Computational study of the laminar to turbulent transition over the SD7003 airfoil in ground effect

Abstract

In this work, we present a numerical study of the laminar-turbulence transition flow around a symmetrical air-foil at a low Reynolds number in free flow and near the ground surface at different angles of attack. Finite volume method is employed to solve the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation. In this way, the Transition SST turbulence model is used for modeling the flow turbulence. Flow around the symmetrical airfoil SD7003 is numerically simulated in free stream and near the ground surface. Our numerical method can detect different aspects of flow such as adverse pressure gradient, laminar separation bubble and laminar to turbulent transition onset and the numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data.