USM3D Simulations for the F-16XL Aircraft Configuration

Abstract

Numerical simulations of flow around the F-16XL are presented as a contribution to the Cranked Arrow Wing Aerodynamics Project International II. The NASA Tetrahedral Unstructured Software System with its USM3D solver is used to perform numerical simulations. This computational fluid dynamics suite is developed and maintained by the NASA Langley Research Center. The CRISP CFD package is used to provide error estimates and grid adaptation for validation of USM3D results. A subsonic high-angle-of-attack case flight condition 25 is computed and analyzed. Three turbulence models are used in the calculations: the one-equation Spalart–Allmaras, the two-equation shear-stress transport, and the turbulence models. Computational results and surface-static-pressure profiles are presented and compared with flight data. Solution validation is performed using formal grid-refinement studies, the solution of error-transport equations, and adaptive mesh refinement. The current study shows that the USM3D solver coupled with CRISP CFD can be used to provide valuable data in predicting vortex-flow physics on a complex configuration.