computed from these profiles. In Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), many codes are based on the finite-volume discretization of the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. Computations with these codes yield no information about streamlines in the flow, which means the characterizing quantities for boundary-layer transition are not directly available. To deal with this, two different approaches were introduced into the DLR TAU code, the unstructured CFD solver of DLR for aircraft analysis and design.