Implicit Large Eddy Simulation of a wingtip vortex at $Re_c = 1.2\cdot 10^6$

TL;DR

This paper introduces a spectral vanishing viscosity implicit LES method for simulating wingtip vortices at high Reynolds numbers, demonstrating good agreement with experimental data and advancing numerical modeling of vortex flows.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel spectral vanishing viscosity-implicit LES approach capable of simulating high Reynolds number wingtip vortices with improved numerical stability and accuracy.

Findings

Model correlates well with experimental data

Successfully simulates flow at Re_c = 1.2 million

Demonstrates viability of SVV-iLES for vortex flows

Abstract

In this article we present recent developments in numerical methods for performing a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of the formation and evolution of a wingtip vortex. The development of these vortices in the near wake, in combination with the large Reynolds numbers present in these cases, make these types of test cases particularly challenging to investigate numerically. We first give an overview of the Spectral Vanishing Viscosity--implicit LES (SVV-iLES) solver that is used to perform the simulations, and highlight techniques that have been adopted to solve various numerical issues that arise when studying such cases. To demonstrate the method's viability, we present results from numerical simulations of flow over a NACA 0012 profile wingtip at $Re_c = 1.2\cdot 10^6$ and compare them against experimental data, which is to date the highest Reynolds number achieved for a LES that has been correlated with experiments for this test case. Our model correlates favorably with experiment, both for the characteristic jetting in the primary vortex and pressure distribution on the wing surface. The proposed method is of general interest for the modeling of transitioning vortex dominated flows over complex geometries.