Development and Validation of an Open Source CFD Code for Analysis of Aerospace Vehicles

Abstract

In this work, a review of the theoretical aspects and an assessment to validate a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) open- source code for applications in aerospace problems are discussed. The code uses a finite volume method, with cell-centered implementation, and it is suitable for simulations of inviscid, laminar, and turbulent flows. The code considers two-dimensional cases with unstructured meshes and employs the turbulence model known as Spalart-Allmaras. The implementation is detailed presenting the spatial discretization, including the upwind scheme, the linear reconstruction algorithm, and the calculation applying the method of gradients. The temporal discretization considers the application of a multistage explicit algorithm using a 5 stages Runge-Kutta method. The validation was done considering three cases of study: the inviscid shock tube, the laminar flat plate, and the flow over a rocket fairing. These cases are simulated using the software developed and the results are compared with analytical and experimental results. The rocket fairing case is related to the analysis of the Brazilian VLS launch during its transonic flight and it exemplifies the effect of the shock wave/boundary-layer interaction in its pressure distribution. The simulation results present a good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords

• Computational fluid dynamics
• Aerodynamics
• Aerospace vehicles
• Open source