Can anybody tell me if it is ok to split my grid into laminar and turbulent regions? I am modeling a hydrofoil; does this violate any physical rules? It's just that I get better results if I split my grid.

Cheers

Andy

The turbulance equations are just models. Can I use toothpicks and popsicle sticks to model my bridge? Noone knows your system better than you and the more accurate the model, the closer the results are to reality.

if you are trying to model a wind tunnel experiment for example the transitional point (or line) is often forced by adding roughness to the aerofoil surface.

this is so simulate the transition in flight at a high reynolds number. therefore if the transition point is know you should force it by using a laminar region.

note .. some turbulence models may not let you split the grid like this i.e. spallart-allmaras

As far as I can see the Spalart-Allmaras model does allow this, in fact I have been told that if I enforce a laminar zone before the transition point then the turbulence model can not be k-epsilon, as there is no value of k at the beginning of the transition, and it will not be modeled probably. However, I am thinking that it may not be right to a have a laminar region as if my hydrofoil was in water at 10 m/s the water in front of it would be turbulent anyway.

Cheers

Andy

The mesh choice depends actually on the region you are interesting in. If you have strong interest in the turbulent regions, use then a mesh for turbulent cases, and study the areas you are interested in.