Industrially applied Computational Fluid Dynamics still faces a challenge when it comes to the accurate prediction of the complex flow over realistic highlift configurations. In this paper we demonstrate that the flow over the 3-element RA16SC1 highlift configuration can be effciently and accurately predicted with Implicit Large-Eddy Simulation (ILES) on Cartesian adaptive grids. In ILES the truncation error of the numerical discretization itself functions as an implicit Sub-Grid Scale (SGS) model. To prove and enable industrial application of ILES, the underlying Cartesian grid of this simulation has been automatically generated and refined for resolving the relevant flow features. The wall-boundary condition is applied with a second-order Conservative Immersed Interface Method (CIIM). Effciency is further increased by modeling near-wall turbulence based on the Thin-Boundary-Layer Equation (TBLE). The good agreement with the respective experimental results underlines the suitability of this CFD approach for industrial applications.

The presented investigation includes a combined experimental-numerical approach to quantify the wake vortex system of a high-agility aircraft from the near field up to the far field. Detailed near-field data are obtained by lowspeed wind-tunnel tests on a delta-canard configuration of 1:15 scale. The measurements are performed at several angles of attack applying advanced hot-wire anemometry. For a wake distance of up to 16 wing spans, mean and turbulent velocity fields are measured. The upstream data are used to initialize implicit large-eddy simulations aimed to compute the velocity fields of the wake vortex system over a wake distance of up to 50 spans. Here, a validation case is shown comparing measured and calculated wake data over a distance from 4 to 16 spans, with the implicit largeeddy simulations initialized by the measured quantities at a position of two wing spans. Compared with the experimental data, the numerical results show the expected lateral and vertical movement of the wake vortex system due to the interaction of the single vortices. The distributions of axial vorticity, crossflow velocities, and turbulence intensities match well with the experimental data. In addition, the dissipation process can be observed, resulting in a reduction of circulation. In the context of this study, the measured and computed velocity fields will be used to determine unsteady aerodynamic loads acting on a fighter aircraft encountering the wake. This is of great importance as wake induction may result in critical structural dynamic loads.