What is CFD?
CFD stands for Computational Fluid Dynamics which is a general set of numerical techniques that can be used to predict the behaviour and characteristics of fluid flows.
Whereas analytical methods attempt to “solve” the mathematical equations that govern fluid flows (equations of motion) to form a “closed form solution” ie find an equation that describes the fluid motion everywhere. Numerical methods attempt to solve the equations of motion numerically on a computer to predict the fluid properties at the particular point of interest. As you move the point of interest, you can develop a picture of the entire flow.
The CFD is often used solely to describe the sophisticated software that runs on large and powerful computers used to predict, for example, the flows around a car. However, we prefer to use the term to mean any form of calculation that solves the equations of motion numerically. Our definition encompasses more traditional techniques that were used before the advent of sophisticated CFD software and powerful computers. Thus using a spreadsheet model or writing a short computer code to solve simple forms of the equations of motion such as the Bernouilli equation is still CFD.
We therefore aim to use a mixture of CFD techniques when developing a solution to an engineering design issue. This leads to an efficient and cost-effective solution as, in some problems, a full CFD analysis can be expensive and not really necessary to provide the information required.
Rather than describe the detailed mathematics of the CFD process here we can recommend a number of good introductions to the core subject. However, these recommendations change as new books are published, so please get in contact if you would like a list of up to date recommendations.
