Review of numerical simulations for high-speed, turbulent cavity flows

High speed flows inside cavities are encountered in many aerospace applications including weapon bays of combat aircraft as well as landing gear. The flow field inside these cavities is associated with strong acoustic effects, unsteadiness and turbulence. With increasing emphasis on stealth operation of unmanned combat air vehicles and noise concerns near airports, cavity flows attracted the interest of many researchers in aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Several attempts were made using wind tunnel experimentation and computational fluid dynamics analyses to understand the complex flow physics associated with cavity flows and alleviate their adverse effects via flow control. The problem proved to be complex, and current research revealed a very complex flow with several flow phenomena taking place. With the aid of experiments, CFD methods were validated and then used for simulations of several cavity configurations. The detached-eddy and large-eddy simulation methods proved invaluable for these studies and their application highlights the need for advanced turbulence simulation techniques in aerospace. The success of these methods and a summary of the current status of the experimental and computational progress over the past twenty years is summarised in this paper.