Special methods for fluid-object interactions and space-time computations

Abstract

Simulations of complex fluid-object interactions problems in aeronautics demand robust and sophisticated numerical techniques. The proposed B-FOIST is an efficient library-lookup method for predicting the response of an object to a dominant, arbitrary flow field. B-FOIST predicts the trajectory of an object without the need for flow subcomputations, mesh-moving or remeshing. Subsequently, the path of the object can be calculated more quickly and efficiently than traditional mesh-moving methods while producing comparable results. Implementation of the proposed SSTF formulation can improve the efficiency of traditional space-time finite element computations. Many repetitive, unnecessary calculations can be eliminated by reformulating shape function derivatives and re-structuring the element-level matrix/vector calculations. There is the potential for large computational savings depending on the previous structure of the computations.