Research project: Meshfree Particle Methods for Fluid Structure Interaction Problems, with Applications to Aerospace Engineering

In the realm of recent advancements in computational power, there is a strong need to investigate the challenging problem of interacting fluid and structure where interface boundaries are deformable. The solution of fluid structure interaction (FSI) problems requires adaptive refinement, re-meshing & ability to accurately capture large deformations.

These are the areas where grid based methods start to show limitations in terms of computational efficiency, accuracy and flexibility. Meshless particle methods (MPM) were developed as a result of efforts to find the solutions to the inadequacies of mesh-based methods. The motivation for developing MPM is the belief that a domain represented only by set of node or particles (without constraints of grid or mesh) avoids mesh distortion or tangling, and as such, they are considered to be better suited for the problems involving changing boundaries, large deformations and adaptive refinement, etc.

 

As these attributes are required for any numerical scheme attempting to solve FSI problems, use of MPM is logically preferred for such problems. In fact, FSI is amongst the many applications where use of MPM has proved be a better choice than grid based methods. Current research effort aims to focus on applying and developing meshfree particle methods for solution of FSI problems for aerospace related applications. Efforts will be made to encompass both incompressible and compressible fluid flow problems.

FSI cases relating to small and large structural deformation problems will be investigated. Efforts will be focused to suggest new ideas, methodologies and approaches to improve the efficacy of meshfree methods for various engineering problems. The leitmotif behind this research is to develop more effective, accurate & reliable computational solutions which could prove useful in providing greater insight to FSI phenomenon in aerospace.