An embedded boundary approach for resolving the contribution of cable subsystems to fully coupled fluid-structure interaction

Cable subsystems characterized by long, slender, and flexible structural elements are featured in numerous engineering systems. In each of them, interaction between an individual cable and the surrounding fluid is inevitable. Such a fluid-structure interaction has received little attention in the literature, possibly due to the inherent complexity associated with fluid and structural semidiscretizations of disparate spatial dimensions. This article proposes an embedded boundary approach for filling this gap, where the dynamics of the cable are captured by a standard finite element representation of its centerline, while its geometry is represented by a discrete surface n-ary sumation (h) that is embedded in the fluid mesh. The proposed approach is built on master-slave kinematics between and n-ary sumation (h), a simple algorithm for computing the motion/deformation of n-ary sumation (h) based on the dynamic state of , and an energy-conserving method for transferring to the loads computed on n-ary sumation (h). Its effectiveness is demonstrated for two highly nonlinear applications featuring large deformations and/or motions of a cable subsystem and turbulent flows: an aerial refueling model problem, and a challenging supersonic parachute inflation problem. The proposed approach is verified using numerical data and validated using real flight data.

Automated summary

This article proposes an embedded boundary approach to study the interaction between cables and surrounding fluids in cable subsystems. The method employs master-slave kinematics and a simple algorithm to capture the dynamics and geometry of the cables, as well as an energy-conserving method for load transfer. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated through two highly nonlinear applications, showing its validity.