Computational fluid dynamics of aircraft

Article By:

Agarwal, Ramesh K. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Last reviewed:2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB010440

In the past three decades, there has been enormous progress in the development of computational methods for the study of fluid flow over flight vehicles. Computational simulations, combined with experimental testing, afford a cost-effective means of evaluating numerous geometrical modifications required for developing flight vehicles. Computational analysis of the aerodynamic performance of a flight vehicle requires a multistep process. First, a geometric description of the configuration is obtained in discretized form; second, a grid is generated around the object, which provides a set of points on which the flowfield solution is calculated by solving the appropriate governing equations of fluid dynamics. Enormous amounts of flowfield solution data for pressure, temperature, and velocity variables are then processed to obtain the aerodynamic quantities of interest, namely, the lift, drag, moment coefficients, and other parameters required to assess the flight vehicle's performance. This article briefly describes the current state of the art in geometry modeling, mesh generation, numerical algorithms, and turbulence modeling as it relates to the Euler/Navier-Stokes simulations of whole-body transport and fighter aircraft.

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