Aerodynamic framework for parachute deployment from aerial vehicle

A system for generating landing condition data for an aerial vehicle, the system comprising:

• an aerial vehicle simulation engine operable to construct an aerial vehicle landing simulation database from input models, user-provided trajectory equations, and environmental conditions, the aerial vehicle simulation engine including:
• a computational fluid dynamics solver operable to simulate flight and descent of an aerial vehicle with an internally-stored parachute;
• a simulation data extraction module operable to extract simulation data from the computational fluid dynamics and user-provided trajectory equation solvers related to descent and landing via the internally-stored parachute;
• and
• a database construction module operable to construct the aerial vehicle landing simulation database using the extracted simulation data for a plurality of input models, a plurality of environmental conditions, or a combination thereof.

A computer-implemented method for generating a simulation database of landing conditions for one or more aerial vehicles, the computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:

• receiving an input model representing the one or more aerial vehicles with an internally-stored parachute;
• simulating flight of the one or more aerial vehicles via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software in a plurality of environmental conditions, the flight including a failure of a propulsion system of the one or more aerial vehicles;
• simulating deployment of the internally-stored parachute and landing of the one or more aerial vehicles in the plurality of environmental conditions;
• extracting simulation data for each of the one or more aerial vehicles in the plurality of environmental conditions, the simulation data including aerodynamic quantities for representing deployment of the internally-stored parachute and descent of the aerial vehicle;
• and
• constructing a database of simulation data including the one or more aerial vehicles in each environmental condition of the plurality of environmental conditions.