Computational transonic flow about realistic aircraft configurations

Abstract

A numerical method has been developed to compute transonic flows about realistic wing-fuselage configurations. The finite difference scheme employs an improved small disturbance flow equation. A unique grid embedding technique, which was heretofore applied to airfoils and wings, has been extended to include the treatment of both body and wing-body shapes. The resulting high-density mesh is shown to be a valuable asset in resolving details of the three-dimensional flow. A mathematical modeling system is used to process arbitrary fuselage geometries for body boundary conditions. Correlations with experimental data for simple isolated bodies, an isolated fuselage, and wing-fuselage combinations are included.