HighLift2D: An Automatic Process for Aerodynamics Analyses

In a modern engineering design, the goal for high efficiency using optimization methods is fundamental to generate competitive and strategic advantages. It is even more evident on the development of aircrafts, in which Multi-Disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) philosophies are each day more noticeable, due to a range of involved technologies on the project. The present work introduces a computational process, called HighLift2D, which is fitted on that context. This integrated tool is capable to simulate bidimensional flows in subsonic and transonic conditions over single element airfoils (cruise configuration wing) and multi element airfoils (take-off, maneuver or landing wings, with high lift devices - flap and/or slat) using high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Integrating several engineering tools and commercial software, from the user input data as flow condition and geometry, HighLift2D generates the computational mesh, submits the case to parallelized CFD computations and post process the results. With that capability, HighLift2D not only saves appreciable amount of time on the manual cycle of aerodynamics analyses while it preserves the results quality, but it has great potential of employment as aerodynamic module in aeronautical MDO processes. Many validation tests were conducted and some expressive results are presented in this paper.