A numerical study of the unsteady leading edge separation bubble on an oscillating airfoil
A preliminary study of the unsteady viscous flow in the region of an airfoil leading edge was performed, in which the interaction between the viscous and inviscid flow fields is neglected. The solution method uses the finite difference form of the governing equations throughout the separated flow field and incorporates a transition model based on the integral turbulence kinetic energy equation. The validity of the numerical procedure is verified by making comparisons with analytical solutions to several test problems, including unsteady flow over a plate oscillating in its own plane. The method was then applied to the problem of unsteady viscous flow over a NACA 0012 airfoil oscillating sinusoidally in pitch. The flow field characteristics were in qualitative agreement with experimental results. The bubble moved forward on the airfoil and decreased in size as incidence was increased. Viscous flow in the leading edge region was found to be quasi-steady, while bubble height varied inversely with Reynolds number.