Drag Decomposition Using Partial-Pressure Fields in the Compressible Navier–Stokes Equations

What is it about?

Drag decomposition is an important component in the analysis and design process of current and future aircraft. Traditionally, aircraft drag decomposition is achieved by means of suitable wake integration planes, with the difficulty of being subject to numerical dissipation effects and leaving the analyst/designer with a single integrated value. The present work proposes a new concept of drag decomposition by splitting the static pressure field in the compressible Navier-Stokes equations into partial pressure fields where one integrates to circulatory lift and vortex-induced drag and the other to all dissipative processes associated with entropy production. The concept of partial pressure fields can be important for subsequent analysis and optimization efforts as it provides the analyst/designer with highly-resolved surface pressure data that can indicate areas of improvement such as in wing-body juncture flows, engine inlets, or shock/boundary-layer interactions.

Featured Image