An improved algebraic grid generator for numerical aerodynamic analyses of airfoil cross-sections

Abstract

Although computer-processing power has increased dramatically over the past few decades, minimizing computation time is still critical when conducting numerical aerodynamic analyses. One area where this is evident is the grid generation routines used in most code for this area of research. While many more sophisticated grid generation techniques are available, algebraic grid generation is still in use today due strictly to efficiency. Computational efficiency is of particularly great concern during analyses that involve motion of the surface being analyzed, since computing a new grid at each time step is often required. Unfortunately however, few if any, algebraic grid generation routines exist that are powerful enough to produce a grid with no overlapping gridlines and minimal distortion, yet still minimize computation time. As a result, the purpose of this thesis was to design such a routine. The end result is a C-Grid generating routine with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) called Astro Grid.