Abstract
The objective of this work is to focus the mesh adaptation process in computational fluid dynamics codes to better estimate the drag, lift, and moment coefficients. This is achieved by an integral-based error indicator that controls the element size and the classical Hessian-based error to control the element orientation. Using such an error indicator leads to the improvement of the physical quantities formulated by integrals, such as the aforementioned drag, lift, and moment coefficients. In addition, it avoids the excessive variation in element size that occurs when a pure Hessian is used. As a consequence, the entire field solution accuracy is improved.