Simulation of a Wing-Body Junction Experiment Using the Fluent Code

Abstract : Numerical simulations are performed using the Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics code and the various turbulence models to simulate the horseshoe vortex formed in a typical wing-junction turbulent flow experiment. Simulations were conducted using the renormalizable k-epsilon model, the Reynolds Stress Model, the V2F model, the Spalart-Allmaras model and the k-omega model. The calculate results were compared with experimental results obtained from an extensive database available on the internet. The realizable k-epsilon model was noticeably less accurate than all other models in simulating the mean velocity components, while the remaining models all displayed similar levels of accuracy. None of the models were able to accurately simulate the correct behaviour of the mean kinetic energy as a function of position. The V2F model however came closest to predicting the correct behaviour, and offers the best combination of computational accuracy, computational efficiency, and ease of use.