November 2011

With all the excitement of last month's Caedium v3.0 release over, now it's time to get back to earth. More accurately it should be back to sea, with a new RANS Flow example of the air flow over a sail yacht. Also back is the usual stream of blog posts.

Streamlines Around a Sail YachtCaedium CFD SimulationStreamlines Around a Sail Yacht

CFD Analysis of a Sail Yacht from SketchUp

A sail yacht is a great example of an aerodynamic vehicle that relies totally on the wind for propulsion. And you guessed it, where there's aerodynamics there's also an opportunity for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to make an impact. CFD has been a primary tool in the aerodynamic optimization of many recent sail yachts. This is especially true in competitive sail yacht design, such as the yachts that compete for the America's Cup. If your budget doesn't extend to the scale of Larry Ellison's then fear not, you can still benefit from CFD analysis of your yacht design in combination with Google SketchUp and Caedium Professional. Read more >>

Blog

Below are teasers for my latest blog posts.

3D Printing Revolution Underway

With the ever expanding and affordable array of 3D printers (also known as rapid prototyping machines) new opportunities abound. I first covered 3D printing back in 2007. Since that time The New York Times has run a number of articles on 3D printing (Don't believe me? Then try searching Google for 3d printing site:nytimes.com) - an indication if ever it were needed that 3D printing has gone mainstream and entered the public's consciousness. So enough with all this virtual engineering, at some point you have to get physical and the 3D printing revolution is a great place to start. Read more >>

Yet Another Roadable Aircraft

Yet another roadable aircraft or flying car? Yes, but the Model 367 BiPod [source: gizmag] is different because of who designed and built it. Burt Rutan - of SpaceShipOne fame - retired earlier this year from legendary prototype aircraft maker Scaled Composites. His last project was a hybrid-powered road and air vehicle. The twin fuselage, a signature design feature of many Scaled Composites airplanes, makes for a uniquely odd looking car design. One cockpit controls the vehicle while on the ground and the other cockpit controls the vehicle while in flight. Read more >>

CFD Plays Well With World's Largest Boundary-Layer Wind Tunnel

The world's largest, scientific quality, boundary-layer wind tunnel was recently declared operational at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The new wind tunnel known as the Flow Physics Facility (FPF) serves as a great example of how a wind tunnel and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can form a mutually beneficial relationship. Read more >>