Session: 34-06 Geometry and fluid-structure interaction

Paper Number: 153841

A Mesh Motion Methodology for Efficient Flutter Simulations 

Aeroelastic simulations of turbomachinery involve complex fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analyses, which require solving three problems simultaneously: the fluid problem, the structural problem, and the mesh motion problem. Due to this complexity, aeroelastic simulations are computationally more expensive compared to standard computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. This computational overhead primarily stems from the mesh motion process, where updated mesh node positions, cell properties (such as area and volume), and surface normal vectors must be recalculated at each time step. In contrast, structural calculations remain relatively inexpensive, as they are often reduced to a limited number of modes of interest, the number of which is significantly smaller than the number of nodes in the fluid mesh. In this study, a novel method is introduced to reduce the computational burden of the mesh motion problem. The proposed approach involves precomputing mesh properties, including area, volume, and normal vectors, by imposing harmonic displacements on the turbomachinery blades. This precomputed data allows for the reconstruction of the mesh for arbitrary displacements without the need for real-time recalculations of cell properties. Therefore, this method is suitable for both prescribed motion calculations and free-flutter simulations. In this work, the theoretical basis of this method is explored. Its applicability to turbomachinery problems is also demonstrated by computing the flutter stability of a fan row. Additionally, the evolution of the method accuracy with increasing vibration amplitudes is investigated.

 

Presenting Author: Salvador Rodriguez Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Presenting Author Biography: Salvador Rodríguez earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in 2015 and 2017, respectively. In 2017, he also completed a Master's in Computational Fluid Dynamics at Cranfield University. After a year working as a FEM engineer in the automotive industry, he returned to UPM in November 2018 as a PhD student, contributing to the European project "Advanced Research into Aeromechanical Solutions" (ARIAS). He completed his PhD in December 2023 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Propulsion at UPM. He is also a member of the Gas Turbine Research Group of the same institution.

Authors:

Salvador Rodriguez Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Roque Corral Universidad Politécnica de Madrid