Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Uncertainty Quantification for Production Navier-Stokes Solvers
Project Description
Solution errors are inherent in any Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. Systematic identification, reduction, and control of these various error sources is crucial if the results of CFD simulations are to be trusted for design and performance assessment of air vehicles. While grid refinement studies may verify the spatial accuracy of a solution, these studies are generally laborious and time intensive. Continued development of a standalone Error Transport Equation (ETE) solver is proposed. The proposed program exploits an existing mesh adaptation and error quantification package, CRISP CFDREG, which currently interfaces with meshes and solutions from the NASA unstructured Navier-Stokes solvers FUN3D and USM3D. The Phase I effort will explore the use of ETE methodology with these production Navier-Stokes solvers as well as the popular structured grid code OVERFLOW. Improvements in error prediction for aerodynamic coefficients will be sought. In addition, the proposed program will address uncertainty quantification for turbulence models commonly used in computational aerodynamics applications. The ETE solver provides a promising, viable path for reliable error quantification and solution verification. This tool will provide numerical error bars, quantifiable levels of uncertainty in both local and globally integrated variables, for use in computational aerodynamics and other applications.
More »
Anticipated Benefits
NASA-developed CFD codes are heavily used by a number of private companies and organizations within the aerospace and defense industries. Engineers at these corporations and government laboratories rely on the accuracy of NASA CFD tools in the development of small business jets, commercial airliners, and next generation fighter aircraft. Error quantification is a necessity widely recognized by this community. To date, research in error quantification has largely been limited to academic research groups and government laboratories, and no commercially available package for error quantification and reduction currently exists. This offers a unique opportunity to assume the leading role as the first player in the market for such software. Outside of the aerospace and defense sectors, the proposed error quantification research finds ready application in the areas of biofluid flows, automobile engines, power generation and turbomachinery, chemical processing, etc.
The proposed research is directly relevant to the application of CFD analysis to air vehicles of current and future interest to NASA. CFD simulations are playing an increasing role in air vehicle analysis and design assessment, and numerical predictions often supplement the databases obtained in ground and flight tests. The proposed research will impact the use of CFD analysis tools by NASA personnel in verifying the accuracy of force and moment predictions, surface pressures, heat flux distributions, etc., providing numerical error bars and certifiable confidence levels. As the research effort addresses fundamental issues in numerical simulation accuracy, numerous applications of interest to NASA exist. Potential applications of the proposed error quantification research include simulation of launch vehicles, planetary re-entry capsules, attitude control jets, liquid fuel feed systems, etc. More »
The proposed research is directly relevant to the application of CFD analysis to air vehicles of current and future interest to NASA. CFD simulations are playing an increasing role in air vehicle analysis and design assessment, and numerical predictions often supplement the databases obtained in ground and flight tests. The proposed research will impact the use of CFD analysis tools by NASA personnel in verifying the accuracy of force and moment predictions, surface pressures, heat flux distributions, etc., providing numerical error bars and certifiable confidence levels. As the research effort addresses fundamental issues in numerical simulation accuracy, numerous applications of interest to NASA exist. Potential applications of the proposed error quantification research include simulation of launch vehicles, planetary re-entry capsules, attitude control jets, liquid fuel feed systems, etc. More »
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combustion Research and Flow Technology | Lead Organization | Industry | Pipersville, Pennsylvania |
Langley Research Center
(LaRC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Hampton, Virginia |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Pennsylvania
-
Virginia
Suggest an Edit
Recommend changes and additions to this project record.
This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.