Two-dimensional turbulent viscous flow simulation past airfoils at fixed incidence

The present work discusses the computation of the time-mean, turbulent, two-dimensional incompressible viscous flow past an airfoil at fixed incidence. A new physically consistent method is presented for the reconstruction of velocity fluxes which arise from discrete equations for the mass and momentum balance. This closure method for fluxes makes possible the use of a cell-centred grid in which velocity and pressure unknowns share the same location, while circumventing the occurrence of spurious pressure modes. The influence of several turbulent models is investigated. The models involve either an algebraic eddy viscosity or determine the eddy viscosity from transport equations. The method is tested on the following airfoils in pre-stall or post-stall conditions: NACA4412, AS-240 B, GAW-(1) airfoil, for which documented experimental data are available. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.