I started my Master Thesis the 15/03/2021 in the Institute of Aerospace Thermodynamics (ITLR) from the University of Stuttgart under the supervision of M.Sc Alexopoulos and Professor Dr.-Ing. B. Weigand with the collaboration of Prof. Bassam A. Younis Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis.

This thesis focuses on the prediction of the flow field around a square cylinder at a high Reynolds number (Re = 20, 000). The turbulent nature of the case is one of the main flow features, since it leads to the formation of a von Kármán vortex street which yields to significant fluctuations in the pressure field. Although the problem has been reported in multiple numerical and experimental studies, it is still a case of interest to test the capabilities of new models and methodologies.

In this work, the main motivation is to analyze the performance of the Unsteady  Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes turbulent-viscosity models. Specifically, the Menter k − Omega model, also known as the Shear Stress Transport (SST) model, is applied. By contrasting the present study results with the literature data it can be proven the strengths and shortcomings of the current approach. The conclusions extracted from this first analysis are essential for the second part of the study, which consists on solving the case under compressible flow conditions.

The present study illustrates different methodologies for assessing how the compressible
nature of the fluid affects the vortex street development. Nonetheless, the lack of data on this topic prevents to contrast the obtained results.

Related institutions:

DNS Simulation from F. X. Trias: