Numerical Simulation of Maneuvering Aircraft by Aerodynamic, Flight Mechanics and Structural Mechanics Coupling

Abstract

Selected results of the DLR Project SikMa-Simulation of Complex Maneuvers are presented. The objective of the SikMa Project is to develop and validate a numerical tool to simulate the unsteady aerodynamics of a free flying aeroelastic combat aircraft, by use of coupled aerodynamic, flight mechanics and aeroelastic computations. To achieve this objective, the unstructured, time-accurate flow-solver TAU is coupled with a computational module solving the flight mechanics equations of motion and a structural mechanics code determining the structural deformations. The numerical results are validated by experimental data. For this purpose several specific wind tunnel experiments with different wind tunnel models are carried out.