Vortexje is open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. It implements the source-doublet panel method for potential flow, with the following features:

• Modern C++ API, easily integrated with other simulation environments;
• Gmsh file I/O;
• Optional wake convection;
• Wake-body and wake-wake interaction.

License

The library is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL v2. For commercial use licenses are available from Baayen & Heinz GmbH.

Documentation

A preprint of a paper introducing Vortexje is available online at arxiv.org/abs/1210.6956.

API documentation is available online.

Support

Baayen & Heinz GmbH offers troubleshooting, customization and integration services.

Example

The following example code generates source, doublet, and pressure distributions on a NACA0012 airfoil with 5.0 degrees angle of attack and 30 m/s airspeed.

#include <vortexje/solver.hpp>

using namespace std;
using namespace Eigen;
using namespace Vortexje;

int
main (int argc, char **argv)
{
    // Load meshes:
    Mesh nolift_mesh;

    // Create wing:
    Mesh wing_mesh(string("naca0012.msh"));

    Vector3d location(0, 0, 0);
    Vector3d chord_direction(1, 0, 0);
    Vector3d top_direction(0, 1, 0);
    Vector3d span_direction(0, 0, 1);

    Wing wing(wing_mesh, location,
              chord_direction, top_direction, span_direction);

    // Prescribe angle of attack:
    double alpha = 5.0 / 180.0 * M_PI;
    wing.rotate(span_direction, -alpha);

    // Create mesh collection:
    Collection collection(string("test-wing"), nolift_mesh);
    collection.add_wing(&wing);

    // Set up solver:
    Solver solver("test-wing-log");
    solver.add_collection(collection);
    solver.set_freestream_velocity(Vector3d(30, 0, 0));
    solver.set_fluid_density(1.2);

    // Run simulation:
    double t = 0.0;
    double dt = 0.01;
    int step_number = 0;

    solver.initialize_wakes(dt);
    while (t < 60) {
        solver.update_coefficients(dt);
        solver.log_coefficients(step_number);
        solver.update_wakes(dt);

        t += dt;
        step_number++;
    }

    // Done:
    return 0;
}

Software Requirements

Vortexje uses Eigen for linear algebra.

Source Code

The latest source code is available through the Git version control system:

git clone git://git.baayen-heinz.com/Vortexje.git

The repository can also be viewed on-line at git.baayen-heinz.com.