Computational fluid dynamics drag prediction: Results from the Viscous Transonic Airfoil Workshop

Abstract

Results from the Viscous Transonic Airfoil Workshop are compared with each other and with experimental data. Test cases used include attached and separated transonic flows for the NACA 0012 airfoil. A total of 23 sets of numerical results from 15 different author groups are included. The numerical method used vary widely and include: 16 Navier-Stokes methods, 2 Euler boundary layer methods, and 5 potential boundary layer methods. The results indicate a high degree of sophistication among the numerical methods with generally good agreement between the various computed and experimental results for attached or moderately separated cases. The agreement for cases with larger separation is only fair and suggests additional work is required in this area