Wall-Resolved Large-Eddy Simulation of the Sharp Fin Shock/Boundary-Layer Interaction in a Mach 6 Flow

The introduction of a sharp fin mounted perpendicularly to an otherwise flat plate induces a 3D shock/boundary-layer interaction that significantly amplifies heating and pressure loads compared with the otherwise undisturbed boundary-layer. Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS)-based simulations can provide insight into the primary structures of the flowfield, but they are ineffective in capturing key secondary structures and shock-foot unsteadiness. Further, while there is extensive literature on this interaction at lower supersonic Mach numbers, there is a notable deficiency in data for many hypersonic-relevant Mach numbers. Expanding upon previous RANS-based simulations of the same configuration at Mach 6, wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES) of the sharp-fin interaction at Mach 6 are completed and analyzed. The quasi-conical nature of the mean flow is characterized, and virtual conical origin and inceptive origin locations are predicted. The results are correlated with experiments completed at NASA Langley Research Center's Mach 6 wind tunnel. Notably, secondary structures that were found by the experiments to depend on the Reynolds number, rather than the interaction strength as suggested in literature, are successfully captured in the LES. Comparisons are also made against previous RANS-based simulations, and the impacts of fluid-thermal-structural couplings caused by a thermomechanically-compliant panel underneath the interaction are discussed.