Evaluation of the TAU CFD solver for steady and unsteady turbulent flow analysis of a supercritical wing

The present work is part of a long-term project aimed at the validation and development of the code in DLR-TAU CFD solver in order to predict the steady and unsteady flow fields, forced and unforced motion and aeroelastic response. The strategy to validate these methods consists of the identification and quantification of errors in the computational models and the evaluation of the calculation results with the experimental data. The experimental data were obtained from NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. The aim is to assess the state-of-the-art Computational Aeroelasticity methods for the prediction of dynamic and static aeroelastic phenomena. All of this is based on the first and second AIAA Aeroelastic Prediction Workshops, where the (BSCW) Benchmark Supercritical Wing has been chosen as a reference point for these workshops. The BSCW has a simple geometrical structure, with a rectangular planform and it is considered to be a rigid structure. Three different Test Cases have been determined with different and pre-fixed angles of attack. The simulations were carried out in the transonic range with Mach numbers between 0.70 $\div$ 0.85 where different flow phenomena may occur and cause serious problems, such as aeroelastic flutter, buffet, and limit cycle oscillations. The author used the DLR-TAU code implemented by Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. Several computational setups are implemented and two different types of turbulence models: (SA) Spalart-Allmaras and the (k-$\omega$ SST) Shear Stress Transport. At the end of this work two different approaches have been compared; the RANS simulations from DLR-Tau and the hybrid from SU2. The latter was carried out by another participant. Both approaches can resolve the largest turbulent structures, but only the hybrid approach can provide significant solutions.