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Virginia Tech

SPH Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems with Application to Hovercraft

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool is developed in this thesis to solve complex fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems. The fluid domain is based on Smoothed Particle Hydro-dynamics (SPH) and the structural domain employs large-deformation Finite Element Method (FEM). Validation tests of SPH and FEM are first performed individually. A loosely-coupled SPH-FEM model is then proposed for solving FSI problems. Validation results of two benchmark FSI problems are illustrated (Antoci et al., 2007; Souto-Iglesias et al., 2008). The first test case is flow in a sloshing tank interacting with an elastic body and the second one is dam-break flow through an elastic gate. The results obtained with the SPH-FEM model show good agreement with published results and suggest that the SPH-FEM model is a viable and effective numerical tool for FSI problems. This research is then applied to simulate a two-dimensional free-stream flow interacting with a deformable, pressurized surface, such as an ACV/SES bow seal. The dynamics of deformable surfaces such as the skirt/seal systems of the ACV/SES utilize the large-deformation FEM model. The fluid part including the air inside the chamber and water are simulated by SPH. A validation case is performed to investigate the application of SPH-FEM model in ACV/SES via comparison with experimental data (Zalek and Doctors, 2010). The thesis provides the theory of the SPH and FEM models incorporated and the derivation of the loosely-coupled SPH-FEM model. The validation results have suggested that this SPH-FEM model can be readily applied to skirt/seal dynamics of ACV/SES interacting with free-surface flow.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph. D.
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2011

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Yang, Qing
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • McCue-Weil, Leigh S.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Tafti, Danesh K.
  • Roy, Christopher J.
  • Patil, Mayuresh J.

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-04112012-000729
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/26785

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Yang, Qing. SPH Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems with Application to Hovercraft. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26785