Development of a high-fidelity fluid-structure interaction framework
L. Cohen (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
J. Sodja – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
A.H. van Zuijlen – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
Bianca Giovanardi, PhD – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
W. Yu – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
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Abstract
The analysis of flight loads and their structural impact is fundamental to aircraft design and certification. Analysis generally relies on low-fidelity aeroelastic solvers because of their low computational cost. However, these linear models fail to capture critical non-linear flow phenomena such as transonic shocks, flow separation, thickness- and viscous effects. Yet these effects are necessary to accurately asses extreme limiting load cases, potentially leading to non-conservative design estimates.
This research addresses this physical modeling gap by developing and validating a high-fidelity partitioned static Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) framework. The proposed framework establishes a two-way coupling between Ansys Fluent and MSC Nastran, leveraging Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to resolve complex aerodynamic phenomena and the Finite Element Method (FEM) for high-fidelity structural modeling. The framework is applied to the Onera M6 wing, serving as the primary validation case.
A parametric study involving multiple high-fidelity static FSI simulations across varied angles of attack and Mach numbers is then conducted. These results are contrasted against low-fidelity predictions, quantifying the significant errors introduced by neglecting non-linear flow characteristics. This comparison proves the high-fidelity framework's definitive capability to capture the complex physics required for accurate static aeroelastic modeling.