Coarse grid correction for partitioned fluid-structure interaction problems

The use of more flexible structures in aircraft offers considerable potential for more efficient aircraft, but increased exibility makes aircraft structures more susceptible to destructive interactions with the air ow around them. Numerical simulations are necessary to predict the behavior of these interactions so that aircraft designers can avoid destructive fluid-structure interactions (FSI). One possible way to simulate FSI is by coupling existing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) solvers. Two improved algorithms were developed to couple existing CFD and CSM solvers using a coarse grid correction and high-order Additive Runge-Kutta (ARK) time integration schemes. The new algorithms reduce the partitioning error by computing accurate predictions for the coupling terms on coarse grids. Both coarse grid corrections and ARK schemes have previously been used in CFD and CSM, but their combined application to FSI simulation is new. It was demonstrated for an FSI test problem that the new algorithms may reduce the amount of work to obtain levels of accuracy acceptable for engineering by an order of magnitude. Future work will include extending the newly developed algorithms to nonlinear problems and implementing them in new FSI solvers.Aerospace Engineerin