Effects of boundary layer transition on the aerodynamic analysis of high-lift systems

Transition to turbulence is known as a factor that impacts the performance of high-lift devices, but only a few numerical results that include transition are available in the literature. We use the Langtry-Menter γ−Reθ transition model to study the influence of transition to turbulence in global aerodynamic coefficients and flow topology in three-dimensional high-lift configurations. The influence of turbulence inflow variables is also addressed. Numerical results are compared with previous results obtained with the Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model, which does not account for transition effects. The numerical simulations are performed using configuration “one” from the 1st AIAA CFD High-Lift Prediction Workshop. Experimental data from the NASA Langley 14 by 22-ft Subsonic Wind Tunnel provide the global aerodynamic information for the verification of our numerical results. It is observed that the inclusion of transition to turbulence impacts the flow topology, as well as the aerodynamic coefficients.