This article presents applications of a compressible Reynolds-averaged
Navier-Stokes method to the calculation of flows about a transport-ty
pe multielement airfoil. The unstructured-mesh method used utilizes mu
ltigrid techniques for computational efficiency and includes a selecti
on of turbulence models. The airfoil used to benchmark the computation
al capability is a three-element airfoil configured for landing for wh
ich extensive experimental data have been acquired both on and off the
airfoil surface at high Reynolds numbers, Comparisons of computationa
l results vs experimental data shown here include traditional airfoil
performance calculations due to configuration changes. Also discussed
are detailed comparisons of computational results and experimental dat
a obtained in the flap well region to assess the applicability of exis
ting turbulence models to the nap slot flow. Performance comparisons a
re conducted for configurations tested at chord Reynolds numbers of 5
x 10(6) and 9 x 10(6) and the flap well study is based on data obtaine
d on a similar airfoil at a chord Reynolds number of 5 x 10(5).