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NUMERICAL UNCERTAINTIES IN TRANSONIC FLOW CALCULATIONS FOR AEROFOILS WITH BLUNT TRAILING EDGES
Author(s) -
Lotz Robert D.,
Thompson Brian E.,
Konings Christopher A.,
Davoudzadeh Farhad
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in fluids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1097-0363
pISSN - 0271-2091
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0363(19970228)24:4<355::aid-fld498>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - airfoil , trailing edge , transonic , mathematics , drag , mechanics , wake , boundary layer , aerodynamics , physics
Numerical uncertainties are quantified for calculations of transonic flow around a divergent trailing edge (DTE) supercritical aerofoil. The Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations are solved using a linearized block implicit solution procedure and mixing‐length turbulence model. This procedure has reproduced measurements around supercritical aerofoils with blunt trailing edges that have shock, boundary layer and separated regions. The present effort quantifies numerical uncertainty in these calculations using grid convergence indices which are calculated from aerodynamic coefficients, shock location, dimensions of the recirculating region in the wake of the blunt trailing edge and distributions of surface pressure coefficients. The grid convergence index is almost uniform around the aerofoil, except in the shock region and at the point where turbulence transition was fixed. The grid convergence index indicates good convergence for lift but only fair convergence for moment and drag and also confirms that drag calculations are more sensitive to numerical error. © 1997 by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.