Using CAD as an aerodynamic tool

Most aerodynamic departments in the aircraft industry use mathematical prediction methods for analysis. Amongst the most popular of these are three dimensional inviscid flow panel methods which compute the change in velocity and direction of air flow over a series of flat panels. To maintain accuracy these panel methods require many panels in highly curved areas such as wing leading edges. The author describes a package which is being used successfully by a European aircraft company. It makes good use of a system bought predominantly for its design and machining capabilities by the aerodynamic department. It removes most of the skill needed to drive a CAD package by the use of a meaningful menu display. A hidden advantage of this is that once a preliminary design is accepted, the geometry exists and may be used by the design and manufacturing departments, i.e. it allows true top-down design with the aerodynamicist, and not the designer, getting the first influence on external shape