A vortex sheet method applied to unsteady flow separation from sharp edges (Q1902648)

An extension of the second-order vortex sheet method proposed by the second author and \textit{W. Vaatstra} [AIAA J. 21, No. 4, 516-523 (1983; Zbl 0544.76027)] is presented to describe the generation of vorticity at sharp edges. The Kutta condition at sharp edges is used and, in order to satisfy the normal velocity boundary condition on the stationary walls, the flow domain is transformed to a half-plane \((x > 0)\) by a Schwarz-Christoffel conformal mapping. In the computational plane the solid walls are situated on the vertical coordinate axis, so that the transformed vorticity can be utilized to satisfy the boundary condition in a simple way. The method is applied to the separating impulsively started flow past a sharp-edged wedge and to the flow in a channel with a deep cavity. These applications show that the method is able to accurately describe vortex shedding in complex geometries.