Airfoil Tools
Free
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Description

Any thing or part that is exposed to a moving gas or liquid can benefit from a streamlined shape.

In particular, wings, fins, ducts, propellers and turbines can all be significantly optimized by finding their optimal-performing correct shape. 

"Optimal" is complicated; it depends on size, speed, turbulence, altitude (or depth), the properties of your medium (temperature and density) and the surface finish you use (rough or smooth). 

To make it even more difficult, many of those things are a range (e.g. speed, temperature, pressure, etc) and when they are, there's often one point in that range where you need to concentrate on optimizing (e.g. cruising speed at cruising altitude). 

Airfoil Tools does this optimization for you.

About This Version

Version 1.2.0, 9/13/2021
Initial release


Screenshots and Videos


Customer Reviews

54 reviews
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  • Best thing you can find
    Yavuz Kağan Yadigar | September 04, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Thanks a lot for sharing that awesome tool for free! We are looking forward for Cowling <3


  • Works a treat.
    Pete Rathbun | August 23, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    As advertised. Thank you!


  • You Saved My Class
    Donald Jacob | June 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Thank you so much, Chris. We have a Fluid Dynamics presentation in 11 days, and I and my friend are designing for the whole class. This really came in handy. Please continue your updates, I am really loking forward to them

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | June 27, 2024

    Good luck with your presentation! You might also love this (not related to Fusion) project: FluidX3d by Dr. Moritz Lehmann, and my branch of his work here https://github.com/gitcnd/FluidX3D/tree/inline_things which is a staggeringly fast modelling implementation. I'm working on porting this to python, so I can integrate it inside my AirFoil tools(not done yet, but my work on making it run from a windows commandline is functional so far).


  • Great tool!
    Jhonatan Lima | April 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very useful, helps a lot with fast design iterations


  • Brilliant!
    Adrian Opheim | March 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Excellent tool when working with anything airfoil-related. I've used it a bunch with imported .dat files from airfoiltools.com. Can varmly reccomend!


  • Very good
    theo montfort | March 21, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very good add-in


  • Such a useful tool!
    Nikolaos Karaiskos | March 17, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Great tool! Thank you Chris for your contributions to the Fusion 360 Community!


  • Awesome Excelent Tool
    Thomas Kaussen | February 29, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    the perfect tool for the job, and with the propeller update absolutely amazing


  • thanks
    Yusuf Eren | January 16, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    thanks for that perfect tool


  • Great Tool
    Sebastian Franken | October 27, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Really nice tool. An awesome improvement would be a wing creator feature which can handle exported data from XFLR to create a wing skeleton and add the specific airfoil to the different sections.


  • Coldshower
    Yu-Chuan Chang | June 17, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Useful tool!


  • Really cool tool
    Gregor Cosmo Macleod | March 22, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very well done and very impressive for a free tool


  • Very good
    函宇 梅 | February 20, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It's useful for my plane desing to 3d print


  • Working well
    Soyhan Erinan | February 19, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Useful tool


  • the best add-on
    Kapa Bit | February 16, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    For RC models 


  • ANSYS Fluent be aware!
    Jon Mayo | February 05, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    XD


  • Thanks
    Emin Emre Özdilek | January 27, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It is so useful for my projects


  • helpful!
    Patric Jäger | January 16, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    The wing itself i created before the update. now, after the update i need an alignment-wing, one, that turns the whole damn thing into the wind. et voila! :) Nice you did the update!


  • Nice
    Егор Головачев | November 21, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    .


  • SUPER
    Stéphane Clerc | November 09, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    SUPER


  • 好用的工具
    志豪 郭 | September 12, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    好用的工具


  • Amazing!
    Maurice Kettenis | August 26, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Thank you very much for creating this incredible addin.


  • Perfect
    Mehmet GÜRAN | June 26, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    perfect tools

     


  • super
    Burak Algül | June 15, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    useful


  • its a great tool
    辉 王 | May 11, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    thank you very useful


  • thank you
    Alexander Sabellnikov | May 08, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    thank you


  • Great add-on, a must have
    simone leone | May 03, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    For one like me that designs things related with water and air is a must have add-on, really grat, good job


  • Excellent script!
    Tehnolog Mechanical | April 27, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Excellent script!


  • No longer working?
    Filip Lingier | April 25, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Loved it, but with the latest Fusion360 version, it no longer appears. Already uninstalled and reinstalled it, nothing…

    hopefully, it gets updated.

     

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | April 26, 2022

    Filip - thanks for your "bug report" - I was able to fix this problem at the server-side, so you will find it works immediately now, if you try again. In future, note that there is a "Get Technical Help" button next to the "Write a review" one: I fix bug reports immediately - it was just a fluke that I noticed you left me a bad review here, instead of a bug report :-) Feel free to fix or delete this "review" if you can.


  • Works Well
    Ethan Johnston | March 20, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Only nit pick would be it asked me to update twice after first install

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | December 09, 2022

    True - the updater needs an update itself (I forgot to cater for folders), then the product. When I sort out the last new feature I'm working on (letting people select an outline for a foil, instead of (or as well as) using formulas to make it) I'll re-submit it to the store (a long and complicated process)


  • Very useful
    Brian Buxton | February 08, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Some features request a vote to finish up the UI. Looking forward to future versions with UI for Cowlings and Ducts.

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | December 09, 2022

    Yes - highly complex math on those, especially when used along with props or turbines (Bernoulli etc). In the meantime, you can sketch a foil of for the flow conditions you expect, then manually "revolve" it to get either a duct or cowling that is at least "close" to what you need.


  • niceeee
    Mehmet Selcuk | January 30, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    useful


  • Top
    lorenzo assiro | January 06, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    awesome


  • great tool
    Alireza Ghanbarzadeh | January 01, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    great tool , totally necassry for beginers like me!


  • Excellent
    Joosep Heering | November 24, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Love it


  • Awesome Tool !
    Mike King | September 17, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I know nothing about aerofoils, but i love printing and flying planes and this is helping me do that.


  • Really cool!
    Alphan Alking | September 07, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I love it!


  • Very good
    Gabriel Giotto | August 12, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Love it,  thank you!


  • fantastic tool
    Anton Levin | June 14, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I really cant believe I stumbled on this right at the time I was planning to make a plane.


  • really usefull !
    alexandre hersent | May 17, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Usefull tool, thank you !


  • Excellent tool!
    Paul Flett | May 13, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Absolutely great tool. Looking forward to seeing it develop!!!


  • Great software!!
    Alexander Hermanns | May 03, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I design model aircraft, and also sailboats. Great software, provides the right set of parameters, is easy to use and produces great results. Well done!


  • Fantastic
    Nathaniel Petre | March 17, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This is such a massive help. THANKS!


  • Really excellent tool
    Tony Clare | February 28, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Only just starting with this tool and already unlocking great insights. Brilliant work.


  • Very nice tool!
    Peter Matejovsky | February 05, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very nice tool! Hope planned features will get implemented as well. 

    Options for wing joiners and aerodynamic fillet would be very usefull. These are most time parts that ake lontime to get right...

     


  • Very nice!
    Douglas Thomson | January 14, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Congratulations Chris, and thankyou for providing this great add-in. Airfoils are not my business, but more an interesting pastime/hobby and having this app gives anyone a great way to explore this fascinating engineering area, and married with Fusion360 really gives the user scope to play. Major applause to you! Software is an area I could get into. What is the app written in? Python?

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | January 15, 2021

    Thanks for the kind review! There are 3 parts to this app: the Fusion 360 add-in (written in Python), the particle-swarm and genetic optimizer (written in Perl), and the CFD solver (Written in Fortran - I kid you not). The "back end" stuff runs on a cluster with 204 high-speed CPUs. Software is a great area to get into - especially if you've got "the knack" (i.e. a logical mind). I'm able to give this away for free because another software product I wrote pays my wages indefinitely - that's the cool thing about software: write it well, and it works indefinitely for you, and you get to spend the money it earns for you :-)


  • Insane that it's free
    Marek Ištok | December 29, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I've never seen this kind of a tool publicly available anywhere, let alone integrated right into a CAD environment. Just amazing.


  • It's great!
    Orazio Vescovi | December 19, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I've been looking for such a tool for a while now, and it is exacly what I needed. Thank you for the amazing resource.

    Hope the propeller generator is added soon.

     

    Orazio, Italy

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | December 29, 2020

    Hi Orazio - thanks for the kind comment. The Prop generator is now included (you might need to open Fusion360 and wait 5 or 10 minutes for the "Update?" option to show in the Add-in first though). Here's a screencast showing how to make props: https://autode.sk/37mAkrs - if you get stuck (or have any comments/feedback), feel free to ask/get in touch!


  • Great tool! can't wait for additional menu options to come live
    Karen Lombard | December 13, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    thanks very much for making this resource available! +1 on hoping the duct option works soon

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | December 29, 2020

    Hi Karen (and @ron toller): would you be able to spare 5 or 10 mins to help me narrow down the questions my add-in needs to ask to produce useful ducts for people? Maybe post in the forum below (or reply by email to fusion360-support@OceanHydro.com.au ): It would be useful to learn what kind of duct you want (I assume for a prop? if not - tell me!), and what information you already know (or can reasonably find out) about it (speed ranges, size, thrust needed, medium, etc) and how you intend to construct it (e.g. must it be fixed, or can you manage a variable nozzle arrangement). The correct shape means the difference between adding (correct) 20% thrust, or robbing (wrong shape) 50% thrust - and the shape is determined from how it will be used, which I somehow need to ask my users to tell me so I can compute it... https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-api-and-scripts/airfoiltools-add-in-current-feature-list-reply-to-this-topic-to/m-p/9888073 Here's a good video showing how badly the wrong duct makes everything worse: https://youtu.be/mY8ZPB0Gs2I?t=39


  • Super Tool
    Walter Reist | November 30, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Bis jetzt habe ich nur das Import Tool für Profile benutzt.Auch für weniger geübte  Anwender ist das Tool ein super Werkzeug mit der Option zum reduzieren der Punkte am Profil ,und es ist auch möglich die Austrittskante  auf die gewünschte Dicke anzupassen. (Last Beta 30.11)

     


  • Great tool
    Kursat Uvez | November 30, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I have been using this tool since its first version. I've tried to do complicated imports from dat files, drawings. This tool allows me to create them easily. It also allows me to see the CL/CD of the sectionsit generated. The features keeps coming, so I expect this to be even better.


  • Ducts
    ron toller | November 24, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Absolutely great tool. I realy hope the ducts will come also so I can use that on my self building cinewhoops 

    Ron, netherlands 

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | November 25, 2020

    Hi Ron - thanks for the review! While the ducts *menu* option isn't yet working, you *can* still make ducts with this tool. Simply generate an airfoil as normal, then sweep it around in a circle to make the duct. That's the simple part. The not-so-simple bit... putting a propeller in the middle means that you've created a "vacuum" at the inlet, and a faster-moving stream of air at the outlet - so the inlet needs to be wider than the outlet (it's best if you can put the prop as close to the inlet opening as possible, so the inlet is not in the way of the air it's trying to suck in!). It's probably worth experimenting with an un-ducted prop and some string or paper, so you can get the outlet size right: https://youtu.be/fbOXXLtaOVg . If it's *wrong*, you reduce the thrust.


  • Airfoil import?
    José Alfredo Rosas | November 16, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It is a really nice and complete tool, but it'd be nice to have the option to import .DAT files.

    Chris Drake (Publisher) | November 17, 2020

    Yes, it does import and export - but you need the updated version for that (go into the Add-in "settings" and click the "check now" box). I posted screenshots of this: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/beta-testers-wanted-for-my-add-in-airfoil-tools-testing-import/td-p/9871893 Besides reading (and, optionally, automatically repairing) any kind of airfoil data file in any known format (or even just excel), it also includes options to re-spline the input, set minimum thicknesses, scale and join to your chosen location, rotate arbitrary amounts, flip it, add constraints, wrap it all around some axis (e.g. for rotating foils, like propellers), and insert elipses (useful for wingtips to have nice ends). I will be submitting this update to the production version after it undergoes more testing.


  • Excellent tool!
    Romain Bazile | October 08, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very useful, full of options and a good documentation, perfect!

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