Fluid-structure interactions of a cross parachute: numerical simulation

The dynamics of parachutes involves complex interaction between the parachu te structure and the surrounding flow field. Accurate representation of par achute systems requires treatment of the problem as a fluid-structure inter action (FSI). In this paper we present the numerical simulations we perform ed for the purpose of comparison to a series of cross-parachute wind tunnel experiments. The FSI model consists of a 3-D fluid dynamics (FD) solver ba sed on the Deforming-Spatial-Domain/Stabilized Space-Time (DSD/SST) procedu re, a structural dynamics (SD) solver, and a method of coupling the two sol vers. These FSI simulations include the prediction of the coupled FD and SD behavior, drag histories, flow fields, structural behavior, and equilibriu m geometries for the structure. Comparisons between the numerical results a nd the wind tunnel data are conducted for three cross-parachute models and at three different wind tunnel flow speeds. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.