Numerical analysis of the influence of three turbulence models on the prediction of the airflow inside at a low-speed wind tunnel.
Guilherme Loyola França de Vasconcellos1; Caio Dell'Oro de Oliveira1; Antônio Augusto Mesquita Diniz1; Sérgio de Morais Hanriot1; Cristiana Brasil Maia1
1 Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2029
Resumo
Two important tools are used to perform aerodynamic studies: experimental tests, usually conducted in wind tunnels; and numerical tests, using Computational Dynamic Fluids (CFD) techniques. In this paper, it was performed a numerical analysis of the behavior of the airflow in a low-speed wind tunnel, using the commercial software Ansys CFX®. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the turbulence model to predict the airflow parameters inside a low-speed wind tunnel. Three turbulence models, based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), κ-ε, k-ω SST and BSL EARSM, were used. The dimensions of the wind tunnel represent a device located at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The results were compared to experimental data obtained in the experimental device. Numerical results showed that the k- ω SST and BSL EARSM models return closer results to experimental data, which can be explained by the low performance of the κ-ε model on the prediction of internal flows in regions near the walls.
Palavras-chave: Low-speed Wind Tunnel; Turbulence model; κ-ε; k-ω ; BSL EARSM