Large eddy simulation of pressure distribution of fluid flow over ridges of circular, parabolic and rectangular shapes

This paper presents modeling and large eddy simulation of pressure coefficient distribution of the flow of air over ridges of circular, parabolic and rectangular shapes at different Reynolds numbers using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. The simulated results are compared and discussed with the experimentally measured pressure distributions. The experiments were done in an open circuit blower type wind tunnel. This study found that the pressure coefficient distributions over the three ridges are not unique in character at zero angle of attack for same Reynolds number and its magnitude depends on the geometry of the ridges. The typical potential flow equations are not applicable to predict the distance of pressure dissipation in the downstream direction of the flow.