Computational fluid dynamics, also known as ‘CFD’, is a tool used to analyse and solve problems related to fluid flow. CFD enables accurate predictions to be made about the flow properties of complex systems, whether they involve liquids or gases, or even phase changes. It is thus possible to study all the interactions between the fluid and its environment.
In the image opposite, in the field of aeronautics, pressure has been calculated on the aerodynamic surfaces of a drone. Fluid simulations are used in many other fields; examples include sizing an actuator required to close a valve, assessing pressure losses in a complex flow, or analysing the flow around a radiator.
This type of simulation allows us to analyse a flow without taking the time variable into account. In other words, we seek to stabilise the results both at the macro level and in the localised data. This type of simulation is known as steady-state or steady-flow simulation.
Transient simulations take the variable ‘time’ into account. The analysis will be run to study the flow at a specific time ‘t’. This makes it possible, for example, to determine the velocity at the time (t=20s) following the opening of a valve, the flow rate at another time, and so on.
This “fluid simulation” module can be directly applied to our various mechanical, thermal or multiphysics analyses. Taking the aerospace industry as an example, a fluid study can be run on all aerodynamic surfaces, the pressures extracted from it, and these integrated into a mechanical analysis simulation to validate the structural integrity, analyse displacements and deformations, and identify other instabilities.
Saïna est un bureau d’études conception mécanique. Nous sommes spécialisé dans l’ingénierie mécanique, la conception et la simulation numérique de système mécanique.
© 2026 SAÏNA ENGINEERING - Tous droits réservés
