PhD Thesis - staffweb - University of Greenwich

PhD Thesis by John Ewer.that constitute a research program capable of providing answers to the unknowns of this study.1.3.1 Main objectiveThe main objective of this investigation was to research and test for the potential benefits anddisadvantages of using interactive control and monitoring of a CFD code during thecomputational simulation process.1.3.2 Subsidiary objectivesThe main objective relies on having a suitable interactive CFD code on which to perform theresearch and so the first subsidiary objectives that must be met were: to analyse, design andimplement a fully functional interactive CFD system and subsequently to use it to investigateinteractive control techniques. This lead to the following sequentially ordered objectives:1.3.2.1 Analyse the requirements for the new interactive CFD systemThe new interactive CFD system would require sufficient numerical simulation functionality torun non-trivial CFD cases with adequate control options to allow experimental research into thepotential benefits of interactive control. This meant that the requirements analysis of the targetsystem would have to be performed prior to designing the architecture and functionality of anynew system.1.3.2.2 Design a prototype software system and user interfaceThe required system design was imposed on the legacy CFD code to extend the capability tofully interactive control and monitoring. A suitable programming paradigm and targetimplementation language were selected to enable the user interface and numerical componentsto be coupled. Wherever possible, heavy use was made of "good" software engineeringprinciples to ensure that the development system has an extended useful life and can be used inthe future as a comprehensive CFD application framework for a multitude of research purposes.1-6