Getting started with CFD
What computational fluid
dynamics can (and can’t) do
for you.
With so much recent interest in the use of computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) for developing inhalation
and nasal products – an entire afternoon at
RDD 2008 was devoted to papers on the topic – you
may be wondering how to get started using CFD
yourself. The benefits are pretty obvious; why spend
months tweaking device designs and performing
experiments in the laboratory when you can hit a
button on your laptop computer and find out within
minutes how a change in a design dimension will
affect retention time? Before you rush out to buy a
software package with CFD capabilities, however,
make sure that you take the time to understand its
(and your) limitations.