Three-dimensional flow solutions for non-lifting flows using fast multipole boundary element method

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Student: UĞUR KARBAN

Co-Supervisor: NİLAY SEZER UZOL, OĞUZ UZOL

Abstract:

Driving aim of this study was to develop a solver which is accurate enough to be used in analysis and fast enough to be used in optimization purposes. As a first step, a three-dimensional potential flow solver is developed using Fast Multipole Boundary Element (FMBEM) for calculating the pressure distributions in non-lifting flows. It is a steady state solver which uses planar triangular unstructured mesh. After the geometry is introduced, the program creates a prescribed wake surface attached to the trailing edge(s), obtains a solution using panel elements on which the doublet and source strengths vary linearly. The reason for using FMBEM instead of classical BEM is the availability of solutions of systems having DOFs up to several millions within a few hours using a standard computer which is impossible to accomplish with classical BEM. Solutions obtained for different test cases are compared with the analytical solution (if applicable), the experimental data or the results obtained by JavaFoil.