Parallel adaptive finite element Euler flow solver for rotary wing aerodynamics

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Parallel adaptive finite element Euler flow solver for rotary wing aerodynamics

Bottasso, C.L. / Shephard, M.S.

The aim of this paper is to present an adaptive procedure that the authors have recently developed for the automated aerodynamic analysis of helicopter rotors. The major motivation for the development of automated adaptive techniques is their ability to effectively and accurately resolve intricate features of the solution, such as those that characterize the flow around rotors in hover and forward flight. Although the idea of using such techniques for improving the simulation capabilities of rotary wing codes is certainly not new, our contribution is original in its effort to bridge adaptivity with parallelism on MIMD (multiple instruction/multiple data) machines. We have developed a methodology that, due to its generality, is not restricted to the problems or the examples discussed in this work. We have shown not only that we accurately determine the airloads of hovering rotors in a variety of situations but also that we can do it with efficient scalable parallel algorithms. The final aim of our efforts is the analysis of more complex rotary wing problems, such as forward flight with strong blade-vortex interactions and aeroelastic coupled systems. We are confident that the adaptive capabilities of the code will provide a viable tool for the accurate numerical simulation of those effects, while the parallel algorithms that support the analysis in all phases will make these computations feasible with the resources offered by current generation of parallel computers.