# How to calculate lift and drag of a non-standard aerodynamic body

It is my understanding that the standard method to calculate the lift and drag characteristics of an airfoil is to use formulae and existing data of its coefficients of lift ($C_l$) and drag ($C_d$). However, what methods are employed for a non-standard body (like a sculpture, for example) when such data do not exist and it is impractical to test them experimentally? Is it possible or practical (with computers) to divide the surface of a body into a nominal number of locally-flat planes, and hence calculate the aerodynamic forces acting on each?

• Can you build a small model and test it in a wind tunnel? There are scaling laws you can use to tell how the real thing will behave. Maybe a computer simulation could do it, but I would lean toward experiment, or do both. – Mike Dunlavey May 2 '17 at 15:20
• Thank you for your feedback. I was not sure how to go about phrasing the question, but I have not been specific enough. I am specifically interested in the theory of applying the mathematics, and was wondering how that would be done in the absence of existing data. I thought there might be an approach whereby the aerodynamic forces of the whole were calculated as the (infinite) sum of their parts. If it were possible, I was considering developing a computer programme that would do it. – POD May 3 '17 at 19:52
• Then good luck! I would start here. – Mike Dunlavey May 4 '17 at 13:46