How Do We Solve the Equations?

This chapter is full of mathematical equations—equations that represent the basic physical fundamentals that dictate the characteristics of aerodynamic flow fields. For the most part, the equations are either in partial differential form or integral form. These equations are powerful and by themselves represent a sophisticated intellectual construct of our understanding of the fundamentals of a fluid flow. However, the equations by themselves are not very practical. They must be solved in order to obtain the actual flow fields over specific body shapes with specific flow conditions. For example, if we are interested in calculating the flow field around a Boeing 777 jet transport flying at a velocity of 800 ft/s at an altitude of 30,000 ft, we have to obtain a solution of the governing equations for this case—a solution that will give us the results for the dependent flow-field variables p, p, V, etc. as a function of the independent variables of spatial location and time. Then we have to squeeze this solution for extra practical information, such as lift, drag, and moments exerted on the vehicle. How do we do this? The purpose of the present section is to discuss two philosophical answers to this question. As for practical solutions to specific problems of interest, there are literally hundreds of different answers to this question, many of which make up the content of the rest of this book. However, all these solutions fall under one or the other of the two philosophical approaches described next.