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CFD - Fluid Structure Interaction

High fidelity Aeroelastic flutter prediction using CFD

Skills or knowledge: Knowledge of aerodynamics, Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI)

Software or programs used: CFD, Fluent, Ansys

• As a part of my research at DRDO, I am involved in the CFD-based methodology development for coupled aerodynamics systems, involving multi-physics. In this study, a high fidelity methodology for the prediction of aero-elastic flutter using coupled CFD and FEM analysis was established and validated.

• The aeroelastic flutter prediction for high-speed supersonic and hypersonic aerospace vehicles (aerospace vehicles traveling at speeds greater than the speed of sound) is inevitable and highly critical for enhanced maneuverability and structural failure prevention. This necessitates the development of a methodology for predicting the flutter speed for high Reynolds number flows. A high fidelity analysis methodology for the dynamic aeroelasticity phenomenon of flutter is explored using multi-physics capability in Ansys software. An Euler (in viscous) time marching, two-way coupled analysis, which couples the CFD and FEM solvers, has been carried out on a supersonic fin at Mach number 2.51 (2.5 times greater than the speed of sound), at three dynamic pressure conditions corresponding to a wind tunnel experiment. The flutter dynamic pressure was determined by the instability of the fin at the flutter point. The dynamic pressure conditions of 108 KPa, 113 KPa and 115 KPa were used for the study. The results of the coupled analysis were validated against the experimental results and the predicted flutter point is observed to be in close agreement with the experimental data.

• Currently, the extension of the methodology for aero-servo-elastic analysis by including the control system is under study.

" This study is under the process of publishing in national and in international journals"