I bet you've had enough theory with our previous article "CFD Novice to Expert Part 4: CFD 101." Are you ready to fire up your CFD software for the first time and take it for a test drive? Then let's get on with part 5 of this 7-part series.

Pipe into a Box Flow Tutorial

Great to see that you are sticking with the series. After the previous article "CFD Novice to Expert Part 3: Fluid Dynamics 201" you are now rapidly approaching halfway, with this being part 4 of this 7 part series.

CFD Cyclone Simulation: Streamlines

Back for more fluid dynamics? I know - the brief introduction in "CFD Novice to Expert Part2: Fluid Dynamics 101" was good, but it only skimmed the surface, so onwards with part 3 of this 7-part series.

Turbulent SmokeLicense: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Vanessa Pike-Russell

Hopefully you were suitably inspired by "CFD Novice to Expert Part 1: Get Inspired" and that's why you are here now ready for part 2 of this 7-part series.

Pollen Floating on a Puddle

Say you've come up with an idea that can solve the energy crisis by reducing the drag of cars by X%, but how to proceed? Whichever way you turn you keep coming across the same phrase - Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) - with the almost fantastical claim that it can, in large part, replace expensive physical modeling techniques such as wind tunnels - but still, how to proceed? Money and time are tight, but you're talking about solving the energy crisis for the good of humanity. There simply has to be a way to proceed. Enough already - let's proceed with part 1 of this 7-part series.

Inspiration: Airflow Around a Rocket Car

You probably guessed that yesterday was April Fools' Day and in the spirit of fake news we announced that our unified simulation environment, Caedium, was available for the eagerly awaited iPad. Well sorry to disappoint, but we don't have a version of Caedium for the iPad - at least not yet - who knows what the future holds though.

Fake Photo of Caedium on the iPad

Following hot on the heals of the recent Caedium release for the Mac, Caedium will also be available on the iPad when it is released on Saturday (April 3, 2010). In a worlds first, iPad users will be able to perform Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations from the comfort of their sofa on the worlds most "magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price." The iPad version of Caedium makes full use of the multi-touch iPad interface, which enables you to control the actual fluid in the simulation in order to guide it to the answer you desire.

Caedium on iPad

Bigger is always better when it comes to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), right? Big computers, big simulations, big budgets - fine if you are a big aerospace company or a big Formula 1 team. Though, it's not so good if you are a small business or a hobbyist who wants to perform CFD simulations within tight budget constraints on a desktop or laptop computer. Don't despair - we are here to help. It is Symscape's mission to provide Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools for all. We provide affordable software for performing meaningful CFD simulations on desktop computers.

Caedium CFD Simulation: Open wheel race car

After attending the 2010 AIAA ASM Conference in Orlando, I took the opportunity to bask in the Florida sun (if not heat - it was unseasonably cold, though still a whole lot warmer than New Hampshire in January) and visit the Kennedy Space Center. The highlight of the visit to Cape Canaveral was the Apollo/Saturn V Center, which houses a complete Saturn V rocket - follow along for a pictorial review of my trip with historical perspective thanks to Wikipedia.

Kennedy Space Center Entrance

Debate rages (OK, maybe rages is a little strong) amongst pickup truck drivers as to whether it is more efficient to drive with the tailgate up or down. The urban legend is that running a truck with the tailgate down reduces the truck's drag and therefore improves its fuel economy.

Airflow Around a Pickup Truck with its Tailgate Up