A study on turbulence transportation and modification of Spalart–Allmaras model for shock-wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction flow

It is of great significance to improve the accuracy of turbulence models in shock-wave/boundary layer interaction flow. The relationship between the pressure gradient, as well as the shear layer, and the development of turbulent kinetic energy in impinging shock-wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction flow at Mach 2.25 is analyzed based on the data of direct numerical simulation (DNS). It is found that the turbulent kinetic energy is amplified by strong shear in the separation zone and the adverse pressure gradient near the separation point. The pressure gradient was non-dimensionalised with local density, velocity, and viscosity. Spalart–Allmaras (S–A) model is modified by introducing the non-dimensional pressure gradient into the production term of the eddy viscosity transportation equation. Simulation results show that the production and dissipation of eddy viscosity are strongly enhanced by the modification of S–A model. Compared with DNS and experimental data, the wall pressure and the wall skin friction coefficient as well as the velocity profile of the modified S–A model are obviously improved. Thus it can be concluded that the modification of S–A model with the pressure gradient can improve the predictive accuracy for simulating the shock-wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction.