Implicit large-eddy simulation of a wingtip vortex

J.-E. W. Lombard, D. Moxey, S. J. Sherwin, J. F. A. Hoessler, S. Dhandapani, M. J. Taylor

AIAA J., vol. 54, pp. 506–518 (2016)

@article{lombard-2016,
  title = {Implicit large-eddy simulation of a wingtip vortex},
  author = {Lombard, J.-E. W. and Moxey, D. and Sherwin, S. J. and Hoessler, J. F. A. and Dhandapani, S. and Taylor, M. J.},
  year = {2016},
  journal = aiaaj,
  volume = {54},
  number = {2},
  pages = {506--518},
  url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1507.06012},
  doi = {10.2514/1.J054181},
  abstract = {In this article, recent developments in numerical methods for performing a large-eddy simulation of the formation and evolution of a wingtip vortex are presented. The development of these vortices in the near wake, in combination with the large Reynolds numbers present in these cases, makes these types of test cases particularly challenging to investigate numerically. First, an overview is given of the spectral vanishing viscosity/implicit large-eddy simulation solver that is used to perform the simulations, and techniques are highlighted that have been adopted to solve various numerical issues that arise when studying such cases. To demonstrate the method’s viability, results are presented from numerical simulations of flow over a NACA 0012 profile wingtip at $Re_c=1.2\cdot 10^6$ and they are compared against experimental data, which is to date the highest Reynolds number achieved for a large-eddy simulation that has been correlated with experiments for this test case. The model in this paper 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.}
}

A wingtip vortex forms and evolves in the near wake at Reynolds numbers that make it hard to simulate. This paper describes a spectral vanishing viscosity implicit large-eddy simulation solver and the numerical difficulties that had to be handled, then applies it to flow over a NACA 0012 wingtip at a chord Reynolds number of 1.2 million, comparing the jetting in the primary vortex and the pressure distribution on the wing against experiment.