Nonlinear wind-tunnel wall-interference corrections using data assimilation

This paper presents a novel approach for correcting wind-tunnel wall interference in the nonlinear flow regime, that is, in the presence of phenomena such as flow separation and shocks. The methodology uses a gradient-based optimization to minimize the difference between experimental measurements and a Favre-averaged Navier–Stokes (FANS) simulation. The aim is to exploit the high-fidelity experimental data to correct turbulence-modeling errors in the FANS simulations, as well as to use the accurate angle of attack and Mach number from the FANS simulations to correct the in-tunnel flow conditions. The optimization is carried out directly in free air, thus avoiding the requirement to mesh the wind-tunnel walls and/or to model the ventilated-wall boundary condition. A byproduct of this method is the availability of flow information everywhere around the test object, which augments and complements the experimental data. The methodology is tested on two-dimensional and three-dimensional flow cases, demonstrating a significant improvement in the agreement between experimental and numerical data.