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GP-AE-1LLG1AKAerospaceOpen for request

OpenFOAM airfoil aerodynamic validation

An OpenFOAM-only CFD study for validating airfoil lift, drag, pressure distribution, and separation across mesh, angle-of-attack, and turbulence-model choices.

  • OpenFOAM v2606
  • ParaView
  • Gmsh
  • Python
  • Docker

Software compatibility

OpenFOAM v2606 only

Cases are prepared for the OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 distribution. No ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL, STAR-CCM+, or OpenFOAM Foundation v14 files are included.

Project definition

Problem statement

Airfoil CFD results depend on domain size, mesh quality, near-wall resolution, turbulence treatment, numerical schemes, convergence, and reference data. A single contour plot cannot establish aerodynamic accuracy.

Project objectives

  • Prepare a reproducible two-dimensional airfoil mesh and boundary-condition workflow.
  • Calculate lift, drag, surface pressure, and separation across selected angles of attack.
  • Compare mesh levels and selected turbulence models under fixed operating conditions.
  • Validate trends and coefficients against permitted experimental or published reference data.
  • State the range where steady Reynolds-averaged simulation becomes unreliable.

System design

System modules

01

Geometry and meshing

Builds the airfoil, far-field domain, boundary layers, grading, and mesh-quality checks.

02

OpenFOAM cases

Defines fluid properties, inlet conditions, turbulence, numerics, convergence controls, and force functions.

03

Parameter runner

Runs documented mesh, angle, Reynolds-number, and model cases with complete logs.

04

Post-processing

Extracts coefficients, pressure distributions, residuals, wall measures, streamlines, and separation indicators.

05

Validation

Compares simulations with reference coefficients and pressure data and calculates errors.

Methodology

System workflow

  1. 01
    Prepare baseline

    A reference airfoil, operating point, domain, mesh, and solver setup are fixed.

  2. 02
    Check mesh and convergence

    Mesh quality, iterative residuals, force stability, and conservation are reviewed.

  3. 03
    Run study matrix

    Angle, mesh, and selected turbulence-model cases run from versioned templates.

  4. 04
    Validate

    Coefficients and surface pressure are compared with the reference dataset.

  5. 05
    Interpret limits

    Separation, unsteadiness, wall treatment, and numerical sensitivity are discussed.

Demonstration scenario

A NACA airfoil is simulated across three meshes and several angles of attack. The student compares force convergence, pressure distributions, mesh sensitivity, and reference lift and drag, then explains the onset of separation and the limits of the steady model.

Engineering

Technical architecture

Case format
Native OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 dictionaries, fields, meshes, function objects, and result structure.
Flow model
Incompressible external aerodynamics using a documented steady solver and selected transient follow-up cases.
Mesh method
Gmsh or OpenFOAM mesh generation with boundary-layer controls and three-level convergence study.
Analysis
Python scripts for coefficients, errors, convergence tables, and repeatable plots, with ParaView state files.

Testing

Evaluation

Evaluation measures

  • Mesh quality and near-wall resolution
  • Mass conservation and force convergence
  • Grid-convergence behaviour and estimated numerical uncertainty
  • Lift, drag, and pressure-coefficient error against reference data
  • Sensitivity to turbulence model, domain size, and numerical schemes
  • Runtime and result repeatability

System boundaries

  • Only OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 cases are delivered.
  • The study is limited to the documented airfoil, Reynolds-number range, and flow assumptions.
  • Two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged results do not represent every three-dimensional or transitional effect.
  • The output is not flight-certification or aircraft-design evidence.

Included

  1. 01Parametrised airfoil geometry and mesh workflow
  2. 02OpenFOAM steady and selected transient case files
  3. 03Force, pressure, convergence, and validation scripts
  4. 04Prepared meshes, reference data, and experiment results
  5. 05Complete source code in a private GitHub repository
  6. 06Complete project documentation with synopsis, abstract, methodology, CFD setup, mesh study, validation results, screenshots, and conclusion
  7. 07Setup and usage guide

Project record

No buyer information is collected on this page.

Permanent project ID
GP-AE-1LLG1AK
Catalogued
22 Aug 2026
Completed
Pending
Verified
Pending
Demonstration
Added when ready

Handover

After purchase

  1. 01
    Payment is confirmed

    The project is marked unavailable and cannot be purchased again.

  2. 02
    Repository access is granted

    The buyer's submitted GitHub account receives access to the private repository.

  3. 03
    The purchase record is delivered

    The certification sheet is prepared from the reviewed buyer details and sent privately by email.