Aerodynamic Research by Computational Fluid Dynamics

In 1998, Dr Adrian Reynard founded Advantage CFD Ltd in order to explore aero solutions that were not easily researched in either wind tunnel development or full scale data acquisition on board the vehicle.

Dr Robert Lewis was recruited to lead this campaign and he immediately discovered that CFD was not only useful for these discreet gains, but also a vital tool in the aerodynamicists toolbox for validation and thought provocation.

One of the biggest appreciators was the Honda Racing F1 Team which is also co-owned by Dr Adrian Reynard. By 2002 the A-CFD team had grown to over 20 staff and as well as many commercial client applications throughout the transportation industry, Honda Racing had also grown quite dependent for its valuable contribution to the Honda Racing F1 car development. So Honda Racing bought A-CFD Ltd.

Dr Adrian Reynard firmly believes that this is a technology of the future. He addressed the 5th MIRA Vehicle Aerodynamic Conference in October 2004 and featured some of the award winning CFD movies that he had helped spawn.

In the side bar are some samples of the movies. The colours can represent pressures or velocities. These are not just pretty videos since the true geometry of the car is created by CAD and mesh first so that any position can be interrogated for real data. Real-time results can be evaluated an a configuration change can be much faster than by other data-collection methods. The optimum design can therefore be solved very rapidly.

In 2010 the Auto Research Center LLC in Indianapolis strengthened its C.F.D. facility to 84 processor cores. This PowerWulf computer engine allows clusters of processors to solve large problems.