GPU-Accelerated Implicit Large Eddy Simulation of a NACA 0018 Airfoil with Active Flow Control

In this work, high-order Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been performed for a NACA 0018 airfoil with an active flow control slot at Reynolds numbers between = 1.25 · 10⁵ and = 2.5 · 10⁵ using the GPU-accelerated PyFR solver. Pressure distributions and resulting aerodynamic loads show better accuracy compared to previous numerical simulation attempts, and demonstrate the first numerical result to resolve the nonlinear lift curves seen in the experiments. In particular, the importance of accurately resolving the Laminar Separation Bubble, taking into account the 3D control slot, as well as the wind tunnel geometry was found to have a large impact on results. The results in this work indicate that a high-order turbulence-resolving solver with the ability to handle complex geometries (unstructured grids) is required in order to accurately predict loads for low Reynolds number cases such as this. Lastly, an overview and performance-to-cost analysis of CFD using GPUs is shown, with conclusions demonstrating the utility of the use of GPUs in the next generation turbulence resolving solvers.