Generation of tailored boundary layer meshes for nonequilibrium flows

Abstract

The intention of the present work is to generate meshes tailored to the boundary layer to improve the flow predictions of wall-modeled large-eddy simulations (WM-LES). To this end, the local reconstruction-method was implemented to measure the boundary layer thickness using the computations of a constant-height grid as a baseline. The NASA Juncture Flow is used as benchmark. WMLES using Alya were conducted for an angle of attack of AoA = 5 0 and Reynolds number based on the crank chord Re c = 2.4 · 10 6 . The errors in the prediction of mean velocity profiles are characterized at two different locations over the aircraft: the upstream region of the fuselage, and the wing-body juncture close to the leading-edge. Better prediction of the flow close to the wall are observed with the tailored mesh with a equilibrium wall-function, especially at the upstream location where the equilibrium hypothesis holds.