LES simulation of hemispherical dome's aerodynamic characteristics in smooth and turbulence boundary layer flows

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique has been adopted in this research to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a hemispherical dome immersed in smooth flow and boundary layer flow at a Reynolds number around 2E+06. Accuracy of the numerical simulation result was validated in comparison with previous wind tunnel experiment performed by Cheng and Fu (2010). Results showed that the numerical simulation result agrees fairly well with the experimental one in mean pressure distributions both in smooth and turbulent flows. Regarding the RMS pressure coefficients, the agreement is fairly good for the smooth flow. However, it is rather poor for the turbulent boundary layer. Furthermore, the numerical simulation offers an insight into the characteristics of the flow near the separation point and provides comprehensive understanding for the location of the separation.