A DDES study of the flow past a prolate spheroid using a high-order U-MUSCL scheme

Abstract

Flow past a prolate spheroid, which is a representative simplified configuration for vehicles such as maneuvering ships, submarines and missiles, comprises a series of complex flow phenomena including pressure-induced flow separation, which results in unsteady forces and movements that may be detrimental to vehicles’ performance. In this paper, a Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) method combined with a new high-order U-MUSCL scheme is proposed to more precisely and accurately capture the flow separation and vortex structure. This method is applied to simulate the aerodynamic performance of the 6:1 prolate spheroid at an AOA of [Formula: see text] with the Reynolds number of [Formula: see text]. Axial pressure distribution of five individual chord wise sections and flow field structure of the aft body are analyzed. Numerical results agree well with the experimental data. It can be concluded that DDES combined with three-order U-MUSCL scheme demonstrates reliable performance since it captures the vortex structure of aft body distinctly and predicts the separation and reattachment points of the secondary vortex precisely.