First Case Workflow

This page walks through the current end-to-end user workflow with one concrete airfoil case. It covers both currently supported 2D solver paths:

  • Hess-Smith on a thick_body airfoil discretization

  • lumped vortex on a thin_body airfoil discretization

Both formulations are part of the current supported runtime path. They solve different geometric interpretations of the same structured case schema, but they are on comparable maturity footing in the current project.

The Two Example Cases

The repository includes two small example case files:

  • examples/naca0012_designation.yaml for the Hess-Smith thick-body path

  • examples/naca0012_designation_lumped_vortex.yaml for the lumped-vortex thin-body path

Both use a NACA 0012 airfoil defined by designation string.

Run The Hess-Smith Case

From the repository root:

panel2d_cli run examples/naca0012_designation.yaml
panel2d_cli inspect examples/naca0012_designation.solution.yaml --include-results

This path uses:

  • solver.formulation: hess_smith

  • a thick-body airfoil discretization

  • a solved artifact written beside the case file

If the case requests post.surface quantities, the CLI also writes a surface CSV beside the artifact.

Run The Lumped-Vortex Case

From the repository root:

panel2d_cli run examples/naca0012_designation_lumped_vortex.yaml
panel2d_cli inspect examples/naca0012_designation_lumped_vortex.solution.yaml --include-results

This path uses:

  • solver.formulation: lumped_vortex

  • a thin-body airfoil discretization

  • the same solved-artifact workflow as the Hess-Smith case

The lumped-vortex path currently emphasizes circulation-based outputs rather than the same surface-pressure-style outputs used by the thick-body Hess-Smith path.

Key Difference In The Case Files

At a high level, the switch between the two paths is:

solver:
  formulation: hess_smith

with the default thick-body discretization, versus:

solver:
  formulation: lumped_vortex

geometry:
  bodies:
    - discretization: thin_body

The surrounding workflow stays the same:

  1. author or edit one structured case file

  2. run the case with panel2d_cli run

  3. inspect or reopen the solved artifact

What To Expect

The current structured workflow is already useful, but it is still intentionally modest in scope. These examples should be read as the main supported public paths rather than as a preview of every future solver or app workflow.

For the broader support boundary, see the project status page.