A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL LAMINAR SEPARATION ON A PROLATE SPHEROID AT INCIDENCE

Abstract

This paper presents a computational study of three-dimensional laminar separation on a prolate spheroid at incidence. The fully- elliptic Navier-Stokes and continuity equations are solved using the regular grid, finite-analytic discretization, a PISO-type velocity- pressure coupling algorithm, and method of lines. An O-O type body-conforming grid, which is suitable for the detailed study of the problem, is used in the computation. An overview of the approach is given, and numerical results are presented and discussed for a 6:1 prolate spheroid for several angles of attack. The latter includes comparisons with available experimental data. The computational results display detailed flow structures in the post-separation region and near wake, such as the generation and development of the girthwise and longitudinal vortices or the separation patterns which cannot be classified by the conventional open- and closed-type separation models.