Leveraging Multi-Fidelity Models for Flexible Wing Systems

Abstract : This is the final report for the activities conducted at the University of Maryland during participation in the Collaborative Center in Multidisciplinary Sciences (CCMS) project. In this work, the investigators have primarily explored the suitability of computational tools to predict desirable micro-air-vehicle (MAV) designs. The use of computationally expensive high-fidelity tools such as direct numerical simulation is compared to that of moderate fidelity tools, such as the inexpensive unsteady vortex lattice method. An achievement of the project was the implementation of a high-fidelity fluid-structure interaction simulation code inside the FLASH framework. This tool permits the study of flapping wing systems with high fidelity in three dimensions.