​​​​Loren Edwards

A computational fluid dynamics analysis was performed in Star CCM+ on a geometry modeled after an experimental model built by NASA that had been tested in a wind tunnel and using CFD. The goal of the project was to compare the data acquired to the NASA data and verify that the CFD was performed correctly. After this was achieved, the inviscid physics model was compared to the turbulence models K Omega SST and Spalart Allmaras, along with the NASA CFD and wind tunnel data to analyze which model performed most accurately. It was found, as expected, that the Spalart Allmaras model was visibly more effective at modeling flow conditions in a hypersonic inlet than the K Omega SST model. The process can be seen in more detail in the paper below.