Structure for the Vortex Lattice Surface tuple = ("Name of Surface", "Value"). "Name of surface defines the name of the surface in which the data should be applied.
The "Value" can either be a JSON String dictionary (see Section \ref jsonStringVLMSurface)
or a single string keyword string (see Section \ref keyStringVLMSurface).
@section jsonStringVLMSurface JSON String Dictionary
If "Value" is a JSON string dictionary (eg. "Value" = {"numChord": 5, "spaceChord": 1.0, "numSpan": 10, "spaceSpan": 0.5}) the following keywords ( = default values) may be used:
-
groupName = "(no default)"
Single or list of capsGroup names used to define the surface (e.g. "Name1" or ["Name1","Name2",...]. If no groupName variable is provided an attempted will be made to use the tuple name instead;
-
numChord = 10
The number of chordwise horseshoe vortices placed on the surface. Note: The chordwise count may be overridden using the vlmNumChord BODY attribute on a section.
-
spaceChord = 0.0
The chordwise vortex spacing parameter.
-
numSpanTotal = 0
Total number of spanwise horseshoe vortices placed on the surface. The vorticies are 'evenly' distributed across sections to minimize jumps in spacings. numpSpanPerSection must be zero if this is set.
Note: The local spanwise count may be overridden using the vlmNumSpan BODY attribute on a section.
-
numSpanPerSection = 0
The number of spanwise horseshoe vortices placed on each section the surface. The total number of spanwise vorticies are (numSection-1)*numSpanPerSection. The vorticies are 'evenly' distributed across sections to minimize jumps in spacings. numSpanTotal must be zero if this is set.
Note: The local spanwise count may be overridden using the vlmNumSpan BODY attribute on a section.
-
spaceSpan = 0.0
The spanwise vortex spacing parameter.
The local spacing may be overridden using the vlmSspace BODY attribute on a section.
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sortVec = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
Vector for sorting airfoil sections.
By default, section normals are used for sorting.
However, for LINE sections, a sorting direction is necessary if sorting is desired.
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surfaceType = "Wing"
Type of aerodynamic surface being described: "Wing", "Canard", "Tail".
-
interpSpline = NULL
A list of interpolating spline parameters, i.e.
interpSpline = [{"splineName" : ["ribs", "spars"], "dz" : 0.1, method : "IPS"}, {"splineName" : "skin_top", "usage" : "FORCE", "method" : "TPS", "spanLimited": True}]
Available options for each spline interpolation are:
splineName : List of capsSpline attribute values for extracting grid IDs. Must be specified to connect VLM and structural mesh!
Single Value String
If "Value" is a single string the following options maybe used:
