Automatic Embedding of Potential Flow Wake Surfaces in Generic Monolithic Unstructured Meshes

Abstract

The paper presents two possible ways of modeling wakes within an unstructured two-field potential flow formulation. It aims at avoiding the use of specialized mesh generators featuring the a priori imposition of wake cuts. Thus, by making possible the adoption of widely available general-purpose mesh generators, it gives way to an easier application of a potential formulation to complex configurations. A first approach generates a posteriori wake cuts within generic unstructured meshes, while an alternative method translates the potential discontinuity across the wake into a proper weak constraint on the flow velocity within the grid elements intersected, leaving them unchanged. A steady transonic trim evaluation and a couple of flutter analyses are shown to verify the effectiveness of both strategies, comparing their results with alternative numerical solutions.