Correlation-Based Transition Modeling for Unstructured Parallelized Computational Fluid Dynamics Codes

Abstract

A new correlation-based transition model has been developed, which is built strictly on local variables. As a result, the transition model is compatible with modern computational fluid dynamics techniques such as unstructured grids and massively parallel execution. The model is based on two transport equations, one for intermittency and one for a transition onset criterion in terms of momentum-thickness Reynolds number. A number of validation papers have been published on the basic formulation of the model. However, until now the full model correlations have not been published. The main goal of the present paper is to publish the full model and release it to the research community so that it can continue to be further validated and possibly extended or improved. Included in this paper are a number of test cases that can be used to validate the implementation of the model in a given computational fluid dynamics code. The authors believe that the current formulation is a significant step forward in engineering transition modeling, as it allows the combination of transition correlations with general-purpose computational fluid dynamics codes. There is a strong potential that the model will allow the first-order effects of transition to be included in everyday industrial computational fluid dynamics simulations.