INTERNET RESOURCES & COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR STUDENTS OF FLUID DYNAMICS

ME 303 FLUID DYNAMICS/ WESTPHAL/ WSU/ FALL 2000

A large number of computer programs are becoming available for the solution of problems related to fluid flow. Freeware, shareware, and commercial software is available from individual authors and through a number of Internet sites, but there are also databases, "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions) files, hyperlinked tutorials, and even on-line analysis utilities and on-line textbooks.

Links to some of the Internet/WEB-accessible resources are provided below -- click away, and have fun! There are also a few programs which are provided for your class-related use that you can download directly. To date, I have largely ignored multi-phase, lubrication, and porous media flows... hope to more on these topics as time permits.

INTERNET RESOURCES

• "The Flow Calculations Website", from LMNO Engineering, Research, and Software Limited... access to extensive, on-line reference info is free, you must register to enable calculations on this site
• Engineering FUNDAmentals: here you'll find unit conversions, calculators, and on-line reference materials for fluids and other engineering subjects
• MEGACONVERTER provides an extensive unit conversion capability, and LOTS of other stuff too!
• Fluid Flow Interactive Tools from Prof. Kinnas at U Texas
• Process Associates' on-line toolbox for fluid flow problems -- have a look!
• UENGINEER: an on-line toolbox for certain flow and pump calculations.
• 1976 US Standard Atmosphere with related aero-type quantities, Ilan Kroo at Stanford U.
• JAVA VIRTUAL WIND TUNNEL from MIT.
• IDEAL FLOW MACHINE, on-line 2-D ideal flow solver, uses superposition, and shows solution streamlines (need JAVA capability to run this JAVA applet)
• PANEL METHOD, on-line 2-D airfoil flow solver (JAVA applet)
• BOUNDARY LAYERS, on-line 2-D laminar & turbulent boundary layer flow solvers (JAVA applets)
• POTENTIAL FLOW APPLET, on-line 2-D ideal flow solver, uses superposition, and shows solution streamlines (need JAVA capability to run this JAVA applet)
• Compressible Flow Calculator for isentropic 1-D flow plus normal and oblique shocks - does NOT require JAVA.
• Venturi simulator (JAVA applet)
• UTFLOW, a JAVA applet for visualization of hydraulic system flow
• Thermal Wizard from Maya Associates; for this class, have a look at the on-line calculation of head loss coefficients for various situations... Fried & Idelchik data
• On-Line Aerodynamics, a digital textbook by Ilan Kroo (Stanford University).
• Basic Aircraft Design WEB, a game that lets YOU "design" a transport airplane. Input airplane parameters and see what happens...
• Tokyo University's archive of flow visualization shows what some of the complex flows they've studied actually "look like"
• Omega Engineering provides reference information and sells flow, pressure, temperature, and related process control and data acquisition instrumentation
• Public Domain Aeronautical Software, compiled/enhanced by Ralph Carmichael - there's some free samples for download; a CD full of programs (with source code) is $150
• Computational Fluid Dynamics ("CFD") software list (commercial, shareware, public domain, and freeware)
• PIPE-FLO piping & pump program - free demo version and a shareware for download
• Fans - a nice article on small fans/blowers of the sort used for air cooling of electronics
• NASA Lewis' Flow Solver Software Library also, see below to download FOILSIM, which runs on a PC

DOWNLOADABLE COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR ME 303

Here are a few downloadable programs provided from various sources for your use in ME 303. All executables are for IBM PC compatibles running WINDOWS/DOS. To inflate the ZIPped files after downloading, you'll need WINZIP(R) (get from Niko Mak Computing) or PKUNZIP(R) (from PkWare, Inc.); pre-configured PC/WINDOWS systems usually have one of these packages.

• GNUPLOT -- a program for plotting functions and/or data -- get the GNUPLOT MANUAL too
• AIR -- little utility program for getting air thermodyamic and transport properties; courtesy W. M. Kays, Stanford U
• FLIGHT -- for simple calculations related to flight in the US Standard Atmosphere; courtesy Rob Kennelly, NASA Ames
• FOILSIM interactive solver for 2-D inviscid airfoil aerodynamics, from NASA Lewis Research Center -- check the FOILSIM WEB site too!