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3DFoil Software for 3D Wing & Hydrofoil Design and Analysis

Learn How to Design & Analyze a Flying Wing with 3DFoil

3DFoil is a fast and accurate software package for Windows 7, 8 and 10 for analyzing finite (3D) wings, keels, rudders and hydrofoils. It gets its speed and accuracy from our novel numerical algorithm that couples the vortex lattice method (based on vortex rings) with a linear strength panel method. Together, these two methods compute accurate values of the lift, drag (both profile and vortex) and moments.

3DFoil has an easy to use interface that enables accurate design and analysis of 3D interacting surfaces (up to 8 in 3DFoil) based on your airfoil cross sectional shapes. The software is used to design wings or hydrofoils with finite spans, taper, twist, dihedral angles and sweep (forward or backward). It is an excellent tool for developing effective winglets, kite hydrofoils, L-foils and other aerodynamic surfaces.

Wing analysis in 3DFoil is more accurate than 2D airfoil analysis because it computes the lift for a finite span of any aspect ratio, the vortex drag and the profile drag. In addition, 3DFoil can perform a full stability analysis for multiple wings that also outputs the angle of flight and the stability derivatives (longitudinal and lateral) for any configuration.

The above tutorial shows how the software is used to design and analyze a flying wing.

3DFoil is a lite version of MultiSurface Aerodynamics with 8 surfaces instead of 30. Please click here for more information about Mutisurface Aerodynamics.

3DFoil requires a PC, Laptop or tablet running MS Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 10.

Click the button below to subscribe to the 8-Surfaces Version of 3DFoil.

One Year: $229 USD

Applications

Wing, Canard, Tail Design & Analysis

Multiplane Design and Analysis

Winglet and End-plate Analysis

Longitudinal and Lateral Stability Analysis

Swept, Tapered and Twisted Wing Analysis

Analysis of Wings with Multiple Dihedral Angles

Keel, Hydrofoil & Rudder Analysis

Multiple Sail (thin membrane) Aerodynamics

Unique Vortex Lattice Approach

Aerodynamics conceptual design and analysis is fast and accurate using 3DFoil. The following analysis methods and tools are available in the software:
  • A vortex-lattice method based on vortex rings
  • A linear strength vortex panel methods for airfoil analysis
  • A novel solution of the ordinary differential equation form of the boundary layer equation for computing profile drag.
  • The ability to analyze any wing shape or wing combination including wings with sweep, twist, dihedral and winglets. MSA can determine drag reduction due to your unique winglets and airfoil cross sectional designs because it computes both profile and induced drag using a fast & accurate proprietary approach.
  • Compute and graph Cl, Cd and Cm vs. angle of attack sweeps for 3-D wing and hydrofoil systems.

Stability Analysis

3DFoil computes the following:
  • Angle of flight
  • Yaw angle (slide slip angle) due to a cross flow
  • Roll rate about CG location (due to control surface deflection or non-symmetric surface)
  • Yaw rate about CG (due to control surface deflection or non-symmetric surface)
  • Rate of change of yaw moment with respect to side slip
  • Rate of change of roll moment with respect to side slip
  • Rate of change of roll moment due to roll rate
  • Rate of change of yaw moment due to yaw rate

Built-in Tools & Solutions

Features
Vortex lattice method (using vortex ring)
Linear Strength Panel Method for Airfoil Analysis
Boundary Layer Solver (for profile drag)
Stall Prediction
Stability Analysis
Three Degree of Freedom Trajectory Analysis
Eight (8) Tapered Surfaces
Mirror Image Setting
Ground Effect Setting
NACA 4, 5 & 6 Digit Airfoil Tool
Built-in UIUC Airfoil Database (Over 1000 airfoils)
Custom Airfoils (Text/DXF File Import)
Precision Airfoil Plotting Utility
Export 3D Wings to STL File
Export Airfoils to DXF File
Printable Performance Reports
Cl, Cd & Cm versus Angle of Attack Plot
Lift/Drag Polar Plot
Streamline Plots
Export Tables to CSV File

How Customers Use MultiSurface Aerodynamics/3DFoil

"For this study, the aerodynamic forces and moments are computed using MultiSurface Aerodynamics (MSA)14 software."

Maqsood, Adnan, and Tiauw Hiong Go. "Study on aerodynamic assisted transition control technique for versatile UAV." 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, Florida AIAA Paper. Vol. 60. 2009.

"The aerodynamics of the aircraft is computed using a commercial code called MultiSurface Aerodynamics (MSA)[10]."

Maqsood, Adnan, and Tiauw Hiong Go. "TRANSITION FLIGHT ANALYSIS OF AN AGILE UNMANNED AIR VEHCILE."

"Each board was analyzed with Hanley Innovations 3DFoil software to assess the lift and drag of the main shaft (vertical portion of the daggerboard) and the tip (horizontal portion). There is a significant carryover of the lift from one foil section to the other ..."

Killing, Steve. "Flight Plans: The introduction and refinement of foils presents intriguing design challenges for the C-Class catamaran teams competing in the "Little Cup"." Professional Boatbuilder, Number 151, October/Novermber 2014.

Featured Videos

Find out how easy it is to analyze a finite wing using MultiSurface Aerodynamics/3DFoil. Watch video.

Sail analysis using MultiSurface Aerodynamics/3Dfoil. Watch video (Note, this movie do not have sound).

Lift distribution along the span for three distinct wing types. Watch video.

Purchase 3DFoil

Click the button below to subscribe to the 8-Surfaces Version of 3DFoil.

One Year: $229 USD

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