Application of computational fluid dynamics to air vehicle design and analysis

The current computational methods in aerodynamics are a natural result of a continuous search for the understanding of fluid dynamics. Since the formulation of the mathematical models in the last half of 18th century and early 19th century, there has been a steady development of tools of increasing sophistication to solve the mathematical representations. Methods such as complex variables, potential methods, and perturbations have been used. The modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for the Navier-Stokes equations made possible by high performance digital computers are now available for application to design analysis. After a short tracing of the history of aerodynamic design and analysis, the current approaches to aircraft design and analysis will be detailed with particular emphasis on the coupling and cross-fertilization between aerodynamics and mathematics. We will review the total design process for an air vehicle in its many stages, from early stages using “rules-of-thumb” to the detailed design issues providing current challenges of the most sophisticated modeling with the Navier-Stokes equations, and the computational methods for their evaluation. Current efforts to introduce integrated and optimized methods will be reviewed and illustrated