SRS
Scale-Resolving Simulation at Scale
Resolving Separated Flow over a 3D Triangular Aerofoil
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Energy
What This Simulation Does
The 3d-triangular-aerofoil example runs a fully three-dimensional, scale-resolving simulation of turbulent, separated flow over a sharp-edged aerofoil section. Fixed separation at the sharp edges produces a strongly three-dimensional turbulent wake — the archetype of massively separated external aerodynamics where RANS turbulence models are unreliable.
- Compressible Navier–Stokes resolved in 3D; high-order flux reconstruction acts as implicit LES in the separated wake
- Fixed-separation bluff aerofoil — sharp edges pin the separation line, giving a repeatable, mesh-robust test of unsteady loads and wake structure
- Unstructured 3D meshing — mixed elements around a real section geometry with wall-resolved near-body layers
Key Parameters
- Grid: unstructured 3D mesh (mixed elements), high polynomial order; wall-resolved near-body layers
- Physics: compressible Navier–Stokes, scale-resolving (implicit LES)
- Scheme: Riemann flux with LDG viscous treatment; explicit high-order time integration
- Diagnostics: time-averaged surface loads and wake statistics for lift, drag, and shedding content
The core transferable physics: Flow separates from a body and forms an unsteady, three-dimensional turbulent wake that drives fluctuating forces. This is exactly the regime — massively separated external aerodynamics — where RANS fails and scale-resolving simulation is the only reliable predictor of drag, unsteady loads, and wake-induced noise.
What Makes This Capability Unique
Scale-resolving where RANS fails
High-order implicit LES resolves the separated wake directly, capturing unsteady loads and shedding that RANS models systematically miss.
Unsteady load prediction
Time-resolved surface loads give the fluctuating lift/drag and spectral content that drive fatigue, buffet, and aeroacoustic noise.
Real geometry on GPUs
Unstructured 3D meshing on real section geometry, solved on cloud GPUs — full external-aero LES without HPC procurement.
Sharp-edge robustness
Fixed separation at sharp edges makes the case mesh-robust and repeatable — an honest stress test of 3D wall-bounded LES.
Domain Applications
Select a domain to see how this simulation applies, with industry-specific scenarios and ROI.
The Problem
High-angle-of-attack aerodynamics, deployed high-lift devices, and store/airframe wakes are massively separated flows. RANS mis-predicts separation onset and unsteady loads here, forcing costly conservatism or late flight-test surprises.
- Stall and post-stall loads govern control authority and structural sizing; separated-wake fidelity is essential.
- Buffet and unsteady loading from separated wakes drive fatigue and ride quality.
A separation-related redesign found in flight test can cost $10–50M and slip a program by months.
Applications
| Application | How this simulation maps |
|---|---|
| High-AoA / stall loads | Separated-wake LES predicts post-stall unsteady lift/drag that RANS misses |
| High-lift device wake | Sharp-edge separation maps to slat/flap edge vortices and their unsteady loads |
| Buffet / fatigue loading | Time-resolved surface loads feed structural fatigue and buffet assessment |
| Airframe-noise sources | Resolved wake turbulence identifies edge-noise sources for low-noise design |
Quantifiable Business Value
Scenario: An airframer uses scale-resolving simulation to characterize separated high-lift loads in the design phase, catching a buffet issue before flight test and avoiding a late structural redesign.
Avoiding a flight-test-driven schedule slip is often worth more to the program than the redesign cost itself.
Recommended Next Steps
Establish the separated-wake baseline
Run the case and extract time-averaged loads and shedding content to establish your scale-resolving baseline.
Sweep angle and Reynolds number
Vary incidence and inflow to map the separated-load and wake response across your operating envelope.
Apply to your geometry
Swap in your section, blade, or body and run a production LES for drag, unsteady loads, and wake noise.
Ready to Run This Simulation?
Run this example on SRS's cloud platform. No installation, no infrastructure management — just results.
For questions or to schedule a technical briefing, contact the SRS simulation team.
Scale-Resolving Simulation (SRS)
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