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Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim

foil.olelohonua.com

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Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim

#1

Post by rbrownmh »

Hi HN!

A while back, I started exploring ways to make aerodynamic simulation more interactive and visual for the web. I wanted something that felt immediate—intuitive enough for students, fast enough for hobbyists, and hackable enough for engineers. That’s how Olelo Foil was born.

Foil is a browser-based airfoil simulator written in JavaScript using Three.js and WebGL. It lets you interactively explore how airfoils behave under different conditions, all rendered in real time. Right now, it uses simplified fluid models, but I’m working toward integrating Navier-Stokes for more accurate simulations—and I’d love help from anyone interested in fluid dynamics, GPU compute, or numerical solvers.

I’m also building Olelo Honua, an educational platform focused on Hawaiian STEM content and digital tools. Foil is one piece of that larger vision—bringing STEM education into the browser with open, accessible tools.

Check it out, and if you're interested in collaborating (especially on the physics side), I’d love to connect!

Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim
foil.olelohonua.com

Re: Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim

#5

Post by rbrownrw8 »

rbrownrw8 wrote: post #4
hbrav wrote: post #3

I have a background in fluid dynamics and may be interested in helping with this. Is there a way for me to contact you?

Do you have Reddit by chance? Feel free to DM me u/Creative_Walrus_5197

(and I'll give you my email just want to avoid too much spam)

Re: Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim

#8

Post by addaon »

addaon wrote: post #7

Unless you're planning to resolve the boundary layer and model separation (good luck...), you'd probably be better off using panel methods than NS. Look at XFoil or JavaFoil for available implementations.

Also, it looks like you might have a bug in generating the airfoil shape. An airfoil like the 8412, while extreme, is well-defined and constructible from NACA-style combination of thickness and camber forms; but you show it as having a "kink" on the bottom surface, which is definitely not correct.

Re: Show HN: Olelo Foil - NACA Airfoil Sim

#10

Post by observationist »

addaon wrote: post #8
addaon wrote: post #7

Unless you're planning to resolve the boundary layer and model separation (good luck...), you'd probably be better off using panel methods than NS. Look at XFoil or JavaFoil for available implementations.

Also, it looks like you might have a bug in generating the airfoil shape. An airfoil like the 8412, while extreme, is well-defined and constructible from NACA-style combination of thickness and camber forms; but you show it as having a "kink" on the bottom surface, which is definitely not correct.

841220 is interesting, if you want to see what a borg cube aerodynamics might look like.
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