Coupled Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (VSTOL) Down Wash-Ground Effect and Ship Air Wake Turbulent Flow Simulation Model

"Integration of aviation units with air capable Navy ships has always been a challenge. V/STOL aircraft, e.g. AV-8B, JSF, etc. encounter unique challenges in performing takeoff and landing during the course of shipboard operations due to the interaction ofthe propulsion-generated jet downwash with the unsteady air wake generated by the ship superstructure & deck. Operational envelopes must be developed through extremely expensive, time-consuming and demanding at-sea trials. Additionally, the powerful V/STOLjet outwash is a major safety hazard for ship deck personnel. The proposed effort will lead to thedevelopment and validation of a physics-based, high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model for predicting dynamic interface (DI) performance. Complexity of the geometry, magnitude of the domains entailed, and presence of a very broad range ofphysical phenomena make this into a challenging proposition. A novel unstructured CFD method is proposed which brings together: 1) innovations in CFD numerical algorithm; 2) resource efficient hybrid RANS-LES turbulence modeling; 3) turbulent flowfieldreconstruction using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD); and 4) an advanced parallel architecture framework. A zonal simulation strategy has been formulated which provides optimum utilization of computational resources for simulating DI performance ofrealistic ship-aircraft at true conditions. The technology development proposed is directl