Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was developed over 40 years ago by engin-
engineers and mathematicians to solve heat and mass transfer problems in aeronautics,
vehicle aerodynamics, chemical engineering, nuclear design and safety, ventilation
and industrial design. Whilst the fundamental equations of fluid motion that formed
the basis of such codes had been well known since the 19th century, their solution for
problems with complex geometry and boundary conditions required the develop-
development of efficient numerical solution techniques and the ability to implement these on
digital computers. The development of this technology in the 1950s and 1960s made
such research possible, and CFD was one of the first areas to take advantage of the
newly emergent field of scientific computing. In the process, it was soon realized that
CFD could be an alternative to physical modelling in many areas of fluid dynamics,
with its advantages of lower cost and greater flexibility.