Efficient Aerodynamic Simulation of Multi-Rotor Vehicles

Speaker: Jonathan Chiew, Computational Aerosciences Branch, NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division
November 27, 2018

Presentation

Seminar video is unavailable due to technical difficulties.

Abstract

Aerodynamic performance prediction of vehicles that use multiple rotors to enable vertical take-off and landing often entails capturing challenging aerodynamic interactions over complex surface geometries. High-fidelity CFD simulations are time-consuming to compute and often too expensive early in the design cycle, necessitating a more rapid tool for aerodynamic analysis. Towards this end, the development of a scalable rotor model for the Cart3D inviscid flow solver is described. The rotor forces are computed using blade element theory and imparted to the flow with momentum and energy source terms. In addition, techniques for handling low Reynolds number aerodynamics in airfoil tables and vehicle trim will be discussed. Results from strong scaling and mesh convergence tests will be presented as well as simulations of both hovering, axial, and edgewise forward flight.

Biography

Jonathan Chiew is a Pathways Intern in the Computational Aerosciences Branch of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division at NASA Ames Research Center. He has worked with the Cart3D development group for the past 5 years while pursuing his Ph.D. at Stanford University. He received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and worked for The Boeing Company as an aerodynamics engineer performing high-fidelity CFD simulations for various rotorcraft configurations from 2008-2013.

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