Wall-modeled LES of shock-wave/boundary layer interaction

The present paper discusses the physical reliability of turbulence modeling in an adverse pressure gradient wall flow setup at moderate/high Reynolds number by comparing wall-modeled and wall-resolved LES with DNS and experimental data. A canonical configuration of shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction is used to illustrate the wall modeling behavior. In particular, a standard equilibrium-based wall-modeling approach, combined with an innovative strategy to keep active the no-slip velocity and adiabatic/isothermal temperature constraints at the wall, is adopted. The method, in particular, does not rule out flow separations from the description of the near-wall dynamics and automatically reverts to a wall-resolved LES approach if the spatial resolution allows it. The paper demonstrates how the proposed wall modeling strategy accurately describes the incoming and recovering boundary layers. On the other hand, the recirculation region appears oversized compared to wall-resolved LES and the experimental references. However, bubble shape and morphology are always well described, almost independently from the adopted resolution, well-fitting the experimental results. Thus, the present methodology seems a promising strategy to deal with high Reynolds and Mach number flow with adverse pressure gradient conditions.