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IMAGE: A new modeling approach allows engineers to simulate an entire vortex collision without needing to do extensive data processing on a supercomputer. view more
Credit: Purdue University/Carlo Scalo
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. Design of Army aerial vehicles and weapon systems relies on the ability to predict aerodynamic behavior, often aided by advanced computer simulations of the flow of air over the body. High-fidelity simulations assist engineers in maximizing how much load a rotorcraft can lift or how far a missile can fly, but these simulations aren t cheap.
The simulations that designers currently use require extensive data processing on supercomputers and capture only a portion of vortex collision events - which can cause significant performance degradation, from loss of lift on a rotor to complete loss of control of a munition. A new turbulence model could change that.