[jsagaga]

Hi everyone,

First time on CFD Online and I really need help on a project I'm working on for a class. Does anyone here know of a software/program that can simulate/use elementary flows (doublet, source, sink, etc.) to create/form different shapes like say a fuselage or an airfoil? I know about ideal flow machine, but I was wondering if there were better software available.

Thanks in advance

[fluid23]

yes. pen and paper. elementary flows are very straight forward. most people wouldn't find a code like that very useful either.

That being said, a 10 second google search returned this...

http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/Ve...aryFluidFlows/

[H0T_S0UP]

Write your own Hess-Smith panel code to simulate an airfoil. It can be done in a day or much quicker if you copy-paste something. You can use the surface integral to obtain the pressure distribution and compute the lift and moment. I wrote a small code that did this and compared my results with Theory of Wing Sections and agreement was pretty good for up to AoA = 5 degrees. This is consistent with the onset of non-negligible separation which isn't modeled using potential flow.

[jsagaga]

Originally Posted by MBdonCFD

yes. pen and paper. elementary flows are very straight forward. most people wouldn't find a code like that very useful either.

That being said, a 10 second google search returned this...

http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/Ve...aryFluidFlows/

Thanks I'll give it a try!

[jsagaga]

Originally Posted by H0T_S0UP

Write your own Hess-Smith panel code to simulate an airfoil. It can be done in a day or much quicker if you copy-paste something. You can use the surface integral to obtain the pressure distribution and compute the lift and moment. I wrote a small code that did this and compared my results with Theory of Wing Sections and agreement was pretty good for up to AoA = 5 degrees. This is consistent with the onset of non-negligible separation which isn't modeled using potential flow.

One of the requirements for the project is that we aren't allowed to used panel codes or anything that would use cfd since (this is straight from the professor) it solves the NS equations whereas potential flow theory deals with laplace. Thanks though!

[H0T_S0UP]

I think you misquoted your professor. Panel codes use a superposition of line sources/doublets and vortex elements to create the illusion of CFD. He probably said don't use a panel code because they are easy to copy.

[Alex C.]

I'd like to point out that potential flow is CFD. Potential flow solutions, that you may obtain through panel codes, are the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, in the assumption of inviscid, irrotationnal and incompressible flow.

You could obtain the flow around a body, under these assumptions, using a mesh and a discretization scheme for the equations. Since the equations are linear, it is much more convenient, and a lot cheaper, to use basic flow elements (source, sinks, doublets, vortex and freestream) and superpose them in a way that the boundary conditions are met.

[shirazbj]

try http://lorenabarba.com/blog/announcing-aeropython/