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ESI Group's CFD Division is proud to announce that the Spring 2008 (V2008.2) release is complete and ready for delivery. The fact that this
release comes just six months after our last major release proves that
ESI Group is working hard to implement the features that the market
demands in a timely manner. We welcome and encourage all of our
customers to download and use the latest versions which include
numerous enhancements.
Included in the Spring 2008 (V2008.2) release are significant updates to:
- CFD-ACE+ Advanced CFD and Multiphysics Solver
- CFD-FASTRAN CFD Physics Solver
- CFD-CADalyzer Upfront CFD Design Tool
- CFD-GEOM Geometry Modeler and Mesh Generator
- CFD-VisCART Cartesian Mesh Generator
- CFD-VIEW Solution Analysis and Visualization Tool
Enhancements have been made to increase usability, robustness, and accuracy
and we are sure that these new versions will make for a worthwhile upgrade to
your CFD toolset.
The remainder of this note gives you some information about the V2008.2
software release. Please read on to learn more about the
updates and let us know if you have
any comments or questions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are running V2007.x or earlier software
version, then you may require a new license to run V2008.x
versions! If you are currently running V2008.0 then you will NOT need a
new license to run V2008.2. ESI Group licensing policy requires
licensing to the version
of the software. This means that if you currently have a V2007.x
(or earlier) license file you will need to replace it with a V2008.x
license file.
These are available upon request from your ESI license or sales
representative. If you are not sure who that is you should contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
please include your existing V2007.x license file for the quickest service.
Spring 2008 (V2008.2) Release Highlights
As with previous releases, there are many improvements
to features, performance, and robustness. Below is a short bullet list of
some of the top reasons why you should consider upgrading to V2008.2. For a full
description of the new and improved features, as well as usage and limitation
information, please consult the relevant release note document which is included
in the software package download files and can also be found here (login required).
Fast Time Stepping (FTS)
Fast Time Stepping (FTS) is a new feature to speedup
transient simulations. FTS is currently based on the Fractional Step
Method (FSM). FTS cuts down the simulation time compared to the
standard timestepping by a factor of about 5 for simple flow problems,
and even more for practical (industrial) flows.
Spray Flash Vaporization
A new model has been implemented to accurately predict the evaporation of spray droplets injected under superheated state.
Copy/Paste BC/VC Records
Copy and paste boundary condition and volume
condition information as well as initial conditions, spray injectors,
fans, momentum resistances, etc. Can be copied within the current model
or even from one model to another.
BC Integral Output
BC Integral Output ("Out->Print->BC Integral
Output") setup dialog automatically detects all unique boundary names
and allows you to pick from a list.
Journaling for Database Manager
All the actions you perform in the Database Manager
are now recorded in the Python script. You can see the script by
clicking on "Tools->Edit Python Script" menu. Journaling must be
turned on in order to use this feature.
Incorporation of PETSc Solvers
The use of the PETSc cgs and gmres linear equation
solvers from Argonne National Laboratories has been added in this
release. These solvers enhance stability for convergence performance.
Support for Pro/E Wildfire 4
CFD-CADalyzer now has support to work with Pro/E Wildfire 4 installations.
Model Inversion
Given a set of "capping" surfaces, this tool will
create the internal fluid domain from the unstructured domains in the
current model. Optionally, the original solids can be retained.
Model Splitting
Split the current model at a specified plane. All
unstructured domains intersecting the plane are split and those that do
not are left unaltered. Optionally, the desired portion of the model
(inside or outside or both) can be retained. The tool automatically
builds new surfaces along the intersecting plane to close off any new
domains.
BC/VC Grouping
BC/VC grouping has been added to facilitate DTF
grouping of related BC/VC entities. This is primarily useful when the
grouped entities are processed in other applications such as
CFD-ACE-GUI as it minimizes the number of BC/VC records that the you
typically see and makes the model setup a much easier process.
Python Macros
Allows the execution of Python scripts on the
current model. This allows you to add your own custom capabilities to
CFD-GEOM and to use those capabilities interactively from the CFD-GEOM
GUI.
Export All Surface Meshes to STL
2D structured blocks can now be exported to the STL
format. The quadrilateral typically present in such a mesh are
automatically split into triangles.
Discrete Mesh Modeling
As a first step to allowing users to work with
geometries only defined by meshes such as STL, NASTRAN, PATRAN and
other mesh formats, a discrete modeling system has been implemented.
The system currently allows eleven different operations including,
merging/joining, outline/critical feature extraction, intersections,
and boolean operations.
Additional CAD File Import Options
The following CAD file formats have been added:
CATIA V4, CATIA V5, SolidWorks, Parasolid, Unigraphics, PRO/E and STEP.
All these formats are supported on 32 and 64 bit Windows based
platforms while 32 bit Linux platforms only support Parasolid,
Unigraphics, PRO/E and STEP. The importers are not available on other
Unix or 64 bit Linux platforms. These importers are licensed
separately.
Viscous Boundary Layer Support (BETA)
The viscous boundary layer generation function is
brought back with a completely different algorithm. It is added as a
post processing step and you have choices to generate boundary layer
for required domains and/or patches. The current version handles
relative simple geometries. This should be considered BETA capability
and we welcome all feedback.
Additional CAD File Import Options
The following CAD file formats have been added:
CATIA V4, CATIA V5, SolidWorks, Parasolid, Unigraphics, PRO/E and STEP.
All these formats are supported on 32 and 64 bit Windows based
platforms while 32 bit Linux platforms only support Parasolid,
Unigraphics, PRO/E and STEP. The importers are not available on other
Unix or 64 bit Linux platforms. These importers are licensed
separately.
Improved ShrinkWrap Mesher
Much better feature capture mechanism and mesh
smoothing are added into the ShrinkWrap mesher. Features are better
preserved and surface mesh quality is better.
Improved Single-Domain Mesher
The same feature capture and mesh smoothing methods
(as used for shrinkwrap mesher) are added into the single-domain
mesher. You will see better feature preservation and a smoother surface
mesh when you activate the feature preservation mechanism. Note, this
algorithm will take longer time to run and final volume mesh may have
bad cells which cannot be removed.
Improved Mesh Improvement Method
The new method can remove bad cells more efficiently than before. Many previously irremovable bad cells can now be removed.
Local Cell-size Control per-Domain
You now have control of the local cell size per
domain. Each domain can be given a local cell size which overwrites the
global cell size control if the local cell size is smaller than global
one.
Wind Tunnel Tool
For simulation efforts with a fixed wind tunnel
configuration, this tool provides a quick way to setup the outside
bounding box to match the wind tunnel configuration.
Wireframe Display of Geometry
For patches with millions of triangle faces, this
feature will speedup the drawing of geometries and make easier for you
to do graphic manipulations (rotate/pan/zoom).
Headless Operation (No GUI Display)
CFD-VIEW now supports "headless" operation (no GUI
display) for batch processing with Python scripts. This also gives the
ability to run CFD-VIEW on server systems (nodes which do not have a
display).
Scripting Improvements
CFD-VIEW's scripting system has been greatly
improved and simplified, while maintaining compatibility with existing
user scripts. Error reporting from Python is much more clear, as well
as better function argument checking in CFD-VIEW. Many new simplified
functions have been added, with many more to come. The new system also
allows newer functions to be added easily, so user requests for
additional functionality can be addressed much quicker by ESI.
New Calculator Functions
New calculator functions have been added, with more
to come. New for this release are Average, Line Integral, and Mass
Averaged functions. User requests for new functions are always welcome.
Font Updates
Font choices have been improved for the Legend, Origin, and Axes. All system fonts are now available.
Improved Animation Recording
Animation recording has been greatly simplified. Now, when
the record button is clicked on the animation panel, an improved and
simplified record dialog is presented, and the animation is then
automatically launched and saved. Multiple procedures are not required
with the new one step system.
Text Input Improvements
Numerical data entry into text fields has been improved in areas such as the 3D Viewer orientation settings.
V2008.2 Installation
The V2008.2 software will be installed parallel to your existing
V2008.0 (or earlier) installation. This means that you will have access
to both versions should you desire. However, only V2008.2 will be
supported going forward so you should use V2008.2 to get access to
future bug fixes and feature improvements. Step-by-step instructions
for the installation of V2008.2 can be found here (login required).
Regards,
Richard Thoms
Product Manager - ESI CFD
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