RANS Simulations of NASA-CRM by the Finite-volume Method with the SST Turbulence Model

Abstract

The paper reports numerical simulations of aerodynamic characteristics of a commercial aircraft model known as the NASA-CRM. Specific test cases and detailed experimental results have been provided by JAXA for the CFD workshop “Aerodynamic Prediction Challenge (APC).” We employed the cell-vertex finite-volume method on unstructured grids and carried out the RANS simulations with the k-ω SST turbulence model to present results in the APC-I. After the verification of the model in a benchmark problem, both alpha-sweep simulations from low- to high-angles of attack and the grid-convergence study at a cruise conditions are carried out. The simulations well reproduced the experimental results at moderate angles of attack by both types of computational grids used in the study but the results showed the dependency on the grid type and grid resolutions at the highest angle of attack of 5.72 degrees due to different predictions of flow separation near the root chord of the main wing.