Link to Index Page

Flexible airship in a wind tunnel

FROM:

Xiaocui Wu, Yiwei Wang, Chenguang Huang, Yubiao Liu and Lingling Lu (Key Laboratory for Mechanics in Fluid Solid Coupling Systems, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China),

“Experiment and numerical simulation on the characteristics of fluid-structure interactions of non-rigid airships”, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Letters, 2019 (in press)

ABSTRACT: Fluid–structure interaction is an important issue for non-rigid airships with inflated envelopes. In this study, a wind tunnel test is conducted, and a loosely coupled procedure is correspondingly established for numerical simulation based on computational fluid dynamics and nonlinear finite element analysis methods. The typical results of the numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiment, including the overall lift and deformation, are in good agreement with each other. The results obtained indicate that the effect of fluid–structure interaction is noticeable and should be considered for non-rigid airships. Flow- induced deformation can further intensify the upward lift force and pitching moment, which can lead to a large deformation. Under a wind speed of 15 m/s, the lift force of the non-rigid model is increased to approximately 60% compared with that of the rigid model under a high angle of attack.

Page 328 / 360