Self-adaptive turbulence eddy simulation of a supersonic cavity-ramp flow

High Reynolds number supersonic wall-bounded turbulent flow is common in the aviation industry. However, accurately predicting this flow remains a long-standing challenge for turbulence modeling, particularly in separation cases. This study presents a numerical investigation of a Mach 2.92 turbulent cavity-ramp flow employing a new hybrid turbulence modeling approach, denoted as the self-adaptive turbulence eddy simulation (SATES) method. The results are compared with experimental data, as well as with outcomes from the conventional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method and the previous delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES). The SATES model demonstrates a satisfactory prediction of time-averaged and fluctuating quantities in the free shear layer, redeveloping boundary layer, and ramp, showing better accuracy than the RANS results. Notably, the SATES results from the medium grid exhibit similarities to the DDES results from the extremely fine grid which is about 26 times compared with the SATES mesh. Furthermore, the significant features of the supersonic reattached flow, including turbulent properties, vortex structures, and unsteadiness characteristics, are analysed in detail, including the Reynolds stresses anisotropy invariant maps, transport process of vorticity, and frequency spectra. This work confirms that accurate numerical predictions of high Reynolds number supersonic separated and reattached flows are achievable using the SATES method with a relatively coarse mesh maintaining an affordable computational cost.