We describe the use of solution adaptive local grid refinement in a numerical method for solving transonic flow problems about complex three dimensional aircraft configurations. The method is implemented in the TRANAIR code, which has been applied to help solve many practical engineering problems. Attention is focused here on the principal components of the solution adaptive grid algorithms currently being developed and on two applications that demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithms.

AbstractIn computational fluid dynamics, non‐linear differential equations are essential to represent important effects such as shock waves in transonic flow. Discretized versions of these non‐linear equations are solved using iterative methods. In this paper an inexact Newton method using the GMRES algorithm of Saad and Schultz is examined in the context of the full potential equation of aerodynamics. In this setting, reliable and efficient convergence of Newton methods is difficult to achieve. A poor initial solution guess often leads to divergence or very slow convergence. This paper examines several possible solutions to these problems, including a standard local damping strategy for Newton's method and two continuation methods, one of which utilizes interpolation from a coarse grid solution to obtain the initial guess on a finer grid. It is shown that the continuation methods can be used to augment the local damping strategy to achieve convergence for difficult transonic flow problems. These include simple wings with shock waves as well as problems involving engine power effects. These latter cases are modelled using the assumption that each exhaust plume is isentropic but has a different total pressure and/or temperature than the freestream.

We present an approach to solve the full potential equation about arbitrary configurations. A hierarchical refinement of a globally uniform rectangular grid is superimposed over a boundary described by networks of panels. The finite element method is used to obtain discrete operators for irregularly shaped regions near the boundary. We describe the implementation of grid refinement and present some results obtained using this approach.

A new approach for solving certain types of boundary value problems about complex configurations is presented. Numerical algorithms from such diverse fields as finite elements, preconditioned Krylov subspace methods, discrete Fourier analysis, and integral equations are combined to take advantage of the memory, speed and architecture of current and emerging supercomputers. Although the approach has application to many branches of computational physics, the present effort is concentrated in areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) such as steady nonlinear aerodynamics, time harmonic unsteady aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics. The most significant attribute of the approach is that it can handle truly arbitrary boundary geometries and eliminates the difficult task of generating surface fitted grids.

An Euler code has been developed for the analysis of a wing-mounted propfan configuration. Surface-fitted grids are used to represent the wing, fuselage, and nacelle geometry. The propeller is simulated by an actuator disk along a computational plane. A grid embedding technique is employed to capture detailed flow field resolution in the vicinity of the engine exhaust plume. Results of a NASA turboprop configuration are compared with test data. Specific issues on grid embedding and methods of resolving them are discussed.

This paper presents the results of a study that used a three-dimensional transonic analysis method to analyze flow around a wing-mounted prop-fan configuration. The transonic analysis method employs a cell-oriented finite volume approach to solve the full potential equation in conservative form over a numerically generated surface-fitted grid. The propeller slipstream effects are simulated using a linearized transpiration boundary condition. The results of analyses of flow over clean wing/body, wing/body/nacelle, and wing/body nacelle with slipstream are compared to test data.

: Results are presented from studies of several problem areas which are related to helicopter hovering performance prediction. A working hypothesis is described for including the tip vortex core effect in a vortex wake analysis and it is shown that the tip vortex geometry in the near wake can be calculated with good accuracy for rotors having fewer than five blades. A hovering model rotor test facility of reduced size is described. Data from this facility include measured pressure distributions on the tip of a single-bladed rotor. (Author)

A numerical method is described which uses a rectangular grid to solve the nonlinear full potential equation about complex configurations. The grid is locally refined to resolve high velocity gradients arising from leading edge expansions or shock waves. The grid penetrates the boundary (described by networks of quadrilateral panels) and is generated automatically. Discrete operators are constructed using the finite element method. The system of nonlinear discrete equations is solved iteratively using a Krylov subspace method preconditioned by an exterior Poisson solver and a direct sparse solver. The primary emphasis is to provide design engineers with an aerodynamic analysis tool (the TRANAIR code) which is accurate, reliable, economical, and flexible to use. Computational results for many interesting configurations are presented.