What Software is Best for Aerospace Engineering Design?

[justPAB]

Hello guys, I have a couple of questions. First off, I want to introduce myself; my name is Pablo, I am 23 years old and I am an Aerospace Engineering major. I've been in school for a while chasing various disciplines, but I'm sticking with my dream; all because of my childhood love for planes and space travel.

I haven't started any courses in college yet dealing directly with my major, the only courses I've completed are Physics 1 and Calculus 1; plus 60 more credits on other things non related, you know the general education stuff. Anyway, sticking to my topic, I would love some help with the types of computer software I can use in designing and developing computer and live models of crafts? In high school I used autocad in my engineering program, but I'm sure there are more specialized programs out there for Aerospace Engineers. Any comments, ideas, suggestions? Thanks for the help!

 

[RandomGuy88]

Hello guys, I have a couple of questions. First off, I want to introduce myself; my name is Pablo, I am 23 years old and I am an Aerospace Engineering major. I've been in school for a while chasing various disciplines, but I'm sticking with my dream; all because of my childhood love for planes and space travel.

I haven't started any courses in college yet dealing directly with my major, the only courses I've completed are Physics 1 and Calculus 1; plus 60 more credits on other things non related, you know the general education stuff. Anyway, sticking to my topic, I would love some help with the types of computer software I can use in designing and developing computer and live models of crafts? In high school I used autocad in my engineering program, but I'm sure there are more specialized programs out there for Aerospace Engineers. Any comments, ideas, suggestions? Thanks for the help!

I don't know your background in aerodynamics but if you haven't taken any courses in aerospace engineering your time might be better spent reading some introductory texts. But if you really want to look at some computer programs don't let me stop you.

It is generally pretty hard to simulate an entire airplane.

NASA developed an interesting educational program that analyzes an airfoil, and might be a good way to get a feel for some of the different airfoil characteristics.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/foil2.html

A really good program for analyzing airfoils is X-FOIL which you should be able to find online. It has a lot of capabilities and is not that difficult to use.

Tornado is a pretty useful code for a preliminary analysis of wings or even a full aircraft but all surfaces are approximated by flat surfaces. It runs in Matlab and is very easy to use. It is also free and can be downloaded from

http://www.redhammer.se/tornado/

Hope some of these help.

 

[ricky2020]

Hello guys, I have a couple of questions. First off, I want to introduce myself; my name is Pablo, I am 23 years old and I am an Aerospace Engineering major. I've been in school for a while chasing various disciplines, but I'm sticking with my dream; all because of my childhood love for planes and space travel.

I haven't started any courses in college yet dealing directly with my major, the only courses I've completed are Physics 1 and Calculus 1; plus 60 more credits on other things non related, you know the general education stuff. Anyway, sticking to my topic, I would love some help with the types of computer software I can use in designing and developing computer and live models of crafts? In high school I used autocad in my engineering program, but I'm sure there are more specialized programs out there for Aerospace Engineers. Any comments, ideas, suggestions? Thanks for the help!

Glad to know you guy. If you are really interested in Aerodynamics, you must face up with some CFD stuffs too. So, I recommend you to read Fundamental of Aerodynamics and Introduction to CFD books. These books will help you understand some basics and foundations. Then, you can know which kind of assumptions are made in XFOIL and other stuffs. Good luck..I'm also the one who devoted myself in Aerodynamics. Catch you later !

 

[viscousflow]

Check out Catia V5, industry standard. The course on that program is required in my university. Its the most useful 3D modeling software you'll ever use. I'm a senior Aerospace Engineering student getting ready to graduate soon. Check out my attachments, its some stuff I've designed in CATIA v5 so far, and I'm only scratching the surface.

edit: physicsforums severely reduces the quality.

 

[alphy]

Hello Pablo,

It's great to hear that you are pursuing your passion for aerospace engineering and that you have a background in physics and calculus. As for computer software, there are several options available for designing and developing models of aircraft and spacecraft. Some commonly used programs in the aerospace industry include CATIA, SolidWorks, and ANSYS. These programs allow engineers to create 3D models, perform simulations, and analyze data for various aerospace applications.

In addition to these specialized programs, it may also be helpful to become proficient in programming languages such as MATLAB or Python, which are commonly used for data analysis and simulations in the aerospace field.

I would also suggest reaching out to your university's aerospace engineering department or joining a professional organization such as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to network with other engineers and learn more about the software and tools used in the industry.

Best of luck in your studies and pursuit of your dream in aerospace engineering!