The numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for complex engineering problems requires large High-Performnce Computing resources. This is due to both the large size of the computational meshes required to resolve with adequate spatial accuracy complex flow phenomena such as dynamic stall, and the fact that many fluid problems of practical interest are inherently unsteady, requiring lengthy unsteady flow simulations.
Many of these problems, however, are periodic, and two approaches are available for their simulation: one is the standard time-domain integration, and the other is the use of frequency-domain technologies, such as the Harmonic Balance (HB) technique. This presentation will discuss the development and the application of a HB Navier-Stokes solver for the rapid calculation of periodic flows, with particular emphasis on the computational benefits of this technology, and special code features aimed at maximizing the efficiency of its parallelization.