Turbulence Model Study for the Flow Around the NASA Common Research Model

Abstract

A turbulence model study was performed for the wing–body configuration of NASA’s common research model on common hybrid grids provided by the Fifth Drag Prediction Workshop Committee and on an in-house-generated hybrid grid. Here, eddy-viscosity models with and without quadratic constitution relation extension, which accounts for the anisotropy of normal turbulent stresses, and a differential Reynolds stress model were applied. In this paper, first, the influence of turbulence models on the prediction of side-of-body separation in the wing–body region and on the overall aerodynamic force and moment coefficients is discussed, and later, the influence of grid refinement on the predictions is presented. Finally, the effect of the quadratic constitution relation extension on the predictions of eddy-viscosity models is demonstrated and performance of different turbulence models is discussed by comparing numerical predictions with the experimental data from NASA’s National Transonic Facility.