Aeronautical CFD in the age of Petaflops-scale computing: From unstructured to Cartesian meshes

CFD has become an indispensable tool for analyzing and designing aircrafts. Wind tunnel testing, however, is still the central player for aircraft developments and CFD plays a subordinate part. In this article, lessons learned from the developments of the unstructured-mesh CFD for aeronautical applications are discussed at the beginning. Then, demands for next-generation CFD are described with an expectation of the daily use of Petaflops computers. A Cartesian mesh approach, as a promising candidate for the next-generation CFD, is discussed by comparing it with the current unstructured-mesh CFD. It is concluded that the simplicity of Cartesian-mesh CFD from the mesh generation to the post processing will be a big advantage in the days of Petaflops computers.