Numerical simulation of separated and vortical flows on bodies at large angles of attack

Navier-Stokes computations were carried out for high-angle-of-attack flow about bodies of revolution in supersonic and subsonic flow. Numerical and physical factors affecting flow predictions are discussed. Accurate prediction of the complex three-dimensional separated flow is found to depend on using grids sufficiently fine to resolve the details of both the viscous boundary layer and the off-surface separated flow structures, and, for turbulent flow cases, use of an eddy-viscosity turbulence model which accounts for the leeward vortical flow structures. An example of high-incidence flow computed about a more complex geometry, the F-18 fighter fuselage forebody and leading edge extension, is also presented.