Aircraft Nose-Cone Sharpness CFD Study

Simulation Setup & Boundary Conditions: To build a foundation in aerodynamics and computational analysis, I evaluated the aerodynamic tradeoffs between sharp, ogive, and blunt aircraft nose cones using Autodesk CFD Ultimate. I modeled the 3D aircraft structures in Autodesk Inventor, imported them into a virtual wind tunnel, and defined a fixed upstream flow velocity of 40 m/s.

Data Reduction & Results I ran iterative mesh solutions up to 600 iterations to ensure boundary layer resolution and convergence of drag and lift coefficients. By mapping the theoretical aerodynamic performance, I discovered an inverse relationship between nose sharpness and vertical lift generation: the bluntest profile (Design #1) generated 0.905 lbf of lift, while the sharpest profile (Design #3) reduced drag (Cd = 0.68) but also decreased vertical lift to 0.858 lbf. This project provided an early foundation in reconciling structural CAD models with computational fluid dynamics.

Aerodynamics & Simulation