A research programme aimed at reducing the development time for new civil and military aircraft by speeding up aerodynamic design processes has begun in the UK.
Funded by government and industry, the three-year, £17.4 million ($34.5 million) CFMS Core programme is designed to increase dramatically the power of computational fluid dynamics simulations by developing advanced software algorithms and making better use of off-the-shelf computer hardware.
With 12 universities as subcontractors, the project will use academia's grid computing resources to network workstation computers and thin client terminals using Windows and Linux operating systems with Windows server clusters.
Networking powerful commodity hardware will provide a more accessible alternative to the supercomputers normally used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations.
Current CFD can only provide approximate solutions in most design cases, according to project partner BAE Systems, requiring expensive and lengthy physical testing to validate the calculations. Promised improvements in CFD simulations could see windtunnel testing reduced, with the increased potential for virtual development.
Another focus is the improved on-screen visualisation of CFD simulations, but virtual reality is not being considered and haptic interfaces are only a possibility.
"For visualisation we hope to learn from the game industry, but flying the Navier-Stokes equations is not what this is about. We are, however, going beyond CFD and trying to create simulation tools to achieve a more complete [picture] of how the product will work over its life cycle," says BAE's CFMS Core technical manager David Standingford.
The programme is also aimed at increasing the accuracy in predicting the performance impact of in-service modifications to aircraft.
A key application for the improved simulation capability will be in the design of lightweight flexible structures for unmanned air vehicles. These present major aerodynamic design challenges and an early focus of the CFMS Core programme will be to examine how the key elements of these vehicles interact.
Half of the project's costs are being funded by the UK government, with the other 50% coming from the industrial partners, which include Airbus, Aircraft Research Association, AgustaWestland, MBDA, Microsoft, PCA Engineers, Qinetiq and Rolls-Royce.
Promised improvements in CFD simulations could cut windtunnel testing
Source: Flight International
