OpenVSP 3.1.0 brings the much awaited release of VSPAERO, the new vortex lattice solver that has been developed to be a part of OpenVSP. There are a few other improvements and fixes, but I’m certain everyone will want to update to get their hands on VSPAERO.

VSPAERO is a thin-surface code for inviscid subsonic and supersonic aerodynamics. It is multithreaded to make the most of common multi-core computers and uses a mesh agglomeration scheme to improve scaling with large meshes. The matrix is solved with an iterative GMRES solver. VSPAERO includes a simple actuator disk model to represent propulsion-airframe interaction and also the ability to calculate common stability derivatives.

Check out this introductory video on VSPAERO.

Improvements and additions since 3.0.4

• VSPAERO vortex lattice solver and viewer
• VSPAERO integration into OpenVSP GUI
• Initial use of Travis-CI continuious integration build/test server
• Search multiple paths for CustomScripts, working, home, then vsp’s location
• Add home and vsp’s location to favorites pull-down in file select dialog

Bug fixes

• Reading wings with sweep location=1.0 from file (reported by Nick Borer)
• Wing parameter limits now allow tiny segments (reported by Nick Borer)
• Fix Linux build problem introduced at the last moment before 3.0.4