A Two Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics SimulationThe Java Virtual Wind Tunnel is an applet which uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to simulate the flow of air over a two dimensional object. The applet is not just a movie projector; it actually solves the equations of motion (the Euler equations) in real time. So the results on the screen are the real thing, not an animation. And in a virtual wind tunnel, adding instruments costs nothing. In fact, the simulation provides more information about the flow than you could easily access in any real wind tunnel.
The Java Virtual Wind Tunnel is just a prototype. But it shows how Java can be used to build educational tools for undergraduate and graduate fluids mechanics courses. At the undergraduate level, the simulations might help students visualize and understand 2-D fluid flow. At the graduate level, it might help students understand the power and limitations of computational fluid dynamics.
The prototype Java Virtual Wind Tunnel is running at the top of this page. This demonstration shows the flow of air through a channel with a "bump" in one of the walls. If you let the applet run, a shock wave will appear above the bump where the flow jumps from supersonic to subsonic speeds. Moving the sliders will change the flow conditions and cause the shock to appear and disappear. - http://raphael.mit.edu/Java/ - David Oh / Computational Aerospace Sciences Laboratory, MIT / bamf@attbi.com