Evaluation of Dynamic Derivatives Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

This paper focuses on the evaluation of the dynamic stability derivative formulation. The derivatives are calculated using the Euler and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, and a time-domain solver was used for the computation of aerodynamic loads for forced periodic motions. To validate the predictions, two test cases are used. For the standard dynamic model geometry, a database of dynamic simulations illustrates the effects of the systematic variation of motion and fluid parameters involved. A satisfactory agreement was observed with available experimental data, and the dependency of dynamic derivatives on a number of parameters, such as Mach number, mean angle of attack, frequency, and amplitude, was assessed. For the transonic cruiser wind-tunnel geometry, static and unsteady aerodynamic characteristics were validated against experimental measurements. The ability of models based on the dynamic derivatives to predict large-amplitude motion forces and moments was assessed. It was demonstrated that the dynamic derivative model does not represent all of the important effects due to aerodynamics.