Predictability of wall-modeled les for reynolds number effects of airfoil flows at transonic buffet and near-stall conditions

Wall-modeled large-eddy simulations at realistic high Reynolds numbers (Re_c ≈ 10⁷ ) are conducted to invesitgate the Reynolds number effect on the airfoil flow fields. Transonic airfoil flow fields around the OAT15A supercritical airfoil and near-stall flow fields around the A-airfoil are investigated based on our previous WMLES studies at experimental Reynolds number (Re_c ≈ 10⁶ ) [1, 2]. Results show that the WMLES qualitatively predicts the typical Reynolds number effect such as decrease of boundary layer thickness and increase of lift coefficient. The thin boundary layer thickness induces the backward displacement of the shock wave in the transonic case. In the near-stall case, also the laminar-turbulent transition location significantly affects the boundary layer thickness and the lift coefficients, and the accurate prediction of transition location is important in the prediction of the near-stall flow field.