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At least 289 records · Page 16

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NASA NTRS1990

Applications of an adaptive unstructured solution algorithm to the analysis of high speed flows

An upwind cell-centered scheme for the solution of steady laminar viscous high-speed flows is implemented on unstructured two-dimensional meshes. The first-order implementation employs Roe's (1981) approximate Riemann solver, and a higher-order extension is produced by using linear reconstruction with limiting. The procedure is applied to the solution of inviscid subsonic flow over an airfoil, inviscid supersonic flow past a cylinder, and viscous hypersonic flow past a double ellipse. A detailed study is then made of a hypersonic laminar viscous flow on a 24-deg compression corner. It is shown that good agreement is achieved with previous predictions using finite-difference and finite-volume schemes. However, these predictions do not agree with experimental observations. With refinement of the structured grid at the leading edge, good agreement with experimental observations for the distributions of wall pressure, heating rate and skin friction is obtained.

Thareja, R. R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Grids for DSMC computation of two and three-dimensional flows

Contemporary grid schemes for use in Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method of computing two- and three-dimensional flows are briefly surveyed. The grids described include: (1) simple, constant area cells defined by a rectangular grid; (2) multilevel rectangular grids; (3) adaptive rectangular cells; (4) 'point reference' scheme; (5) body-fitted 'analytical' cells; (6) 'general' schemes; (7) 'general' schemes with subcells; (8) orthogonal transformation to rectangular grid; (9) structural tetrahedral grids; (10) rectangular multilevel subcells with adaptive body-fitted cells.

Bird, G. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Solution algorithms for the two-dimensional Euler equations on unstructured meshes

The objective of the study was to analyze implicit techniques employed in structured grid algorithms for solving two-dimensional Euler equations and extend them to unstructured solvers in order to accelerate convergence rates. A comparison is made between nine different algorithms for both first-order and second-order accurate solutions. Higher-order accuracy is achieved by using multidimensional monotone linear reconstruction procedures. The discussion is illustrated by results for flow over a transonic circular arc.

Whitaker, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A time-dependent dusty gas dynamic model of axisymmetric cometary jets

The present time-dependent, axisymmetric dusty gas dynamical model of inner cometary atmospheres solves the coupled and time-dependent equations of continuity, momentum, and energy for a gas-dust mixture between the surface of the nucleus and 100 km, using an axisymmetric 40 x 40 grid structure. A novel numerical method employing a second-order accurate Godunov-type scheme with dimensional splitting is used to solve the time-dependent pde system. It is established that a subsolar dust spike not predicted by previous calculations is generated by narrow axisymmetric jets, together with a jet cone whose opening angle depends on the jet length.

Korosmezey, A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Unsteady flow computation of oscillating flexible wings

The problem of unsteady flow around flexible wings is solved using the unsteady, compressible, thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with the unsteady, linearized, Navier-displacement equations. Starting with the initial shape of the wing, the Navier-Stokes equations are solved on an initial structured grid to obtain the steady-flow solution which is used for the initial conditions. The forced deformation motion of the wing boundaries is then applied, and the problem is solved accurately in time. During the time-accurate stepping, the Navier-displacement equations are used to solve for the grid deformation and sequently, the Navier-Stokes equations are used to solve for the flowfield. Two applications are presented; the first is for a pulsating oscillation of a bending-mode airfoil in transonic flow, and the second is for a bending-mode oscillation of a sharp-edged delta wing in supersonic flow.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

NASCAP/LEO calculations of current collection

NASCAP/LEO is a 3-dimensional computer code for calculating the interaction of a high-voltage spacecraft with the cold dense plasma found in Low Earth Orbit. Although based on a cubic grid structure, NASCAP/LEO accepts object definition input from standard computer aided design (CAD) programs so that a model may be correctly proportioned and important features resolved. The potential around the model is calculated by solving the finite element formulation of Poisson's equation with an analytic space charge function. Five previously published NASCAP/LEO calculations for three ground test experiments and two space flight experiments are presented. The three ground test experiments are a large simulated panel, a simulated pinhole, and a 2-slit experiment with overlapping sheaths. The two space flight experiments are a solar panel biased up to 1000 volts, and a rocket-mounted sphere biased up to 46 kilovolts. In all cases, the authors find good agreement between calculation and measurement.

Mandell, Myron J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Multilevel filtering elliptic preconditioners

A class of preconditioners is presented for elliptic problems built on ideas borrowed from the digital filtering theory and implemented on a multilevel grid structure. They are designed to be both rapidly convergent and highly parallelizable. The digital filtering viewpoint allows the use of filter design techniques for constructing elliptic preconditioners and also provides an alternative framework for understanding several other recently proposed multilevel preconditioners. Numerical results are presented to assess the convergence behavior of the new methods and to compare them with other preconditioners of multilevel type, including the usual multigrid method as preconditioner, the hierarchical basis method and a recent method proposed by Bramble-Pasciak-Xu.

Kuo, C. C. Jay↗

NASA NTRS1991

Unsteady vortex-dominated flow around wings with oscillating leading-edge flaps

Unsteady vortex-dominated flow around delta wings with oscillating leading-edge flaps represents an important classs of problems for supermaneuverability and flow control of advanced aircraft. The problem is solved using time accurate integration of the unsteady, compressible, thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with the unsteady, linearized, Navier-displacement equations. Starting with an initial configuration of the wing and its flaps, the Navier-Stokes equations are solved on an initial structured grid for the steady flow. The forced oscillation of the flaps is then applied, and the problem is solved accurately in time. The Navier-displacement equations are solved for the grid deformation and the Navier-Stokes equations are solved for the flowfield. Symmetric and anti-symmetric flaps oscillations are presented to study the effect of the flaps oscillation on the leading-edge vortical flow.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Simple explicit upwind schemes for solving compressible flows

Several upwind numerical methods for solving the compressible inviscid and viscous flow equations are discussed. Due to their explicit nature, the schemes are very simple and easy to apply to solutions on multi-block structured grids. Their favorable high frequence damping results in good rates of convergence when combined with multigrid procedures. The schemes are optimized using a simple stability and damping factor analysis. Results for three-dimensional test cases are shown and discussed. Attention is payed to the relative efficiencies of these schemes.

Von Lavante, E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Sonic boom predictions for three generic models using a solution-adaptive full-potential code

The TranAir full-potential code, which utilizes a solution-adaptive, unstructured Cartesian grid, was used to compute near-field pressure signatures of three generic supersonic configurations: a cone-cylinder, a low aspect ratio rectangular wing, and a delta-wing/body. TranAir pressure signatures are extrapolated to near- and mid-field distances using a quasi-linear extrapolation technique. Results are compared with existing wind tunnel data and, where possible, with extrapolated experimental data and quasi-linear Whitham-method results. In general, the extrapolated TranAir data is in good agreement with experimental and Whitham-method pressure signatures, but peak pressures are slightly under-predicted. It is thought that computed data obtained too near to the model was the main reason for the discrepancies. Flow-field grid structure was also found to be important in obtaining accurate offbody data.

Madson, Michael D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Delaunay triangulation and computational fluid dynamics meshes

In aerospace computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations, the Delaunay triangulation of suitable quadrilateral meshes can lead to unsuitable triangulated meshes. Here, we present case studies which illustrate the limitations of using structured grid generation methods which produce points in a curvilinear coordinate system for subsequent triangulations for CFD applications. We discuss conditions under which meshes of quadrilateral elements may not produce a Delaunay triangulation suitable for CFD calculations, particularly with regard to high aspect ratio, skewed quadrilateral elements.

Posenau, Mary-Anne K.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Efficient simulation of incompressible viscous flow over single and multi-element airfoils

Incompressible viscous turbulent flows over single- and multiple-element airfoils are numerically simulated in an efficient manner by solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The solution algorithm uses the method of pseudocompressibility with an upwind-differencing scheme for the convective fluxes and an implicit line-relaxation scheme to study high-lift take-off and landing configurations and to compute lift and drag at various angles of attack up to stall. Two different turbulence models are tested in computing the flow over an NACA 4412 airfoil. The approach used for multiple-element airfoils involves the use of multiple zones of structured grids fitted to each element. Two different approaches are compared: a patched system of grids and an overlaid Chimera system of grids. Computational results are presented for two-element, three-element, and four-element airfoil configurations. Excellent agreement with experimental surface-pressure coefficients is seen. The code converges in less than 200 iterations, requiring on the order of one minute of CPU time on a CRAY YMP per element in the airfoil configuration.

Rogers, Stuart E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Parallel computing strategies for block multigrid implicit solution of the Euler equations

A multigrid diagonal implicit algorithm has been developed to solve the three-dimensional Euler equations of inviscid compressible flow on block-structured grids. An improved method of advancing the multigrid cycle has been examined with respect to convergence rates, accuracy, and efficiency. In this method, the multigrid cycle is advanced independently in each of the blocks, and the information exchange between the blocks is done using buffer arrays, allowing for the asynchronous updating of interface boundary conditions. This updating scheme is used to eliminate the convergence problems found in a previous implementation of the algorithm while retaining its potential for efficient parallel execution. Results are computed for transonic flows past wings and include pressure distributions to verify the accuracy of the scheme and convergence histories to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. Efficiencies that were obtained using a modest number of processors in parallel are also presented and discussed.

Yadlin, Yoram↗

NASA NTRS1992

Computational/experimental analysis of three low sonic boom configurations with design modifications

The Euler code, designated AIRPLANE, which uses an unstructured tetrahedral mesh was used to compute near-field sonic boom pressure signatures on three modern low sonic boom configurations: the Mach 2, Mach 3, and Haglund models. The TEAM code which uses a multi-zoned structured grid was used to calculate pressure signatures for the Mach 2 model. The computational pressure signatures for the Mach 2 and Mach 3 models are compared with recent experimental data. The computed pressure signatures were extracted at distances less than one body length below the configuration and extrapolated to the experimental distance. The Mach 2 model was found to have larger overpressures off-ground-track than on-ground-track in both computational and experimental results. The correlations with the experiment were acceptable where the signatures were not contaminated by instrumentation and model-support hardware. AIRPLANE was used to study selected modifications to improve the overpressures of the Mach 2 model.

Cliff, Susan E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The multidimensional self-adaptive grid code, SAGE

This report describes the multidimensional self-adaptive grid code SAGE. A two-dimensional version of this code was described in an earlier report by the authors. The formulation of the multidimensional version is described in the first section of this document. The second section is presented in the form of a user guide that explains the input and execution of the code and provides many examples. Successful application of the SAGE code in both two and three dimensions for the solution of various flow problems has proven the code to be robust, portable, and simple to use. Although the basic formulation follows the method of Nakahashi and Deiwert, many modifications have been made to facilitate the use of the self-adaptive grid method for complex grid structures. Modifications to the method and the simplified input options make this a flexible and user-friendly code. The new SAGE code can accommodate both two-dimensional and three-dimensional flow problems.

Davies, Carol B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Efficient simulation of incompressible viscous flow over multi-element airfoils

The incompressible, viscous, turbulent flow over single and multi-element airfoils is numerically simulated in an efficient manner by solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The computer code uses the method of pseudo-compressibility with an upwind-differencing scheme for the convective fluxes and an implicit line-relaxation solution algorithm. The motivation for this work includes interest in studying the high-lift take-off and landing configurations of various aircraft. In particular, accurate computation of lift and drag at various angles of attack, up to stall, is desired. Two different turbulence models are tested in computing the flow over an NACA 4412 airfoil; an accurate prediction of stall is obtained. The approach used for multi-element airfoils involves the use of multiple zones of structured grids fitted to each element. Two different approaches are compared: a patched system of grids, and an overlaid Chimera system of grids. Computational results are presented for two-element, three-element, and four-element airfoil configurations. Excellent agreement with experimental surface pressure coefficients is seen. The code converges in less than 200 iterations, requiring on the order of one minute of CPU time (on a CRAY YMP) per element in the airfoil configuration.

Rogers, Stuart E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Distributed parallel processing applied to an implicit multigrid Euler/Navier-Stokes algorithm

An implicit multigrid algorithm for the solution of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations has been implemented within the framework of multiple block-structured grids in which the physical domain is spatially decomposed into several blocks and the solution is advanced in parallel on each block. Utilities have been developed to implement such a scheme in a distributed computing environment. The multi-block algorithm is designed so that the explicit residual calculation is identical to that of single-block scheme, and therefore converged solutions for both schemes must be the same. To accelerate convergence, synchronous and asynchronous multigrid strategies are implemented. Significant speedups have been achieved in a multiple processor environment, while convergence rates similar to those of the single-block scheme are observed.

Tysinger, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Development of a flexible and efficient multigrid-based multiblock flow solver

A multigrid-based numerical scheme for solving the Navier-Stokes and Euler equations on block-structured grids is presented for flows over complex aircraft configurations. Self-consistency checks are conducted to ascertain that the multiblock code reproduces previously known solutions from single-block codes by splitting a single-block grid into multiple blocks. The newly-developed multiblock code maintains multigrid performance of an equivalent single-block code.

Vatsa, Veer N.↗