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.