Numerical simulation of a multi-store separation phenomenon: A fictitious domain approach

In this article we discuss the numerical simulation of multi-store separation phenomena taking place in incompressible Newtonian viscous fluids. We assume that these phenomena are modeled by the Navier–Stokes equations coupled to the Euler–Newton equations describing solid rigid body motions. The numerical methodology relies on the combination of a finite element approximation with time-discretization by operator-splitting and a Lagrange multiplier based fictitious domain method allowing the flow calculations to take place in a fixed simple shape space region. The results of numerical experiments are presented; they concern the separation and free fall of elongated ellipsoids under an airfoil shaped cylinder.