A harmonic gradient method for unsteady supersonic flow calculations

Abstract

An accurate and effective method for calculations of unsteady three-dimensional supersonic flow has been developed. The present method is capable of handling general cases of planar, coplanar, and nonplanar wing planforms in the complete frequency domain. A harmonic-gradi ent potential model is provided for elementary doublet panels to be made compatible with the wave number generated. Consequently the number of panel elements required is least affected by the given Mach number and reduced frequency. Thus, the required panel number can be optimized to as few as 30, a fraction of the number required by the existing methods. To assess the accuracy and effectiveness of the present method, comparison with various available data is given. ACP h L m