An evaluation of RANS turbulence modelling for aerodynamic applications

Abstract In a numerical simulation the choice of a turbulence model must be a compromise between physical modelling and computational cost. The CIRA RANS flow solver has been applied, by employing a large set of turbulence models, to typical aerodynamic applications for which certified experimental data are available in literature. The transonic flows over an airfoil and a wing placed in a wind tunnel, both characterized by a strong shock-boundary layer interaction with an induced separation, and the high lift flow around a multi component airfoil are taken into consideration. An evaluation, in terms of accuracy and numerical behaviour, of some common turbulence models ranging from one-equation to high order, using the same code and numerics, is presented. Satisfactory and consistent results have been achieved; the more sophisticated the turbulence model the more accurate the simulation is. The SST Menter κ–ω turbulence model has shown, for the applications investigated, the best compromise between the physical capabilities and the numerical stiffness.