Computational fluid dynamics or computational fluid dynamics, often abbreviated as CFD, is one of the branches of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze fluid flow problems. Computers are used to perform millions of calculations required to simulate the interaction of liquids and gases with complex engineering surfaces. Even with simplified equations and high-performance supercomputers, only approximate results can be achieved in many cases. Continuous research, however, allows the incorporation of software that increases the speed of calculation as well as decreases the margin of error, while allowing the analysis of increasingly complex situations such as transonic fluids and turbulent flows. Verification of data obtained by CFD is usually carried out in wind tunnels or other scale physical models.

One of the fathers of this method of analysis was Suhas Patankar"), who is currently professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota.

The method consists of discretizing a region of space by creating what is known as a spatial mesh, dividing a region of space into small control volumes. Afterwards, the discretized conservation equations are solved in each of them, so that in reality an algebraic matrix is ​​solved in each cell iteratively until the residual is sufficiently small.