Aeroelastic simulation of aircraft using meshless methods

Conventionally, Finite-Volume and Finite-Element methods have been the basis for numerical computations in aeroelasticity. A considerable amount of success has been achieved using these methods. However, one of the key areas of difficulty for these mesh based methods even today is having to deal with changing geometries. For example, both methods face the problem of modeling large control surface deflections in aircraft. This is caused due to the mesh shearing at places where the control surface meets the fixed part of the wing.; This research work is directed at presenting a meshless approach to the aeroelastic simulation of aircraft involving large control surface deflections. Approximations not requiring nodal connectivity are made using the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method (RKPM). This is combined with a Streamline Upwind Petrov Galerkin (SUPG) scheme to discretize the flow. The problem of imposing the essential boundary conditions in meshless methods is addressed by modifying the solution in a transition layer near the boundary. Our method allows us to deal with arbitrary relative motions of structural elements such as flaps and control surfaces. We illustrate the benefits of our approach with a two dimensional simulation of an airfoil.