Numerical simulation of flat plate boundary layer transition using OpenFOAM®

Abstract

The present work is a numerical simulation of boundary layer transition occurring over a flat plate. The numerical simulation was carried out using an open source tool namely OpenFOAM®. The Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes Equations was solved along with a four equation turbulent closure which includes transition modeling. The solutions from the numerical simulations are compared with the benchmark data from experiments in order to assess the capabilities of the turbulence model and the solver. The solutions show that the turbulence model with transition modeling was able to capture the flow physics as revealed by the coefficient of friction, velocity and the turbulent intensity near the wall.