Scale-resolving simulations and data-driven modal analysis of turbulent transonic buffet cells on infinite swept wings

Abstract: Transonic airfoil buffet is a class of shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI) known to exhibit self-sustained two-dimensional (2D) chordwise shock wave oscillations (Strouhal number St=0.05-0.1), and three-dimensional (3D) spanwise-modulated flow separation/reattachment (St=0.2-0.4). Due to computational cost, scale-resolving simulations of span-periodic configurations to date have been limited to narrow airfoils, insufficient to accommodate the 3D buffet cell instability reported in low-fidelity simulations and experiments. In this work, implicit large-eddy simulations (ILES) and modal analysis are performed on infinite wings up to AR=3 with sweep effects for the first time. Two flow conditions are examined, corresponding to minimally and largely separated mean flow at the shock location. For the minimally separated case, the shock dynamics remain essentially spanwise-uniform (quasi-2D), with only weak and intermittent separation cells confined to the trailing-edge region and exhibiting negligible interaction with the shock. In contrast, increased mean separation leads to the emergence of pronounced 3D buffet cells with a characteristic spanwise wavelength: 1-1.5c. Spectral proper orthogonal decomposition reveals that a stationary low-frequency 3D separation mode previously identified on unswept wings (St=0.02) becomes a spanwise travelling mode as sweep is imposed, shifting monotonically to intermediate frequencies (St=0.06-0.35). The 2D shock mode is largely insensitive to sweep, whereas the frequency and energy content of the 3D mode increase with sweep while its wavelength remains unchanged. The results demonstrate that transonic buffet arises from the superposition of distinct but coupled 2D shock motion and separation-driven 3D instabilities, with mean flow separation at the shock identified as a necessary condition for dominant 3D buffet dynamics to emerge.