Investigation of leading-edge vortices on a triple-delta-wing configuration using scale-adaptive simulation

A triple-delta wing configuration in transonic conditions has been investigated numerically with focus to the leading-edge vortices at sideslip flow. Two primary vortices occur in correspondence with the two wing sweep angles which interact with each other in the aft part of the wing. Besides, due to the transonic free-stream speed, several shock waves appear and also interact with the vortices. The side slip angle causes different flow conditions on the two wings, whose effects are connected. The present work focuses on the accuracy and efficiency of predicting aerodynamic coefficients and on analysis of the flow field to improve the understanding of the involved flow physical phenomena. Two different approaches of turbulence treatment have been applied and compared with the experimental data in order to determine the range of suitability of current turbulence models, namely scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) and kwSST URANS. The SAS provides a promising approach to predict the flow physics over such configuration with a significantly better accuracy.