Parallel finite element simulation of large ram-air parachutes

In the near future, large ram-air parachutes are expected to provide the capability of delivering 21 ton payloads from altitudes as high as 25,000 ft. In development and test and evaluation of these parachutes the size of the parachute needed and the deployment stages involved make high-performance computing (HPC) simulations a desirable alternative to costly airdrop tests. Although computational simulations based on realistic, 3D, time-dependent models will continue to be a major computational challenge, advanced finite element simulation techniques recently developed for this purpose and the execution of these techniques on HPC platforms are significant steps in the direction to meet this challenge. In this paper, two approaches for analysis of the inflation and gliding of ram-air parachutes are presented. In one of the approaches the point mass flight mechanics equations are solved with the time-varying drag and lift areas obtained from empirical data. This approach is limited to parachutes with similar configurations to those for which data are available. The other approach is 3D finite element computations based on the Navier-Stokes equations governing the airflow around the parachute canopy and Newton's law of motion governing the 3D dynamics of the canopy, with the forces acting on the canopy calculated from the simulated flow field. At the earlier stages of canopy inflation the parachute is modelled as an expanding box, whereas at the later stages, as it expands, the box transforms to a parafoil and glides. These finite element computations are carried out on the massively parallel supercomputers CRAY T3D and Thinking Machines CM-5, typically with millions of coupled, non-linear finite element equations solved simultaneously at every time step or pseudo-time step of the simulation

FIC/FEM formulation with matrix stabilizing terms for incompressible flows at low and high Reynolds numbers

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00466-006-0060-yWe present a general formulation for incompressible fluid flow analysis using the finite element method. The necessary stabilization for dealing with convective effects and the incompressibility condition are introduced via the Finite Calculus method using a matrix form of the stabilization parameters. This allows to model a wide range of fluid flow problems for low and high Reynolds numbers flows without introducing a turbulence model. Examples of application to the analysis of incompressible flows with moderate and large Reynolds numbers are presented.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

3D Computation Of Unsteady Flow Past A Sphere With A Parallel Finite Element Method

We present parallel computation of 3D, unsteady, incompressible flow past a sphere. The Navier-Stokes equations of incompressible flows are solved using a stabilized finite element formulation. Equal-order interpolation functions are used for velocity and pressure. The second-order accurate time-marching within the solution process is carried out in an implicit fashion. The coupled, nonlinear equations generated at each time step are solved using an element-vector-based iteration technique. The computed value of the primary frequency associated with vortex shedding is in close agreement with experimental measurements. The computation was performed on the Thinking Machines CM-5

Parallel 3D Computation Of Unsteady Flows Around Circular Cylinders

In this article we present parallel 3D finite element computation of unsteady incompressible flows around circular cylinders. We employ stabilized finite element formulations to solve the Navier-Stokes equations on a Thinking Machines CM-5 supercomputer. The time integration is based on an implicit method, and the coupled, nonlinear equations generated every time step are solved iteratively, with an element-vector based evaluation technique. This strategy enables us to carry out these computations with millions of coupled, nonlinear equations, and thus resolve the flow features in great detail. At Reynolds number 300 and 800, our results indicate strong 3D features arising from the instability of the columnar vortices forming the Karman street. At Re = 10; 000 we employ a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence model

Parallel Computational Methods For 3D Simulation Of A Parafoil With Prescribed Shape Changes

In this paper we describe parallel computational methods for 3D simulation of the dynamics and fluid dynamics of a parafoil with prescribed, time-dependent shape changes. The mathematical model is based on the time-dependent, 3D Navier-Stokes equations governing the incompressible flow around the parafoil and Newton's law of motion governing the dynamics of the parafoil, with the aerodynamic forces acting on the parafoil calculated from the flow field. The computational methods developed for these 3D simulations include a stabilized space-time finite element formulation to accommodate for the shape changes, special mesh generation and mesh moving strategies developed for this purpose, iterative solution techniques for the large, coupled nonlinear equation systems involved, and parallel implementation of all these methods on scalable computing systems such as the Thinking Machines CM-5. As an example, we report 3D simulation of a flare maneuver in which the parafoil velocity is reduced ..

MULTI-OBJECTIVE GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR EFFICIENT POINT MATCHING IN MULTI-SENSOR SATELLITE IMAGE

This paper investigates a new approach for point matching in multi-sensor satellite images. The feature points are matched using multi-objective optimization (angle criterion and distance condition) based on Genetic Algorithm (GA). This optimization process is more efficient as it considers both the angle criterion and distance condition to incorporate multi-objective switching in the fitness function. This optimization process helps in matching three corresponding corner points detected in the reference and sensed image and thereby using the affine transformation, the sensed image is aligned with the reference image. From the results obtained, the performance of the image registration is evaluated and it is concluded that the proposed approach is efficient