Numerical study on transonic shock wave buffeting of airfoil

Abstract Modern transportation aircraft typically cruise at transonic speeds. However, under a specific combination of incoming flow Mach numbers and angles of attack, periodic self-excited oscillations of shock waves can lead to unsteady aerodynamic loads, causing sustained vibrations in the aircraft, which is known as transonic shock wave buffeting. Buffeting loads significantly impact the fatigue life of the aircraft’s structural materials and its handling performance. In severe cases, it causes structural damage or even leads to flight safety incidents, so we should pay more attention to transonic shock wave buffeting when focusing on aeronautical engineering. This paper employs computational fluid dynamics technology for calculations to solve the Navier-Stokes equations, using the SST k-ω turbulence model to numerically simulate the steady flow field, and further employing the detached eddy simulation (DES) method to study and analyze the buffeting initiation mechanism and flow field characteristics of the NACA0012 airfoil’s transonic unsteady flow. By applying the DES method, the results demonstrate an accurate prediction of the buffeting onset boundary of the airfoil compared to wind tunnel experimental data. The research findings on the initiation mechanism and load characteristics of transonic buffeting provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the aerodynamic performance of aircraft during transonic flight and offer guidance for engineering issues such as buffeting load mitigation.