23rd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 8-13 September, 2002, Toronto, Canada
Paper ICAS 2002-1.11.3

A METHOD FOR DRAG DECOMPOSITION FROM CFD CALCULATIONS

L. Paparone (1), R. Tognaccini (2)
(1) CIRA, Italy; (2) Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Keywords: cfd, aerodynamic drag

A method for the computation and breakdown of the aerodynamic drag into viscous and wave components is here proposed. Relying on a given numerical solution of the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, the method allows for the determination of the drag related to entropy variations in the flow. The identification of a spurious contribution due to the numerical dissipation of the flow solver algorithm allows for drag computations weakly dependent on mesh size. By this method accurate drag calculations are possible even on moderately sized grids. Results are presented for transonic flows around an airfoil and a wing-body configuration.

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