Computational Comparisons to Experimental Streamwise Gust Interactions

Unsteady aerodynamics can have a significant effect on small scale aircraft, motivating the study of how convectively evolving gusts interact with wings at low Reynolds numbers. Computational study of this problem allows for access to the flow physics from the entire, spatially and temporally evolving flow field, but requires careful setup of the simulation conditions to accurately capture the flow phenomena characteristic of low Reynolds number boundary layers. Therefore, a single interesting configuration identified from the unsteady experiment was studied carefully to first understand the computational behavior and accuracy of the flow in steady conditions within the range of Reynolds numbers of the unsteady case. Results of LES simulations performed within this range of Reynolds numbers are directly compared to their experimental counterparts in order to assess the simulation's ability to accurately match the experiment under the same conditions.