CFD and Wind Tunnels: Combining the Two for Aerodynamic Excellence Studying the effects of airflow over an object is of a paramount importance for design considerations. To understand the impact of the aerodynamic forces on engineering objects such as automobiles, aircrafts and locomotives, it is required to set up external airflow conditions that resemble actual physical scenario. Since the design requirements for such high-speed applications is to minimize the effect of drag forces that otherwise resist the motion, it is important to have accurate information about the flow conditions to identify design constraints.
Wind Tunnels CFD
To evaluate these systems against external aerodynamics, modern engineering community rely on simulation tools such as computational fluid dynamics, which holds the ability to simulate real conditions cost-effectively. Modern CFD tools are capable to solve complex flow regimes using numerical solvers. The systematic approach to evaluate external aerodynamics using CFD involves defining the computational domain including the surface geometry of the object being studied. This is followed by generating mesh over the domain across which the equations will be solved; and then defining the boundary conditions, which involves selecting suitable turbulence model, near wall treatments and flow conditions. Problems with CFD: The results obtained through CFD simulations can then be utilized to visualize flow around the geometry, and further obtain information on drag forces and vortex formation to optimize the geometrical shape of the object accordingly. However, too much reliance on simulation techniques is indeed putting the design in danger, as numerical algorithms that solve the flow equations are an