Isogeometric Mesh Generation and Deformation for Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems in Mobility Applications

In this SBIR project, a mathematical and numerical framework with efficient conforming methods for the design, analysis, and optimization of the performance of mobility system components will be developed. Phase I effort will focus on the development of automated isogeometric mesh generation to enable the dynamic simulations of surface deformation or relative motion encountered in applications such as rotor-stator interactions in centrifugal turbomachinery, and in fluid-structure interaction analysis of complex engineering applications. A curved geometry reconstruction module using NURBS will be developed to conform to the deformed surface. Two isogeometric mesh generation approaches will be evaluated: one by extending an existing high-order mesh generator from linear mesh, and one by automated parametric NURBS mesh from multi-patch (trimmed) NURBS surfaces with boundary layer grid. Graphics User Interface (GUI) will also be developed, and demonstration will be made for the problems of a) moving and rotating bodies, b) fluid-structure interaction, c) high-order NURBS element generation, and d) adaptive mesh refinement near curved boundaries. In Phase II, the tool will be extended to complex volumetric geometries and will enable parametric discretization on large-scale cluster systems. The source code will be provided for incorporation into larger DoD developed tools and frameworks.