Tutorial: Simulation of Transitional Flow over an Aerospatiale-A

Airfoil
Introduction
Transitional boundary layer flows are important in many CFD applications of engineering
interest such as airfoils, wind turbines, ship hulls and turbomachinery blade rows. An ANSYS
proprietary empirical correlation (Langtry and Menter) has been developed to predict standard
bypass transition as well as flows in low free-stream turbulence environments. The transition
model is based on the coupling of the SST k- model transport equations with two other
transport equations, one for the intermittency and one for the transition onset criteria, in terms of
momentum-thickness Reynolds number.
This tutorial will teach you the basic setup and solution procedures for transitional flow over
the Aerospatiale-A airfoil. The objective of this tutorial is to perform a validation study that
examines the accuracy of ANSYS Fluent 15.0 for computation of two-dimensional transitional
flows
In this tutorial you will learn how to:

Use the Fluent 15.0 GUI

Model compressible flow (using the ideal gas law for density)
Set boundary conditions for external flows
Use the Transition SST turbulence model
Use Full Multigrid (FMG) initialization to obtain better initial field values
Post-process the results and compare them with experimental data
Do an additional exercise comparing the results against the (fully turbulent) SST
k- model

Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the FLUENT interface and that you have
a good understanding of the basic setup and solution procedures. This is an advanced
tutorial and should only be attempted after you have mastered the introductory tutorials.

Problem Description
The problem considers flow around the Aerospatiale-A airfoil at 13.1 and 13.3 angles of
attack with free stream Reynolds numbers of 2.07 x 106 and 2.10 x 106, respectively. The
chord length is 1 m. The geometry of the airfoil is shown in Figure 1

Figure 1: Problem Description

A 2D domain is created for the problem. The leading edge of the airfoil is located at the origin of
the global coordinate system. The computational domain extends from -18 m to 25 m in the xdirection and from -18 m to 21.56m in the y-direction. A quadrilateral mesh is created, with very
fine mesh spacing close to the airfoil surface. The total mesh count is 65,536 quadrilateral cells.

Mesh Requ ir em ent s

The recommended mesh guidelines for predicting boundary layer transitional flow are a
maximum y+ value of 1 in the wall adjacent cell, an expansion ratio no greater than 1.1 for the
wall normal mesh spacing and sufficient grid points in the streamwise direction. These
requirements are needed to ensure proper resolution of the flow in the viscous sublayer and
proper resolution of streamwise changes in geometry, for instance where there is high surface
curvature, or flow, for instance near separation or reattachment points.

Setup
Start the 2D, double precision version of FLUENT. If multiple cores are available, start the
parallel version of Fluent

Step 1: Mesh
1.1 Read the mesh file
File --> Read --> Mesh
Select the file a_airfoil.msh.gz by clicking on it under Files and then clicking on OK
1.2 Check the grid.
Mesh -->Check
Fluent will perform various checks on the mesh and will report the progress in the console. A
message will appear warning of potential problems that might result from high aspect ratio
cells near the surface of the airfoil. In this case, the warnings can be ignored as the wall
distance calculation is unaffected by the high aspect ratio cells but in general it is
recommended to confirm the wall distance is correct by displaying contours of Cell Wall
Distance as suggested by the warning message.

1.3 Display the mesh (Figure 2)

Display --> Mesh
Make sure that all the surfaces are selected and click Display

Figure 2: Mesh Display

You can use the middle mouse button to zoom into the area around the airfoil and view the mesh
around the pressure and suction sides more closely.

Step 2: Materials
2.1 Define the Materials
Define -->Materials
In Properties, select Ideal-Gas for Density, specify the other material properties as shown in
Figure 3 and click on Change/Create and Close the panel. The selection of the ideal gas model
will automatically enable the energy equation.

Figure 3: Materials Panel

St ep 3: Models
3.1 Select the Pressure-Based solver
Define --> General
In Solver, select Pressure-Based under Type, Absolute under Velocity-Formulation, Steady
under Time, and Planar under 2D Space as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: General Panel

3.2 Specify the turbulence model. This tutorial will be solved using the Transition SST
turbulence model
Define -->Models -->Viscous
Select Transition SST (4 eqn) under Model and Viscous Heating under Options as shown in
Figure 5. Keep the default settings for the other options.

Figure 5: Viscous Model Panel

Note: The transition model is based on coupling of the SST k-omega transport equations with
two other transport equations, one for the intermittency, and one for the transition onset criteria,
in terms of momentum thickness Reynolds number. Because the model requires the solution of
these additional equations, there are additional CPU costs associated with using it.

St ep 4: Oper a t in g Con dit ion s

Define --> Operating Conditions
Set the Operating Pressure to 59607.1 Pascals.

St ep 5: Bou n da r y Con dit ion s

Define --> Boundary Conditions
The inputs in Table 1 will be specified at the inlet boundary for the simulation
Free Stream Conditions
Angle of attack
Static pressure (Pa)
Static temperature (K)
Mach number
Cos (AoA)
Sin (AoA)
Intermittency
Turbulent intensity
Turbulent viscosity ratio

F1 wind tunnel data

13.1
59607.1
273
0.148
0.97398
0.22665
1
1
15

F2 wind tunnel data

13.3
59607.1
273
0.150
0.97318
0.23005
1
1
15

Table 1. Inputs for Inlet Boundary Conditions

Specifying Inlet Turbulence Levels
It has been observed that the turbulence intensity specified at an inlet can decay quite rapidly
depending on the inlet turbulent viscosity ratio. As a result, the local turbulence intensity
downstream of the inlet can be much smaller than the inlet value. Typically, larger values of inlet
turbulent viscosity ratio result in a smaller turbulent decay rate. However, if the specified
turbulent viscosity ratio is too large (i.e. greater than 100), the skin friction on the airfoil surface
can deviate significantly from the laminar value. For this reason, it can be desirable to have a
relatively low (i.e. 1 -10) inlet turbulent viscosity ratio and set the turbulence intensity value at
the inlet such that it decays to reach the actual experimental value at the leading edge of the
airfoil.
5.1 Specify the inputs for the F2 wind tunnel data
Select inlet under Zone, select pressure-far-field under Type and click on Edit. Specify the
inputs as shown in Figure 6 below. In the Thermal tab, specify a temperature of 273 K. If the
inlet temperature is not specified correctly, the results will not match the data.

Figure 6. Inlet Boundary Condition Settings

5.2 Set the Boundary Condition for outlet by selecting it in Zone, select pressure-outlet as the
Type and click on Edit. Enter values in the panel as shown in Figure 7 below. In the Thermal
tab, specify a value of 273 K for Backflow Total Temperature.

Figure 7. Outlet Boundary Condition Settings

5.3 The boundaries bottom-airfoil and top-airfoil are walls. They require no changes to be made
from the default wall boundary condition settings.

St ep 6: Solu t ion Met hods/Con t r ols

6.1 Set the Solution Methods
Solve --> Methods
Set up the parameters as shown in Figure 8 below. Select Coupled under Scheme, Least Squares
Cell Based under Gradient, Second Order under Pressure, and Second Order Upwind for all
other equations. Be sure to scroll down below what is shown in the figure to get all equations.

Figure 8. Solution Methods Panel Settings

6.2 Set the solution controls
Solve --> Controls
Enter the values shown in Figure 9. For the equations that do not appear in the figure, use values
of 0.8 for Momentum Thickness Re, and 1.0 for both Turbulent Viscosity and Energy.

Figure 9. Solution Controls Settings

St ep 7: Solu t ion Mon it or s

7.1 Residual Monitoring
Solve --> Monitors --> Residuals --> Edit
Enable Plot under Options. Change Convergence Criterion from absolute to none.

Figure 10. Residual Monitors Panel

7.2 Drag Coefficient Monitoring

We will monitor the drag coefficient on the bottom-airfoil and top-airfoil wall zones.
Solve --> Monitors then click Create > Drag below Residuals, Statistic and Force Monitors
Select both walls under Wall Zones. Turn on Print to Console and Plot under Options. Select
2 under Window. Under Force Vector enter x=0.97318 and y=0.23005.

Figure 11. Drag Monitor Panel

St ep 8: In it ia lizin g t he Solu t ion

8.1 Initialize the solution
Solve --> Initialization
Select Standard Initialization and use the inlet boundary conditions to initialize the flow. Select
inlet under Compute From and then click on Initialize. The individual variable fields will
automatically populate with the inlet values.

Figure 12. Solution Initialization Panel. Values will be automatically populated after selecting
inlet under Compute From.
8.2 Apply FMG initialization (Text User Interface command)
/solve/initialize/fmg-initialization yes
Note: The Full Multigrid (FMG) initialization can provide a better initial solution for complex
problems at a minimal cost compared to the overall computational expense. The use of FMG
initialization will accelerate the convergence of the problem.
8.3 Set the reference values used to compute the coefficients of drag, pressure and skin friction
Report --> Reference Values
In the Compute From drop-down list, select inlet. FLUENT will update the Reference Values
based on the inlet boundary conditions.

Figure 13. Reference Values Panel.

Note: The default value of 1 m2 is kept for Area. In reality, one should calculate the appropriate
area (typically the projected area) for accurate computation of the drag coefficient, C d. In this
tutorial, Cd is used only to monitor the convergence.

St ep 9: Sa ve Ca se a n d Da t a
File --> Write --> Case & Data
Enter a_airfoilf2_transition_fmg.cas.gz under Case/Data File and click OK.

St ep 10: It er a t e
10.1 Start the solution
Solve --> Run Calculation
After the requested 250 iterations, execute the TUI command /solve/monitors/force/clearmonitor, then request another 1750 iterations.

Figure 14: Run Calculation Panel

Monitor the scaled residuals (Figure 15) and the drag convergence history (Figure 16). The drag
is converged within one drag count (1e-4).

Figure 15: Scaled Residuals History

Figure 16: Drag Convergence History

10.2 Save case and data files
File --> Write --> Case & Data
Save the case and data files as a_airfoil_f2_transition_2000.cas.gz
Step 11: Post-processing
11.1 Display contours of Mach Number, Static Pressure, and Intermittency
Display --> Graphics and Animations --> Contours
Select Filled under Options and Velocity/Mach Number under Contours of. It will be
necessary to zoom to a smaller region close to the airfoil.

Figure 17: Contours of Mach Number

Figure 18: Contours of Static Pressure

Figure 19: Contours of Intermittency

Figure 20: Velocity Vectors Colored by Velocity Magnitude (m/s)

Observation: Transition on the suction surface is triggered by a laminar separation bubble which
results in a turbulent boundary layer downstream. If difficulties are experienced locating the
separation bubble shown in the figure, open the Camera panel ( Display --> Views --> Camera)
and enter the values (3.702,1.183,118.4) for Position, (0.122,0.088,0) for Target, (0,1,0) for Up
Vector, (0.005,0.005) for Field and increase the value of Scale in the Vectors panel from 1 to 10.
11.4 Experimental F2 wind tunnel data is available for the skin friction coefficient on the topairfoil surface
Display --> Plots --> XY Plot

Figure 21: Solution XY Plot Panel

Deselect Node Values under Options.

Select Wall Fluxes/Skin Friction Coefficient in Y Axis Function.
Select top-airfoil under Surfaces.
Click on Load File to load the experimental data file Exp-F2-CF.xy.
Click on Plot to plot both the simulation and experimental results.

Figure 22: Comparison of Skin Friction Coefficient with F2 Wind Tunnel Data
11.5 The pressure coefficient from the experimental F2 wind tunnel data is available
Display --> Plots --> XY Plot
Deselect Node Values under Options
Select Pressure/Pressure Coefficient in Y Axis Function
Select top-airfoil and bottom-airfoil under Surfaces
Click on Free Data to unload the skin friction coefficient data file, then click Load File and
load the experimental data file Exp-F2-Cp.xy.
Click on Plot to plot both the simulation results and the experimental data

Figure 23: Comparison of Pressure Coefficient with F2 Wind Tunnel Data

Step 12: Additional Exercise
A comparison has been made between CFD results obtained using the Transition SST turbulence
model and the experimental F2 wind tunnel data. Next we will make the following additional
comparisons
12.1 Comparison of results from the SST k-omega model with the Transition SST model results
and the F2 wind tunnel data.
12.2 Comparison of results from the Transition SST and SST k-omega models with experimental
F1 wind tunnel test data
12.1.1 Enable the SST k-omega turbulence model.
Define --> Models --> Viscous
Select k-omega under Model, SST under k-omega Model and Viscous Heating under Options.
Be sure Compressibility Effects is not selected in k-omega Options.

Figure 24: Viscous Model Panel After Activating SST k-omega Model
12.1.2 Repeat the operations described in Steps 8-10 of this tutorial, then save the case and data
files as a_airfoil_f2_sst_2000.cas.gz.
12.1.3 Quantitative comparison with F2 wind tunnel data

Figure 25: Skin Friction Coefficient Predictions with SST k-omega and Transition SST Models
Compared with Experimental F2 Wind Tunnel Data

Figure 26: Pressure Coefficient Predictions with SST k-omega and Transition SST Models
Compared with Experimental F2 Wind Tunnel Data

12.2 Comparison of results from the SST k-omega model with the Transition SST model results
and the F1 wind tunnel data.
Open a_airfoil_f2_transition.2000.cas.gz, change the inlet boundary conditions to reflect the F1
experimental conditions that were reported in Table 1.
After changing the inlet boundary conditions, repeat Steps 8 10 and save the case and data files
as a_airfoil_f1_transition_2000.cas.gz.
Change the turbulence model to SST k-omega, repeat Step 12.1.2, and save the case and data files
as a_airfoil_f1_sst_2000.cas.gz.

Figure 27: Comparison of Transition SST and SST k-omega Model Skin Friction Coefficient
Predictions with Experimental F1 Wind Tunnel Data

Figure 28: Comparison of Transition SST and SST k-omega Model Pressure Coefficient
Predictions
References:
Chaput, E., Chapter 3: Application-Oriented Synthesis of Work Presented in Chapter II, Notes
on Numerical Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 58, Vieweg Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, 1997, pp. 327-346
Langtry, R.B. and Menter, F.R., Transition Modeling for General CFD Applications in
Aeronautics, AIAA 2005-522.