Systems Deployment & Relative Motion Analysis

Today, a pressing need for high-fidelity transient, nonlinear, viscous, multidisciplinary simulations of complex fluid-structure systems with associated subsystems operating in near space arises in the design and analysis of many engineering operations. These include not only the cargo/weapon release, store separation, fueling/icing boom, and egress operations associated with military systems, but also those associated with many commercial applications including the optimization of draft during car racing and the design of biomedical micro devices for drug delivery, among others. To address this pressing technical need, this Phase I SBIR effort focuses on blending the arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian and overset/chimera methods to develop a new fluid-structure analysis methodology for complex systems with flexible structures and large relative motions, implementing it in the AERO Suite of Codes deployed at the Edwards Air Force Base, and demonstrating its potential using a plausible flexible two-body system with large relative motion. BENEFITS: The anticipated success of this research and development effort will extend the range of applications of arbitrary Lagrangian/Eulerian and overset/chimera methods to systems deployment and large motion analysis that accounts for both structural flexibility and viscous flow effects. It will also enhance the potential for commercialization of the AERO Suite of Codes deployed at the Edwards Air Force Base by expanding its range of applications to include problems such as cargo/weapon release, store separation, aerial refueling, optimization of draft in car racing, and the simulation of biomedical micro devices for drug delivery.