Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

CFD predicts what will happen when fluid flows, by using supercomputers running sophisticated numerical analyses and mathematical algorithms. Our CFD process is perfectly placed to predict fluid flow in all the sectors in which we operate. This advanced CFD capability gives the company a unique insight into the nature of complex flow problems, as well as yielding solutions that physical testing methods are not able to generate.

For more than a decade, Wirth Research has been at the forefront of the use of CFD in high level motorsport. Our pioneering in-house research and validation techniques culminated in the cessation of all traditional scale model wind-tunnel testing in 2008. Since then, all aerodynamic development by Wirth Research has used CFD only. The company continues to invest heavily in the development and validation of this increasingly sophisticated technology, and has recently expanded the application of CFD into other high technology areas, including transportation, supermarket refrigeration, architecture and large vehicle optimisation.

The benefits of using Wirth Research’s unique CFD process over traditional wind-tunnel testing and other less sophisticated CFD offerings are as follows:

• Wirth Research’s unique CFD techniques have been developed and proven in the heat of pinnacle motorsport competition, where the accuracy, throughput and robustness of aerodynamic development is key to maximising on-track performance
• The company’s CFD processes are highly automated, which deliver results in extremely fast turnaround times whilst ensuring stringent internal quality metrics are always met
• Our team of highly experienced CFD engineers and aerodynamicists continually correlate results to real world and experimental data, allowing future results and models to be developed with confidence
• Wirth Research’s significant in-house supercomputer capacity allows the simulation of high levels of physics in high resolution as a standard practice. This includes real-time transient solutions, thermal buoyancy, multiphase and moving geometry scenarios, amongst others

The company’s CFD technology delivers information that cannot be captured by even the most sophisticated wind tunnels, making it the most effective aerodynamic development tool currently available.