Validation of the γ-Reθ Transition Model for Airfoils Operating in the Very Low Reynolds Number Regime

• Published in: Flow, turbulence and combustion turbulence and combustion, 2022, Vol.109 (2), p.279-308
• Main Authors: Carreño Ruiz, Manuel, D’Ambrosio, Domenic
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerospace industry; Airfoils; Angle of attack; Automotive Engineering; Computational efficiency; Computational fluid dynamics; Computing costs; Empirical analysis; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Fluid flow; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Heat and Mass Transfer; Mathematical models; Micro air vehicles (MAV); Reynolds number; Separation; Turbulence
• ISSN: 1386-6184; 1573-1987
• DOI: 10.1007/s10494-022-00331-z

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are state of the art in the aerospace industry and are involved in many operations. The reduced dimensions of these vehicles generate very low Reynolds number conditions in which separation-induced transition typically occurs. The extremely large computational cost of scale resolving simulations, which are capable of capturing laminar to turbulent transition, is prohibitive for most engineering and design applications. Therefore, it becomes very interesting to couple transition models with conventional Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations to allow the prediction of transition to turbulence at a reduced computational cost. This paper performs an investigation of the application of the γ -Re θ transition model analysing different empirical correlations available in literature and studying the influence of the relevant model parameters using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code STAR-CCM+. The flow around the Eppler 387, Selig/Donovan 7003 and Ishii airfoils has been studied for different Reynolds numbers and angles of attack comparing the drag and lift forces and separation bubble characteristics with experimental and numerical results reported in literature.