Quantifying Uncertainty in Computational Fluid Dynamics Drag Computations on Unstructured Meshes

Author(s)

Souza, Maximiliano A. F. ^[1] ; Ferrari, Marcello A. S. ^[1] ; Ferrari, Denise B. ^[2] ; Azevedo, Joao Luiz F. ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Embraer SA, Aerodynam & CFD, BR-12227901 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Technol Inst Aeronaut, Dept Mech Engn, BR-12228900 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[3] Inst Aeronaut & Space, Dept Ciencia & Tecnol Aerosp, Aerodynam Div, BR-12228904 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT; v. 56, n. 4, p. 1320-1329, JUL-AUG 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The present Paper investigates drag dispersion in computational fluid dynamics computations due to variations in the discretization domain. The application addresses typical aeronautical configurations. A Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes formulation is adopted and is solved using an unstructured implicit finite volume approach. The ONERA M6 wing is the configuration adopted for the present study. A total of 49 different grids is evaluated for this wing geometry under two flow conditions. The results obtained indicate that a variation of as much as 0.7 drag counts is expected on drag values due to the mesh effects alone, considering a 95% confidence level, in a total absolute drag of about 96 drag counts. The main contribution of the present Paper is to increase awareness of the need to assess dispersion when performing computational fluid dynamics computations and, in particular, in drag prediction. The Paper also contributes to quantifying the uncertainty associated with the use of unstructured computational meshes. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/07375-0 - CeMEAI - Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry
• Grantee: Francisco Louzada Neto
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC