Geometric Proximity of Independent Systems Simulation

The pressing need for high-fidelity transient, nonlinear, viscous, fluid-structure simulations arises in the solution of many important engineering problems. These include not only the design of high-performance aircraft where flutter, limit cycle oscillation, and buffeting remain the most important considerations, but also new emerging applications such as the aeroelastic tailoring of the front and rear wings of race cars, the control of flow-induced noise in various military and commercial systems, and the design of biomedical micro devices for drug delivery. Most of these applications involve some form of gap-generating devices or surfaces whose modeling challenges the desired viscous simulations. To this effect, this Phase I SBIR effort focuses on three well-defined research tasks: (a) designing a robust and order-of-accuracy-preserving technique based on the concept of sliding meshes for treating the mesh motion associated with the simulation of the opening and closing of gaps associated with an aeroelastic system, (b) implementing this technique in the simulation tool used at the Edwards Air Force Base, and (c) demonstrating its potential for real-world viscous applications that are particularly relevant to the mission of the Flight Test Center at the Edwards Air Force Base. BENEFITS: The anticipated success of this research and development effort will not only extend the range of applications of arbitrary Lagrangian/Eulerian codes in general and the AERO Suite of Codes deployed at the Edwards Air Force Base in particular to viscous applications with arbitrary control surface deflections, but also to the unsteady analysis of flows past supersonic air intakes with movable flaps or plugs, and the aeroelastic analysis of turbines and rotorcraft. Hence, the success of this effort will boost the potential for commercialization of the AERO Suite of Codes by expanding its range of applications.