Vortex Methods in Aeronautics:How to make things work

摘要

Vortex methods constitute a particular class in CFD. They are grid-free, they use Lagrangian co-ordinates and most importantly they use vorticity as main flow variable instead of the velocity. In aeronautics they are in use for over than 30 years with quite impressing results. However, rather a limited number of researchers would prefer them. This could be due to some particularities vortex methods have in their implementation. In view of trying to clarify things, the present paper reviews the current state of art and details some of the "difficult" points of vortex methods. Although the focus is mainly on rotor problems, the presented techniques can be used in other applications as well.