Grid Refinement Study with a Megaliner Wing-Body Configuration"

Abstract

The prediction of aerodynamic drag for complex configurations using CFD is a nontrivial matter. The computed drag is affected by numerical discretization and physical modelling error. The discretization error due to the finite computational grid can be estimated by grid refinement studies. Here two approaches for the extrapolation of grid independent aerodynamic coefficients are investigated. Aerodynamic coefficients can be extrapolated to within 1-2% of the grid independent value using a grid refinement approach. Reliable predications of grid-independent solutions and error bands require high-quality grids on all levels of grid convergence studies.