Cerfacs plays a crucial role in aeronautical simulation. Indeed, in France, three of its shareholders (SAFRAN, AIRBUS and ONERA) are the key players in this field. For them, Cerfacs develops solutions for different varieties of aeronautical flow simulations : aerodynamics (e.g. around aircrafts), flows with chemical reaction in combustion chambers (helicopters, rockets, aircrafts), aeroacoustics (jet noise, fan noise, combustion noise), optimization of all these concepts. The codes developed by Cerfacs alone or in partnership (ONERA, CNRS Laboratory) are both used for research in French and European laboratories and for the design of French aeronautical systems : elsA for aircraft aerodynamics at Airbus or for turbines and compressors at SAFRAN, AVBP for combustion chambers for Turbomeca, Snecma, Herakles.
Aeronautics is now a field where the critical point is being able to simulate complete systems rather than build them in order to test them. This is only possible if the simulation codes are precise, reliable and developed efficiently in industry. Cerfacs focuses on the next generation of computational codes, based on totally unteady solutions of equations governing fluid flows. At this point, Cerfacs is strongly linked to French aeronautics, and each year, about 10 newly graduated PhDs have the opportunity to work in the French aeronautical industry.
So Cerfacs also plays a major role in research in simulation for aeronautics, being a partner in training of numerous research masters and in doctoral schools linked to aeronautics.
Dedicated teams
- Aviation and environment
Research areas involved
- Computational Fluid DynamicsEnvironment
