Transition Prediction on NACA0012 Airfoil Using Parabolized Stability Equations Approach

Accurate prediction of laminar-to-turbulent transition in boundary-layer flows is a key issue in fluid dynamics and design of aerospace vehicles. Existing transition prediction methods vary in their approaches from purely empirical transition criteria to direct numerical simulation (DNS). The most significant problem of the eN method exists in the determination of N factor, while, the DNS is too costly for some problems. The objective of present study is to develop an approach base on parabolized stability equations (PSE) for exactly predicting laminar-turbulent transition. The study is focused on natural transition of flow around NACA0012. The effects of on-flow characteristics and the properties of instability waves are investigated. A good agreement is found, comparing with experiments and numerical simulations. The result highlights the reliability and accuracy of PSE approach.Copyright © 2012 by ASME