Drag Prediction in Transitional Flow Over Airfoils

which is based on the Michel method, for steady incompressible two-dimensional flow, whereas the extent of transition is quantified by developing a model for the intermittency function. The proposed transition model is implemented into Fluent; it is then used in simulating transitional flow in different well-documented experimental cases that cover single-element and two-element airfoils under different freestream conditions. Given the experimental data, the results obtained with the developed transition model reflect a consistent and significant improvement in drag prediction, when compared with the drag predicted using a fully turbulent flow simulation.