Langley Research Center Turbulence Modeling Resource

Exp: Sandia Axisymmetric Transonic Bump (revisiting Bachalo-Johnson)

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The information on this page was provided by Matthew Barone.

Sandia National Labs undertook to experimentally revisit the classic Bachalo-Johnson axisymmetric transonic bump experiment (see: ATB: Axisymmetric Transonic Bump). This constitutes an experimental characterization of transonic, turbulent, separated flow generated by an axisymmetric model. The test case was also issued as a "CFD challenge."

The model is a scaled version of the geometry in Bachalo and Johnson, AIAA J. (1986), consisting of a circular bump on a constant-diameter cylinder aligned with the flow. The flow is turbulent approaching the hump and becomes locally supersonic at the apex. This leads to a shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction, a turbulent separation bubble, and flow reattachment downstream. Tunnel boundary conditions are characterized and mean surface pressure, mean skin friction, and both mean and fluctuating velocity fields are measured throughout the interaction region. Documentation can be found in (the first journal artricle reference supercedes the earlier AIAA papers):

• Lynch, K. P., Lance, B. W., Miller, N. E., Barone, M. F., Beresh, S. J., "Experimental Characterization of an Axisymmetric Transonic Separated Flow for Computational Fluid Dynamics Validation," AIAA Journal, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2023, pp. 1623-1638, https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J062278.
• Lynch, K. P., Lance, B. W., Lee, G. S., Naughton, J. W., Miller, N. E., Barone, M. F., Beresh, S. J., Spillers, R. W., Soehnel, M. M., "A CFD Validation Challenge for Transonic, Shock-Induced Separated Flow: Experimental Characterization," AIAA Paper 2020-1309, January 2020, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-1309. Also see Correction: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-1309.c1.
• Beresh, S. J., Barone, M. F., Dowding, K. J., Lynch, K. P., Miller, N. E., Lance, B. W., "A CFD Validation Challenge for Transonic, Shock-Induced Separated Flow: Approach and Metrics," AIAA Paper 2020-1308, January 2020, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-1308.
• Lynch, K. P., Miller, N. E., Barone, M. F., Beresh, S. J., Spillers, R. W., Henfling, J. F., Soehnel, M. M., "Revisiting Bachalo-Johnson: The Sandia Axisymmetric Transonic Hump and CFD Challenge," AIAA Paper 2019-2848, June 2019, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2019-2848.

Details about the experimental data can be found in the first reference listed above. The following table (taken from the reference) lists the tunnel boundary conditions. Rows in grey correspond to derived quantities that should be used for reference only.

The experimental data are provided in the following file:

• SandiaChallengeData_V1.tar.gz (gzipped tar file)

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Recent significant updates:
02/21/2025 - Added latest journal article reference

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Last Updated: 04/08/2025