Definition
Plain language
Using computers to simulate how air, water, or other fluids flow around objects.
As stated in the literature
Computational Fluid Dynamics, the numerical solution of fluid-flow governing equations; the domain of the Apollo re-entry and hypersonic shock-capturing case studies in agentic scientific-computing frameworks.
Also called: computational fluid dynamics
Why it matters: It lets designers test and refine how fluids behave around objects safely and cheaply on a computer before committing to real hardware.
For example, engineers use it to simulate how superheated air flows around a capsule as it re-enters the atmosphere, without building a physical wind tunnel for every shape.