The need to expand flight envelopes and mission requirements for existing aircraft, and the design of new flexible and highly maneuverable aircraft such as small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) has driven interest in developing nonlinear aeroelastic analysis capabilities. Research opportunities focus on the simulation of complex fluid/structure interactions. Emphasis is placed on coupling high fidelity, nonlinear, fluid dynamics solvers with nonlinear structural mechanics. These simulation techniques will be used to investigate the response of flexible aircraft structural components to unsteady aerodynamic loadings. Research topics include (1) the development of algorithms to solve the nonlinear structural dynamics equations coupled with fluid dynamics equations; (2) development and application of high fidelity tools for the analysis of flexible wing, small UAVs; (3) application of computational tools for detailed investigations of fluid/structure interaction problems, including buffet phenomena, flutter, and limit cycle oscillations; (4) novel techniques for grid deformation and fluid/structure interface treatment; and (5) development of multidisciplanary fluid/structure algorithms appropriate for a massively parallel computing environment.

 

key words

Flutter; Buffet; Limit-cycle oscillation; Aeroelasticity; Nonlinear; Fluid/structure interaction; Computational; Parallel computing; Unsteady; Structural mechanics;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants