Computed Flow Through Aircraft Cooling Ducts

Flow through scoops and radiator

^ The above shows velocity contours through an aircraft cooling duct designed to improve high temperature performance for a small turbocharged piston aircraft. CFD was used in combination with wind tunnel and lab tests of the radiator and intercooler to optimized the system before flight test. This aircraft is now flying.

The flow around the aircraft was simulated using a commercial finite element code, Floworks. This simulation involves the solution of the three dimensional, steady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations with heat transfer. The computational domain was chosen to simulate the actual system as closely as possible and to make the boundary conditions, especially the duct inlet and outlet conditions match the data from wind tunnel testing and flight testing of similar aircraft. The radiator was simluated as a porous solid. This simulation led to a number of improvements in the latest design.