High-fidelity fluid-structure interaction applied to static aeroelasticity in transonic flows.

Transonic flows at high Reynolds numbers can lead to high dynamic pressures and, consequently, to aerostructural deflections of aircraft structures. This study aims to develop and validate a high-fidelity static aeroelastic analysis environment that is efficient and that can be used in an industrial setting. The aerodynamics is represented by numerical solutions of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with appropriate turbulence closures. The load transfer process uses finite element shape functions in order to distribute the aerodynamic loads into the structural discretization. The structural analysis employs a modal basis approach, and a wingtip deflection convergence study is performed to find an adequate modal basis size. Radial basis functions are used for the fluid mesh displacement, and the influence of the support radius is evaluated to determine the optimal values relative to the wing mean aerodynamic chord. The capability is tested using the static aeroelastic benchmarks of the High Reynolds Aerostructural Dynamics Project (HIRENASD) and NASA's Common Research Model (CRM). The static aeroelastic results demonstrate robustness and consistency for the aerodynamic coefficients, pressure distributions, and structural deflection predictions at different normalized dynamic pressure values and grid refinement levels. • The paper describes the development and testing of a novel framework for performing static aeroelastic analyses. • Detailed studies of static aeroelastic behavior of the HIRENASD and the NASA CRM configurations are presented. • The work demonstrated the importance of structural flexibility in aerodynamic moment coefficients for wind tunnel models. • Guidelines for an adequate support radius for mesh movement in static aeroelastic applications using RBFs are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]