Space–time fsi modeling of ringsail parachute clusters

The computational challenges posed by fluid–structure interaction (FSI) modeling of ringsail parachute clusters include the lightness of the membrane and cable structure of the canopy compared to the air masses involved in the parachute dynamics, geometric complexities created by the construction of the canopy from “rings” and “sails” with hundreds of ring gaps and sail slits, and the contact between the parachutes. The Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling (T*AFSM) has successfully addressed these computational challenges with the Stabilized Space–Time FSI technique (SSTFSI), which was developed and improved over the years by the T*AFSM and serves as the core numerical technology, and a number of special techniques developed in conjunction with the SSTFSI. We present the results obtained with the FSI computation of parachute clusters and the related dynamical analysis