• Aero Flux is a new three-year project to develop and deploy CFD capability in aerospace.
• Zenotech’s CFD product will play a key role and be further developed for industrial use.
• The project builds on the success of the Zenotech-led Hyperflux++ project.
• Headed by CFMS, Aeroflux partners include Zenotech, Aircraft Research Association, Bombardier with input from Airbus.

Zenotech is excited to announce its participation in Aero Flux, a three-year project to develop and deploy advanced CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) capability for the aerospace industry. With a focus on vibro-acoustics and aero-structural modelling, this project will play an important role in promoting the UK as a leader in high technology for aerospace engineering. 

Aero Flux is led by CFMS, with partners, Zenotech, Aircraft Research Association (ARA) and Bombardier. Airbus will also participate by offering their requirements for acoustics which will inform the research.

This work is a continuation of the successful Hyperflux++ project led by Zenotech, which was funded with support from BEIS, the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK. Hyperflux++ was a UK-based software development programme, designed to drive increased efficiency in the aerospace sector. This successful project further developed Zenotech’s zCFD product, an affordable computational fluid dynamics solver, which helped to improve the accuracy of the aerodynamic modelling of undercarriage and nacelles, optimising performance and reducing costs.

The Aero Flux programme includes the development of industrial high order CFD methods which will offer even greater levels of accuracy, exploiting leading research from Dr Peter Vincent at Imperial College. 

Zenotech’s zCFD code base will be further developed for industrial use in the aerospace and adjacent sectors, including automotive and renewables. zCFD is freely available for academic research use, and all industrial licenses are for unlimited scale, which can be downloaded here. This code makes use of modern hardware including the latest GPUs from NVIDIA. 

The Aircraft Research Association will develop new high order meshing tools for industrial use while Bombardier will provide industrial challenge test cases and evaluation. CFMS will lead the industrialisation of the process, benchmarking and dissemination activities. 

David Standingford, Zenotech director and co-founder, commented:

“After the success of Hyperflux++, we are delighted to continue to participate and innovate in this field with our partners. Zenotech’s zCFD product plays a vital role in this new project helping to improve performance in the aerospace and engineering sectors, and contributing to the advances that will help to position the UK as a leader in aerospace.”

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