Numerical simulation of a laminar end-wall vortex and boundary layer.

The fluid dynamics of a laminar axisymmetric end wall vortex was investigated through high resolution numerical integrations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The predicted velocity field is shown to be in good to excellent agreement with a concurrent laboratory investigation. The dynamics of the boundary layer and core regions are found to be mostly inviscid. Thin viscous sublayers in the boundary layer and core vanish in the vicinity of the inviscid corner region. The effectively inviscid nature of most of the flow is demonstrated by examining the balance of terms in the momentum equations and by the applicability of the inviscid swirl equation. (A)