COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF TRANSONIC BUFFET’S SENSITIVITY TO REYNOLDS NUMBER AND WIND TUNNEL WALL EFFECTS
This study applies computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to transonic buffet, a flow field instability characterized by an oscillating shock on the upper surface of an airfoil in transonic flow. Despite years of research in this area, understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms driving buffet remains incomplete. This study expands on prior computational studies of buffet on a NACA0012 airfoil by addressing the sensitivity of buffet behavior (mean lift, oscillation amplitude, and frequency) to flow conditions (Reynolds number) and to model conditions, affording special attention to convergence with respect to spatial and temporal discretization. Additionally, wind tunnel wall effects may be a source of discrepancy between computational and experimental buffet results; this work also addresses wall effects for varying tunnel height in the simplified case of a horizontal, inflexible wall.
