Abstract:
The precise prediction of lift, drag and moments is one of the key factors in the aerodynamic design of transport aircraft. To assess computational methods as practical aerodynamic tools for aircraft force and moment prediction of industry relevant geometries, numerical investigations of the civil passenger aircraft model CHN-T1 supplied by the AeCW-1 workshop are performed with in-house flow field solver MFlow. The solver, based on a cell-centered finite-volume method, is capable of handling various element types (hexahedron, tetrahedron, prism, pyramid, and other polyhedrons generated when geometrical multi-grid method is used) and suitable for the simulation of subsonic, transonic and supersonic flows. The generation of unstructured mixed grid for CHN-T1 is introduced together with the gridding guidelines, and aerodynamic characteristics are analyzed, including grid convergence properties, pressure distribution, aerodynamic characteristic curve, and flow separation. A nearly linear convergence property is achieved with grid refinement, which implies that the solver is well established, and the solutions are within the asymptotic range. The resolutions for the shock and separation bubble are improved with the grid refinement. Several factors that contribute to the simulations are investigated, including the support system, the static aero-elasticity effects, and turbulence model corrections. It is found that the influence of the sting is significant, especially on the aerodynamic characteristic of the horizontal tail. Lift and drag coefficients are decreased due to the static aero-elasticity effects of the wing. The influence of the QCR correction for turbulence models is evident when the angle of attack is high. It is demonstrated that MFlow is capable of predicting the aerodynamics characteristics for aviation standard models.