Large-scale fluid-structure interaction simulations

Abstract

Combining computational-science disciplines, such as in fluid-structure interaction simulations, introduces a number of problems. The authors offer a convenient and cost-effective approach for coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural dynamics (CSD) codes without rewriting them. With the advancement of numerical techniques and the advent, first, of affordable 3D graphics workstations and scalable compute servers, and, more recently, PCs with sufficiently large memory and 3D graphics cards, public-domain and commercial software for each of the computational core disciplines has matured rapidly and received wide acceptance in the design and analysis process. Most of these packages are now at the threshold mesh generation pre-processor. This has prompted the development of the next logical step: multidisciplinary links of codes, a trend that is clearly documented by the growing number of publications and software releases in this area. In this paper, we concentrate on fluid-structure and fluid-structure-thermal interaction, in which changes of geometry due to fluid pressure, shear, and heat loads considerably affect the flowfield, changing die loads in turn. Problems in this category include: steady-state aerodynamics of wings under cruise conditions; aeroelasticity of vibrating - that is, elastic - structures such as flutter and buzz (aeroplanes and turbines), galloping (cables and bridges), and maneuvering and control (missiles and drones); weak and nonlinear structures, such as wetted membranes (parachutes and tents) and biological tissues (hearts and blood vessels); and strong and nonlinear structures, such as shock-structure interaction (command and control centers, military vehicles) and hypersonic flight vehicles.