Wind tunnel models are traditionally machined from high-quality metal material; this condition reduces the possibility to test different geometric variations or models as it corresponds to incremental cost. In the last decade, the quality of additive manufacturing techniques has been progressively increasing, while the cost has been decreasing. The utilization of 3D-printing techniques suggests the possibility to improve the cost, time, and flexibility of a wind tunnel model production. Possible disadvantages in terms of quality of the model finishing, stiffness, and geometric accuracy are investigated, to understand if the production technique is capable of providing a suitable test device. Additionally, pressure taps for steady surface pressure measurements are integrated during the printing procedure and the production of complex three-dimensional highly swept wings have been selected as targets. Computational fluid dynamics tools are exploited to confirm the experimental results in accordance with the best practice approaches characterizing flow patterns dominated by leading-edge vortices. The fidelity level of the experimental data for scientific research of the described flow fields is investigated. An insight of the most important guidelines and the possible improvements is provided as well as the main features of the approach.

Computational fluid dynamics simulations employing eddy-viscosity turbulence models remain the baseline numerical tool in the aerospace industry, mainly due to their numerical stability and computational efficiency. However, many industrially relevant cases require a level of accuracy that is not routinely achieved by global turbulence models. The simulation of leading-edge vortices shed at low aspect ratio wings is one such class of flows that remains a challenge for turbulence modelling. A local approach is proposed in which a parametrised eddy-viscosity turbulence model is calibrated using experimental results of configurations and flow conditions similar to the one being analysed. In this paper, the Spalart–Allmaras one-equation model is enhanced with additional source terms, which are exclusively active in the vortex field. An automatic optimisation procedure with experimental data as reference is then applied. The resulting optimised model improves the eddy viscosity distribution for a limited but relevant range of configurations and flow conditions.

Low-aspect ratio wing planforms, such as delta wings, experience the predominance on their aerodynamic characteristics of large-scale leading-edge vortices separating around the leading edges. Due ...

The present work aims at improving the performance of the eddy viscosity-based Menter - Shear Stress Transport turbulence model for complex aircraft flows by adding physical extensions to the ω len...