PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FLOW IN THE CONTRACTION OF A BOUNDARY LAYER WIND TUNNEL

摘要

The time-averaged flow in the contraction of a new boundary-layer wind tunnel is investigated experimentally using Pitot probes and numerically using RANS simulations. Numerical simulations are performed to rule out any risk of flow separation. Experimental and numerical results show a good flow uniformity in the potential core at the contraction exit. Small non-uniformities of the boundary-layer thickness close to the sidewalls centerline are explained by the presence of longitudinal vortices near the sidewall boundary layers. The numerical results confirm an earlier hypothesis concerning the generation of these longitudinal vortices by skew-induced vorticity.