Numerical prediction of turbulent flow over airfoil sections with a new nonequilibrium turbulence model

A new nonequilibrium turbulence closure model has been developed for computing wall bounded two-dimensional turbulent flows. This two-layer eddy viscosity model was motivated by the success of the Johnson-King model in separated flow regions. The influence of history effects are described by an ordinary differential equation developed from the turbulent kinetic energy equation. The performance of the present model has been evaluated by solving the flow around three airfoils using the Reynolds time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Excellent results were obtained for both attached and separated turbulent flows about the NACA 0012 airfoil, the RAE 2822 airfoil, and the Integrated Technology A 153W airfoil. Based on the comparison of the numerical solutions with the available experimental data, it is concluded that the new nonequilibrium turbulence model accurately captures the history effects of convection and diffusion on turbulence.