Validation of Inlet and Exhaust Boundary Conditions for a Cartesian Method

Inlets and exhaust nozzles are often omitted in aerodynamic simulations of aircraft due to the complexities involved in the modeling of engine details and flow physics. However, the omission is often improper since inlet or plume flows may have a substantial effect on vehicle aerodynamics. A method for modeling the effect of inlets and exhaust plumes using boundary conditions within an inviscid Cartesian flow solver is presented. This approach couples with both CAD systems and legacy geometry to provide an automated tool suitable for parameter studies. The method is validated using two and three-dimensional test problems which are compared with both theoretical and experimental results. The numerical results demonstrate excellent agreement with theory and available data, even for extremely strong jets and very sensitive inlets.