Hybrid modelling of turbulent flows, combining RANS and LES techniques, has received increasing attention over the past decade to fill the gap between (U)RANS and LES computations in aerodynamic applications at industrially relevant Reynolds numbers. With the advantage of hybrid RANS-LES modelling approaches, being considerably more computationally efficient than full LES and more accurate than (U)RANS, particularly for unsteady aerodynamic flows, has motivated numerous research and development activities. These activities have been increasingly stimulated by the provision of modern computing facilities. The present book contains the contributions presented at the Third Symposium on Hybrid RANS-LES Methods, held in Gdansk, Poland, 10-12 June 2009. To a certain extent, this conference was a continuation of the first symposium taking place in Stockholm (Sweden, 2005) and the second in Corfu (Greece, 2007). Motivated by the extensive interest in the research community, the papers presented at the Corfu symposium were published by Springer in the book entitled “Advances in Hybrid RANS-LES Modelling” (in Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design, Vol. 97). At the Gdansk symposium, along with four invited keynotes, given respectively by S. Fu, U. Michel, M. Sillen and P. Spalart, another 28 papers were presented on the following topics: Unsteady RANS, LES, Improved DES Methods, Hybrid RANS-LES Methods, DES versus URANS and other Hybrid Methods, Modelli- related Numerical Issues and Industrial Applications. After the symposium all full papers have been further reviewed and revised for publication in the present book.
