FLOW COMPUTATION THROUGH THE PASSAGE BOUNDED BY THE DISH AND SUPPORTS OF THE AWACS

Abstract

A numerical method has been introduced to predict the flow through a complex geometry bounded by the fuselage, airfoil supports and rotating dish of the AWACS. The finite volume computational approach is used to carry out all computations with staggered grid arrangement. The (k-ε) turbulence model is utilized to describe the turbulent flow. The solution algorithm is based on the technique of automatic numerical grid generation of curvilinear coordinate system having coordinate lines coincident with the boundary counters regardless of its shape. A general coordinate transformation is used to represent complex geometries accurately and the grid is generated using a system of elliptic partial differential equations technique. The extension of the SIMPLE algorithm for compressible flow is used to obtain the required solution.. The results obtained in the present work show that the moving boundary (the rotating dish) has small effects on the free stream and the effects vanish after short distance away from the lower surface of the rotating dish along the span distance. The results of the proposed numerical method show good agreement with available results obtained in literatures.