Linear Stability Analysis and Application of a New Solution Method of the Elastodynamic Equations Suitable for a Unified Fluid-Structure-Interaction Approach

In the conventional approach for fluid-structure-interaction problems, the fluid and solid components are treated separately and information is exchanged across their interface. According to the conventional terminology, the current numerical methods can be grouped in two major categories: partitioned methods and monolithic methods. Both methods use separate sets of equations for fluid and solid that have different unknown variables. A unified solution method has been presented in the previous work of Giannopapa and Papadakis (2004, “A New Formulation for Solids Suitable for a Unified Solution Method for Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems,” ASME PVP 2004, San Diego, CA, July, PVP Vol. 491–1, pp. 111–117), which is different from these methods. The new approach treats both fluid and solid as a single continuum; thus, the whole computational domain is treated as one entity discretized on a single grid. Its behavior is described by a single set of equations, which are solved fully implicitly. In this paper, the elastodynamic equations are reformulated so that they contain the same unknowns as the Navier–Stokes equations, namely, velocities and pressure. Two time marching and one spatial discretization scheme, widely used for fluid equations, are applied for the solution of the reformulated equations for solids. Using linear stability analysis, the accuracy and dissipation characteristics of the resulting difference equations are examined. The aforementioned schemes are applied to a transient structural problem (beam bending) and the results compare favorably with available analytic solutions and are consistent with the conclusions of the stability analysis. A parametric investigation using different meshes, time steps, and beam dimensions is also presented. For all cases examined, the numerical solution was stable and robust and therefore is suitable for the next stage of application to full fluid-structure-interaction problems.