Use of large-scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models in aeroengine design has grown rapidly in recent years as parallel computing hardware has become available. This has reached the point where research aimed at the development of CFD-based Virtual engine test cells' is underway, with considerable debate of the subject within the industrial and research communities. The present article considers and illustrates the state-of-the art and prospects for advances in this field. Limitations to CFD model accuracy, the need for aero-thermo-mechanical analysis through an engine flight cycle, coupling of numerical solutions for solid and fluid domains, and timescales for capability development are considered. While the fidelity of large-scale CFD models will remain limited by turbulence modelling and other issues for the foreseeable future, it is clear that use of multi-scale, multi-physics modelling in engine design will expand considerably. Development of user-friendly, versatile, efficient programs and systems for use in a massively parallel computing environment is considered a key issue.
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