Picking up the right software
 

Hello my fellow colleagues,
I am Nick and Im a new user as far as CFD software is concerned.So id like to ask a question.I am working on a paper dealing with external flows such as flow over airfoils or airplane wings etc and id like to know whats the best Geometry-creating software as well as the best meshing one and ofcourse the most appropriate solver for this application.Theres lots of programs dealing with these problems but id like to get familiar with the most suitable ones for the time being atleast.

Thanks for reading this in advance,
Nick

Hi

Maybe ANSYS IcemCFD is a nice choice.

AutoBlade is good at prototyping the airfoil or blades. It is one package of NUMECA. In addition, you could build up the model within CATIA or other CAD programs, and solve it within ANSYS CFX.
Wish it help. :-)

If you're going to limit your CFD studies to airfoils and wings, three programs come mind for generating geometry.

DesignFOIL from DreeseCODE - http://www.dreesecode.com/

VisualFoil from Hanley Innovations - http://www.hanleyinnovations.com/vf50.html

Profili - http://www.profili2.com/eng/default.htm

I've never used any of these programs myself so don't consider this an endorsement.

Also, simple wings and airfoils should be able to be generated by virtually any CAD software and/or mesh generation software. You can get airfoil cross section data and wing design data from myriad internet sites.

As for the CFD solver, you'll want one that can handle transonic flow and compressibility well. If you're in the U.S. you might have access to the WIND solver among others. I'm willing to bet that OpenFOAM can handle this well.

Hope this helps.