One HPCMP Frontier Project aims to establish a more efficient computational fluid dynamics-based engineering method for acoustics and trajectory analysis related to the F-35 aircraft weapons bay.
Previously, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) used HPCMP CREATE’s Kestrel CFD code to evaluate weapons bay acoustics and various other CFD codes to simulate store trajectories. While successful, this work was computationally extensive, and engineers needed a more effective approach for the long term. In this Frontier Project, the Navy is using Kestrel to understand the most significant contributors to store separation sensitivities through a model build-up approach. The investigators will then compare the results to flight test data which will provide the necessary balance between accuracy and efficiency. This project plans to provide an improved certification process for F-35 weapons bay separation using HPCMP’s CFD methods.