3D CAD users offered latest CFD bolt-ons

The integrated applications work together to transform a standard workstation PC into an interactive, 3D flow bench, thermal test rig and wind tunnel. Native Inventor 11 assemblies serve as zero-cost prototypes. Most importantly critical product performance information, which is not ascertainable from physical testing, is made available to the engineer. "Companies derive tremendous value when fluid flow and heat transfer issues are proactively addressed during the early stages of design and within a 3D modelling environment," stated Ed Williams, president at Blue Ridge Numerics. "Autodesk Inventor 11 and CFdesign V8 create an excellent digital prototyping platform that is ideally suited for design engineers and multi-tasking staff that want CFD to be an on-demand tool, not a career path." According to Blue Ridge Numerics, engineering groups using its 'Cfdesign' software "are reducing the time to develop, test and prove new products by, on average, 70 per cent". Customers also said they had cut costs for materials and outside services by some 65 per cent. CFdesign's fluid flow capabilities include: internal and external flow; laminar and turbulent; incompressible and compressible; steady state, transient and two-phase; flow-driven motion; motion-driven flow; and turbomachinery. Heat transfer capabilities of the software include: conduction; convection (natural, mixed and forced); conjugate (simultaneous conduction and convection); radiation; and Joule. Companies using Autodesk Inventor with CFdesign include Alstom Power, BorgWarner Transmission, CompAir UK, Diamond Power, FFE Minerals, Joy Mining and Machinery, Norgren and Parker Hannifin. Moving on to users of a different 3D CAD product, this time Catia V5, users of this software can now benefit from the latest in CFD software from Fluent. With 'Fluent for Catia V5', users get rapid flow modelling technology that enables fluid flow analysis to be applied early in the design cycle, potentially improving design performance and cutting time to market. As a fully integrated tool within Dassault Systèmes' V5 PLM (product lifecycle management) environment, Fluent for Catia V5 is totally compatible with upstream and downstream PLM functions and enables flow simulation to be performed as part of the product development process. Designed to match the workflow of native Catia analysis tools, Fluent for Catia V5 can be easily adopted by current CATIA users. Operating completely within native V5 data structures, the CFD software is fully generative and supports parametric modelling, knowledge-based engineering and analysis-driven optimisation studies within the Catia PLM system.