Modelling shock/boundary-layer interaction with nonlinear eddy-viscosity closures

Abstract

An investigation is reported of several nonlinear eddy-viscosity models, both from a fundamental point of view and as a basis for resolving turbulence transport in transonic flows, with particular emphasis placed on shock-induced separation. The models are first analyzed by reference to a homogeneous shear flow and a plane channel flow, after which they are applied to two transonic flows with strong shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction including separation. The computational results demonstrate that nonlinear models with coefficients appropriately sensitized to strain and vorticity invariants, yield results which are superior to a “standard” linear low-Re k–e model often claimed to give the best predictive performance among low-Re k–e models which do not contain ad-hoc corrections. While this superior performance is partly associated with the functional dependence of the linear coefficient on strain and vorticity, this cannot be separated from the role of at least some nonlinear terms which interact with that coefficient, especially in complex strain fields featuring large streamline curvature and irrotational straining.