Posts

Happy Holidays! (Bulk Tutorial Release)

This content release has been a long time coming. Just in time for the Holidays, I’ve finally managed to produce material for all five expected Chapters which means that the OpenVSP Ground School site is fully baselined in a structure that can be built upon over time. The new content outlined below has been released along with new VSPU tutorial models for you to follow along and learn the material in short, focused sessions.

Hopefully, the background work that goes into producing content and creating the site pages is relatively unseen to you as the user. My intent is to provide a simple, intuitive, and accessible library of content for everyone from those brand new to OpenVSP to long-time expert developers and seasoned engineers. However, if you find that something is broken, confusing, or even incorrect, please help out by sending me an email from the Contact page. Sometimes things can fall through and the sooner I know about an issue, the sooner I can address it.

I hope that you all enjoy the tutorials and find them helpful. I’ve had a great experience producing this content and will continue to build the library over time (though in smaller bites). Wishing everyone a very Happy Holidays and the best of luck in the New Year!

– Brandon Litherland (NASA LaRC, Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch)

New Content:

  • Updated VSPU Tutorial Model Files (download the new Zip)
  • Chapter 1
  • Cross-Section Details
    • Cross-Section Area and H/W Controls
  • Chapter 3
  • Comp Geom
    • Comp Geom Introduction and Use
  • Planar Slice
    • Planar Slice Introduction
    • Planar Slice Use and Behavior
  • Mass Properties Analysis
    • Mass Properties Analysis Introduction
    • Mass Properties Analysis Execution
    • Mass Properties Result File Overview
  • Projected Area
    • Projected Area Introduction
    • Projected Area Targets
    • Projected Area Boundaries
    • Projected Area Direction
  • VSPAERO Basics
    • VSPAERO Introduction
    • VSPAERO GUI Overview
    • VSPAERO Reference Values
    • VSPAERO Viewer Basics
    • VSPAERO Results Manager Overview
  • Parasite Drag
    • Parasite Drag Introduction and Use
    • Parasite Drag Flow Conditions
    • Parasite Drag Equation Options
    • Parasite Drag Component Grouping
    • Parasite Drag Excrescence
  • Chapter 4
  • Importing Files
    • Introduction to Importing Files
    • Inserting VSP3 Models
    • Importing Meshes
    • Importing Wireframes
    • Importing OpenVSP v2 Models
    • Importing Point Clouds
    • Importing Blade Element Models
  • Exporting Models
    • Model Export Introduction
    • Triangulation Exports
    • Untrimmed CAD Export
    • Airfoil Export
  • DegenGeom
    • Introduction to DegenGeom
    • DegenGeom Breakdown and Visualization
  • Chapter 5
  • Curve Editor
    • Edit Curve Introduction
    • Edit Curve Display Options
    • Curve Editor Background Images
    • Initializing Edit Curve Types
    • Converting Body Cross-Sections to Edit Curves
    • Avoiding Edit Curve with Airfoils
    • Scale XSec with Edit Curve
    • Adding and Removing Points in Curve Editor
    • Adding Radius to Edit Curves
    • Edit Curve U and G1
    • Reparametrize Edit Curves by Arc Length
    • Three-Dimensional Curves

Chapter 2 Content Updated

Hi everyone!

I wanted to post an announcement that the Chapter 2 content has been updated to include tutorials on Subsurfaces and, for now at least, will be considered topic-complete. I’ll be cycling back and adding more demos, procedures, and exercises later but for now the videos will provide an overview of the information you need.

Thank you!

OpenVSP Workshop 2022 Reminder

2022 OpenVSP Workshop Page

National Institute of Aerospace main building.

This year we are hosting the event at the National Institute of Aerospace located at 100 Exploration Way Hampton, VA 23666. Please save the dates of August 9-11, 2022 (Tuesday – Thursday).  We may also reserve seating for a social event in the evening depending on safety and social distancing. We are approaching our limit for attendees so please send us your information soon if you know that you will participate!

What is the OpenVSP Workshop?

The OpenVSP Workshops are annual opportunities for users of all experience levels, including those with no prior experience, to learn about ongoing OpenVSP development and features directly from the source and to gain knowledge and skill in leveraging a versatile aerospace geometry design and analysis software. Representatives from NASA, Department of Defense, Industry, and Academia participate in the workshop alongside individual users to showcase new research, demonstrate improvements to aerospace discipline solvers and codes, and to provide OpenVSP best-practices to the user community. The Workshop also serves as an opportunity for developers and users to come together to discuss ideas and pose questions that help to guide the future of OpenVSP capabilities.

Call for Participants

If you are interested in presenting at this year’s workshop, we’d like to know! Novel OpenVSP applications, ongoing research with OpenVSP as a primary geometry or analysis tool, modifications or development to the source code, and optimization or toolchain integration with OpenVSP are among the topics we would be happy to include. Note that the focus of presentations should be OpenVSP or it’s application rather than presenting on a particular design or optimization solution. Please send your presentation topic and title along with your registration information.

Registration information must be emailed to Brandon Litherland (NASA LaRC) to confirm your seat. Please include:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Organization affiliation or Self
  • Any topics of interest you would like to see at the workshop.
  • Presentation topic and title, if interested in sharing your work.

The workshop will be in-person only this year but we will be uploading recorded presentations along with slides after the workshop is concluded.

There are no registration fees!

The NIA has kindly offered to arrange catered lunches and refreshments for all attendees while our generous sponsors have agreed to cover the costs of meals for everyone! This means that there are no charges or fees for the event itself and we will have plenty of opportunities for networking and discussions over fresh meals and refreshments throughout the workshop.

Note that there will not be a reserved block of lodging rooms for this event but that there are several hotels a short distance from the venue to suit your travel needs.

The agenda will include presentations, tutorials, and recent and ongoing developments to OpenVSP updates. Topics will range from introductory concepts to advanced modeling techniques, interconnectivity between OpenVSP and other tools, analysis and validation, and more!

Additional details will be sent out to registered participants and presenters as the Workshop approaches. Information will be added to this page as the schedule is set.

Please email Brandon Litherland if you have any questions about the Workshop. We look forward to seeing you!Edit

Workshop Sponsors

FlightStream® is an ultra-fast, advanced reimagining of panel method flow solvers for the emerging distributed-electric propulsion, unmanned-aerial-systems aircraft and the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry and is capable of solving the aerodynamics of eVTOL aircraft. The FlightStream® solver is versatile and foundational in its ability to work with unstructured surface grids and have solver run times of only minutes for complex configurations. It has also been developed for specialized applications for the UAM/eVTOL industry under the NASA Transformational Tools and Technologies Program. Research in Flight offers FlightStream® in the form of software licenses, specialized modules driven by customer needs as well as training, support and services centered around FlightStream®.

Announcing the 2022 OpenVSP Workshop!

2022 OpenVSP Workshop Page

National Institute of Aerospace main building.

This year we are hosting the event at the National Institute of Aerospace located at 100 Exploration Way Hampton, VA 23666. Please save the dates of August 9-11, 2022 (Tuesday – Thursday).  We may also reserve seating for a social event in the evening depending on social distancing and interest. The Workshop venue has a 60 person capacity so please send us your intent to attend early!

Call for Participants

If you are interested in presenting at this year’s workshop, we’d like to know! Novel OpenVSP applications, ongoing research with OpenVSP as a primary geometry or analysis tool, modifications or development to the source code, and optimization or toolchain integration with OpenVSP are among the topics we would be happy to include. Note that the focus of presentations should be OpenVSP or it’s application rather than presenting on a particular design or optimization solution. Please send your presentation topic and title along with your registration information.

Registration information must be emailed to Brandon Litherland (NASA LaRC) to confirm your seat. Please include:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Organization affiliation or Self
  • Meal preferences for Tues/Wed/Thurs (if the menus haven’t been posted yet, we will follow up with you)
  • Any topics of interest you would like to see at the workshop.
  • Presentation topic and title, if interested in sharing your work.

The workshop will be in-person only this year but we will be uploading recorded presentations along with slides after the workshop is concluded.

There are no registration fees!

The NIA has kindly offered to handle lunches and refreshments.  Menu options from Jason’s Deli and Marco’s Pizza will be provided once we have updated menus. We may also have a catered lunch available.  Funds will be paid to the NIA on arrival for meals. Cash only, please. You also have the option of eating locally, if you wish. In this case, let us know your choice for the day in question. Your meal choices will be documented with your registration and the appropriate funds will be requested at the event.

Note that there will not be a reserved block of lodging rooms for this event but that there are several hotels a short distance from the venue to suit your travel needs.

The agenda will include presentations, tutorials, and recent and ongoing developments to OpenVSP updates. Topics will range from introductory concepts to advanced modeling techniques, interconnectivity between OpenVSP and other tools, analysis and validation, and more!

Additional details will be sent out to registered participants and presenters as the Workshop approaches. Information will be added to the 2022 Workshop page as the schedule is set.

Please email Brandon Litherland if you have any questions about the Workshop. We look forward to seeing you!

Chapter 2 Content Uploads have Begun!

Hi everyone! It’s been a long time and I apologize for this taking as long as it has. I’ve made the first batch of Chapter 2 content relating to Modeling Design Intent live starting with Component Sets. The rest of the Chapter 2 content has been recorded and uploaded to YouTube so I only need to write up the introductions and make the pages live. We’ll see if I can’t get everything up by the end of the week.

Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy the new tutorials!