Global Stability Analysis of Full-Aircraft Transonic Buffet at Flight Reynolds Numbers

Fully three-dimensional (3D) global stability analysis (GSA) is performed on the NASA Common Research Model at turbulent transonic buffet conditions. The framework here proposed is based on a Jacobian-free approach that enables GSA on large 3D grids, making this the first stability study on a full-aircraft at typical flight Reynolds numbers. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solutions compare reasonably well with the available experiments and are used as base flows for the stability analyses. GSA is first performed at wind tunnel Reynolds number conditions, and a buffet-cell mode localized in the wing outboard region is found to be responsible for the onset. When the side-of-body (SOB) separation becomes larger at higher angles of attack, two additional modes are detected: a high-frequency mode localized in the SOB region and a low-frequency long-wavelength buffet-cell mode that may represent the link with the shock-oscillation instability found in two-dimensional airfoils. The existence of the buffet-cell mode is confirmed at flight Reynolds numbers. However, due to the presence of large SOB separation at the onset angle of attack, this mode is distributed along the whole wing and an SOB separation mode also appears. As well as characterizing buffet on industry-relevant geometries and flow conditions, this study proves that the proposed GSA framework is feasible for large 3D numerical grids and can represent a useful tool for buffet onset prediction during design and certification phases of commercial aircraft.