Influence of Interpolation Scheme on the Accuracy of Overset Method for Computing Rudder-Propeller Interaction

The overset method and associated interpolation schemes are usually thoroughly verified only on synthetic or academic test cases for which conclusions might not directly translate to real engineering problems. In the present work, an overset grid method is used to simulate a rudder-propeller flow, for which a comprehensive verification and validation study is performed. Three overset-related interpolation schemes (first order inverse distance, second order nearest cell gradient and third order least squares) are tested to quantify and qualify numerical errors on integral quantities, mass imbalance, flow features and rudder pressure distributions. The performance overhead is also measured to help make accuracy versus performance balance decisions. Rigorous solution verification is performed to estimate time and space Discretization, iterative and statistical uncertainties. Validation of the propeller-rudder flow against experimental data is also done. The results show that, while the choice of interpolation scheme has minimal impact on time-averaged integral quantities (like propeller and rudder forces), they do influence the smoothness of the time signals, with the first order scheme resulting in large intensity high-frequency temporal oscillations. Lower order interpolation methods also produce more interpolation artifacts in fringe cells, which are then convected downstream. Mass imbalance is also affected by the interpolation scheme, with higher order schemes such as the third order least squares approach resulting in an order of magnitude lower flux errors. The limitations of first order schemes do not, however, result in significant lower computational overhead, with the second order nearest cell gradient being even cheaper than the inverse distance scheme in the tested implementation. Lastly, validation shows promising results with rudder forces within 10% of the experiments.