Determination of Flow Field Parameters using Inverse Interpolation Methods

Full flow field parameters cannot be directly measured in-flight and therefore, an inverse approach is required. This study utilizes surface data (e.g., sensors) and advances the inverse interpolation method to predict flow field characteristics for complex maneuvers (e.g., pitching, plunging, pitching-plunging, wind gusts) in real-time based on a pre-computed database. The inverse interpolation formulation is based on a parametric approximation of the surface conditions and is further constructed through a least-squares minimization of calculated and measured surface conditions. This procedure results in the governing system of linear algebraic equations, providing the unknown coefficients that accurately define the surface conditions in an efficient manner. Broadly, this inverse approach solves for the flow field based on surface conditions as opposed to solving it based on freestream conditions.