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.

Streamlines Around a Sail Yacht

Solar panels are solid-state, right? No moving parts and certainly no fluid flow - unless you count the rivers of electrons flowing in a semi-conductor. So what role is there for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)? Once installed, how can you be sure that those brackets holding the panels in place are strong enough? Or even if your roof is strong enough to cope with the wind loading on the solar panels? Remain calm, CFD is here to help in the form of Caedium Professional.

Solar Panel Mounted on a Shed Roof

This screencast shows how to use Caedium Professional to create the geometry and simulate a steady-state turbulent CFD simulation of air flow through a pipe into a box. Also you will see how to create velocity vectors and particle tracks within the flow volume and monitor residuals as the simulation converges.

Many see the future of automobiles to be electric, so it's only natural to assume that the same may apply to motor racing. Luke Horsfall is one who believes electric race cars have a bright future, having set up Horsfall Racing (along with Laura Horsfall) to build electric race cars and race them in the F24+ electric race car class in the UK. The restrictions of this particular formula keep budgets and speeds relatively low (at least by Formula 1 standards). Making best use of the limited power in F24+ is crucial, and that places the emphasis on low-drag, aerodynamic race cars. I bet you can guess where this is heading - this is territory ripe for Caedium's Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) capabilities.

Super Swoosh:Horsfall Racing's 2009 Electric Race Car