QinetiQ and CD-adapco predict aircraft drag with STAR-CCM+
Alex Read, CD-adapco

QinetiQ and CD-adapco recently announced their joint participation in the 3rd American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Drag Prediction Workshop (DPW), using STAR-CCM+. The workshop is a meeting of minds in the aerospace industry, to assess the state-of-the-art in CFD methods for aircraft drag prediction. Participants are required to perform “blind” predictions on generic aircraft configurations, and ultimately compare against experimental data: making it an ideal proving ground for “next generation solutions” such as STAR-CCM+.

Matt Milne, from QinetiQ’s Aerodynamics and Aeromechanical Systems group is confident of success, “Over the past two years, we have used STAR-CCM+ to predict the aerodynamic performance of both commercial and military aircraft. In particular, we ran cases from the 2nd Drag Prediction Workshop (originally held in June 2003) and obtained excellent results compared with experiment.”

“STAR-CCM+ is just one example of CD-adapco’s commitment to delivering solutions that span the aerospace industry. Investments in new technology, like polyhedral meshing, and partnerships with key industry figures, such as QinetiQ, allow us to rapidly identify and meet the industry’s needs.” says David Vaughn, CD-adapco’s Director for the Aerospace and Defense Industry Sectors. “The combination of QinetiQ’s expertise in aerodynamic simulation, with CD-adapco’s proven software solutions, forms a partnership that is win-win.”

QinetiQ participated in the 1st and 2nd Drag Prediction Workshops with great success. These Workshops provide an excellent opportunity for QinetiQ to showcase its expertise in aerodynamic performance prediction. This expertise has been developed and extensively validated over the last 20 years on projects funded by the Ministry of Defence and civil aerospace customers in the UK. In working closely with CD-adapco, and providing key input into the development of next generation CFD tools like STAR-CCM+, QinetiQ looks to keep its place at the leading edge of aerodynamic performance prediction for the foreseeable future.

For further details, watch this space! We’ll be updating dynamics readers on the project later on in the year.