Two and Three Dimensional Simulations of Supersonic Cavity Configurations

Abstract

The flow over cavities can produce complex unsteady flowfields that are an important practical concern in aerospace applications. Understanding the flow field in the cavity can help to determine the driving mechanism of the oscillations to create effective control methods to avoid structural damage. In this study, both two and three dimensional time-dependent Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations are performed for the flow over an open cavity to demonstrate the capability of computational fluid dynamics to accurately predict the supersonic flow field inside a cavity and to assess the adequacy of two dimensional simulations in capturing cavity flow physics accurately. In this particular problem of a supersonic flow over a cavity, the three-dimensional effects cannot be neglected. A two-dimensional simulation would give an insight about the longitudinal mode of the cavity flow without any three-dimensional effects, but it is not enough to understand the real physics of the problem.

Numerical analysis on three-dimensionality of supersonic flow over open cavities

“…The pressure coefficient obtained in this simulation closely matches with that observed by Kaufman[4][4] in his experiment. These results also agree with numerical simulations performed by Rizzetta [5] and further by Aradag [10]. A single vortex is formed in the downstream half of the cavity, which is consistent with the findings of Aradag.…”

“…The L/D of the cavity is 5.07 with a L/W of 1.9. This cavity configuration was further used as a basis for other cavity flow studies, such as that of Rizzetta [5] and Aradag [10]. The actual length, depth and width of this cavity are 0.12065 m,0.0238 m and 0.0635 m respectively.…”

Effects of Active and Passive Control Techniques on Mach 1.5 Cavity Flow Dynamics

“…There are several studies in literature that explain the supersonic flow structure inside the cavities based on rigorous experiments or time consuming computations. It can be said that the cavity dynamics is now known and well documented and can be explained by combining several fluid dynamics phenomenon, although it is complicated and random in nature [1]. The pressure fluctuations inside the cavity are very high, the peaks can be three times the mean pressure and this increases the sound pressure levels in the cavity which may cause the unsuccessful release of the stores.…”