Handling of the fluid-structure interaction in an immersed lifting lines approach

Details

Supervisors

Chatelain, Philippe ; Fisette, Paul

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil mécanicien

Abstract

In this work, the implementation of a method to account for the flexibility effects of slender lifting surfaces in a Vortex Particle-Mesh (VPM) method is presented. In a previous master thesis, a Multibody system (MBS) solver was coupled with the VPM solver. The objective was hence to use this coupling to treat flexibility effects with the help of the finite segment approach. This method, also called “lumped-parameter” method, consists in the discretization of flexible bodies into chains of rigid bodies connected by springs and dampers. The spring coefficients determination is based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, and in this context, the material of the body is considered isotropic and in linear elasticity. After a brief description of the numerical tools on which this work is based, i.e., a Vortex Particle-Mesh solver, a Multibody system solver and the coupling between both, the finite segment approach in a pure multibody system context is summarized. Several examples demonstrating the effectiveness of this method to model uniform and non-uniform flexible slender bodies are then presented. Next, the integration of the method in the flow solver is detailed. Finally, some applications compared to analytical solutions are presented in order to validate the method. The method shows globally good agreements in comparison with analytical results for uniform slender bodies, as well as for non-uniform ones. It can easily be adapted to different cases and it opens the way to a large class of applications.