The multi-domain method for computation of the aerodynamics of a parachute crossing the far wake of an aircraft

We present the multi-domain method (MDM) for computation of unsteady flow past a cargo aircraft and around a parachute crossing the aircraft's far wake. The base computational methods used here are the stabilized semi-discrete and space-time finite element formulations developed earlier. In the MDM, the computational domain is divided into an ordered sequence of overlapping subdomains. The flow field computed over Subdomain-1, which contains the aircraft, supplies the inflow boundary conditions for Subdomain-2, which is used for computing the long-wake flow. Subdomain-3 contains the parachute, and moves across Subdomain-2. The boundary conditions for Subdomain-3 are extracted from the flow field computed over Subdomain-2, at locations corresponding to the positions of the boundaries of Subdomain-3 as it crosses Subdomain-2. The computation over Subdomain-1, which contains a complex but fixed object, is based on a general-purpose implementation of the semi-discrete formulation. The computation over Subdomain-2, which contains no objects, is based on a special-purpose implementation that exploits the simplicity of the mesh to increase the computational speed. The computation over Subdomain-3, which contains a complex and moving object, is based on a general-purpose implementation of the space-time formulation. With a numerical example, we show that different methods can be brought together in the context of the MDM to address the computational challenges involved in the acrodynamics of a parachute crossing the far wake of an aircraft.