21st Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Melbourne, Australia, 13-18 September, 1998
Paper ICAS-98-2.7.1 (Invited paper)

SIMULATING THREE DIMENSIONAL AERONAUTICAL FLOWS ON MIXED BLOCK-STRUCTURED/SEMI STRUCTURED / UNSTRUCTURED MESHES

Shaw J. A., Peace A. J.
Aircraft Research Association, United Kingdom

Keywords: simulation, three dimensional aeronautical flows, mixed block-structured/semi structured / unstructured, meshes

The design requirements of a CFD method for modelling high Reynolds number flows over complete aircraft are reviewed. It is found that the specifications are unlikely to be met by an approach based on the sole use of either structured or unstructured grids. Instead, it is proposed that a hybrid combination of these grids is appropriate. Techniques for developing such meshes are given and the process of establishing the data structure defining the meshes described. Details of a flow algorithm which operates on a hybrid mesh are presented. A description is given of the suitability and generation of hybrid grids for a number of examples, and results from flow simulations shown. Finally, issues still to be addressed in the practical use of these meshes are discussed.

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