Investigation of a Nonlinear Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes Closure for Corner Flows

Abstract

This study gives an insight into the corner flow around a wing mounted on a flat plate. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations and experimental data are compared for a Reynolds number based on the wing chord () equal to and an angle of attack of 12 deg. The flat plate and wing boundary layers are fully turbulent, and the Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness of the incoming boundary layer is equal to . It is shown that the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulation using the Spalart–Allmaras model with the Boussinesq closure predicts a massive corner flow separation, whereas on the experimental side, the separation is confined to a small area. Better predictions are obtained when resorting to the Spalart–Allmaras model with the quadratic constitutive relation closure. A comprehensive investigation of the numerical results using the experimental data is performed to get a better understanding of the behavior of the Spalart–Allmaras quadratic constitutive relation model for the present corner flow.