Lockheed C-5 Galaxy Aerodynamic CFD Simulation

Description

Description

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed to provide strategic airlift for the United States Air Force.

The CFD simulation involves creating a detailed 3D model of the C5 aircraft, including its fuselage, wings, engines, and other critical components. This model is then divided into millions of small elements, forming a mesh that allows for accurate flow field calculations. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a powerful tool for simulating the aerodynamic characteristics of Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

This study presents a detailed CFD analysis of a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy using ANSYS Fluent software. The aircraft geometry was designed using SpaceClaim software and then meshed in Fluent Meshing with approximately 14 million cells.

Methodology

The simulation was performed using a pressure-based steady-state solver, with air modeled as an ideal gas.

The realizable k-ε model was employed to capture the turbulence effects.

Wall boundary conditions were applied to the rocket surface, while pressure far-field conditions were used for the other boundaries. The case was solved using the coupled algorithm at a Mach number of 0.75.

Results

The velocity magnitude contour plot reveals the variation in velocity around the aircraft body. The velocity gradually decreases along the body, with the lowest velocity in behind the aircraft. The high-velocity region extends further downstream.

Static Pressure: The static pressure contour plot reveals the pressure distribution on the rocket surface. A high-pressure region is observed at the nose tip. This high pressure is due to the stagnation point at the nose and engines inlet, where the flow rests. The pressure decreases along the body, with low-pressure regions near the wings.