Development of a fully automated CFD system for three-dimensional flow simulations based on hybrid prismatic-tetrahedral grids

In this paper an assessment of CFD methods based on the underlying grid type is made. It is safe to say that emerging CFD methods based on hybrid body-fitted grids of tetrahedral and prismatic cells using unstructured data storage schemes have the potential to satisfy the basic requirements of problem-turnaround-time and accuracy for complex geometries. The CFD system described in this paper is based on the hybrid prismatic-tetrahedral grid approach. In an analysis it is shown that the cells in the prismatic layer have to satisfy a central symmetry property in order to obtain a second-order accurate approximation of the viscous terms in the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Prismatic grid generation is demonstrated for the ONERA M6 wing-alone configuration and the AS28G wing/body configuration.