Numerical prediction of incompressible separation bubbles

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Abstract
A method is presented for performing detailed computations of thin incompressible separation bubbles on smooth surfaces. The analysis consists of finite-difference solutions to the time-dependent boundary-layer or Navier-Stokes equations for the flow in the immediate vicinity of the bubble. The method employs the McDonald-Fish turbulence model, to predict the development of the time-mean flow field, as influenced by the free-stream turbulence level. It also employs a viscous-inviscid interaction model, which accounts for the elliptic interaction between the shear layer and inviscid free stream. The numerical method is based on an alternating-direction implicit scheme for the vorticity equation. It employs transformations, to allow the free-stream boundary to change in time with the shape of the computed shear layer, and to ensure an adequate resolution of the sublayer region. Numerical solutions are presented for transitional bubbles on an NACA 663-018 airfoil at zero angle of incidence with chordal Reynolds numbers of 2·0 × 106 and 1·7 × 106. These have a qualitative behaviour similar to that observed in numerous experiments; they are also in reasonable quantitative agreement with available experimental data. Little difference is found between steady solutions of the boundary-layer and Navier-Stokes equations for these flow conditions. Numerical studies based on mesh refinement suggest that the well-known singularity at separation, which is present in conventional solutions of the steady boundary-layer equations when the free-stream velocity is specified, is effectively removed when viscous-inviscid interaction is allowed to influence the imposed velocity distribution.