Details of an integrated approach to three-dimensional dynamic fluid structure interaction

Fluid structure interaction, as applied to flexible structures, has wide application in diverse areas such as flutter in aircraft, wind response of buildings, flows in elastic pipes and blood vessels. Numerical modelling of dynamic fluid-structure interaction (DFSI) involves the coupling of fluid flow and structural mechanics, two fields that are conventionally modelled using two dissimilar methods, thus a single comprehensive computational model of both phenomena is a considerable challenge and until recently work in this area focused on one phenomenon and represented the behaviour of the other more simply. A single, finite volume unstructured mesh (FV-UM) spatial discretisation method has been employed on a single mesh for the entire domain. The Navier Stokes equations for fluid flow are solved using a SIMPLE type procedure and the Newmark b algorithm is employed for solving the dynamic equilibrium equations for linear elastic solid mechanics and mesh movement is achieved using a spring based mesh procedure for dynamic mesh movement. In the paper we describe a number of additional computation issues for the efficient and accurate modelling of three-dimensional, dynamic fluid-structure interaction problems.