Page 14 - Basics of Fluid Mechanics and Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics

Preface

The present book — through the topics and the problems approach

— aims at filling a gap, a real need in our literature concerning CFD
(Computational Fluid Dynamics). Our presentation results from a large
documentation and focuses on reviewing the present day most important
numerical and computational methods in CFD.
Many theoreticians and experts in the field have expressed their in-

terest in and need for such an enterprise. This was the motivation for
carrying out our study and writing this book. It contains an important
systematic collection of numerical working instruments in Fluid Dynam-
ics.
Our current approach to CFD started ten years ago when the Univer-
sity of Paris XI suggested a collaboration in the field of spectral methods
for fluid dynamics. Soon after — preeminently studying the numerical

approaches to Navier-Stokes nonlinearities — we completed a number
of research projects which we presented at the most important interna-
tional conferences in the field, to gratifying appreciation.
An important qualitative step in our work was provided by the devel-
opment of a computational basis and by access to a number of expert

softwares. This fact allowed us to generate effective working programs
for most of the problems and examples presented in the book, an as-
pect which was not taken into account in most similar studies that have
already appeared all over the world.
What makes this book special, in comparison with other similar en-
terprises?
This book reviews the main theoretical aspects of the area, emphasizes

various formulations of the involved equations and models (focussing on
optimal methods in CFD) in order to point out systematically the most
utilized numerical methods for fluid dynamics. This kind of analysis —
leaving out the demonstration details — takes notice of the convergence