Volkswagen engineers have found that, in order to accurately simulate the engine compartment, the analysis should include:

• representation of the heat exchanger packages
• the effects of fans
• reasonable inlet and wall boundary conditions (turbulence, etc.)
• thermal radiation effects
• conjugate heat transfer

If you believe (as I do) that we will not see a dramatic revolution in CFD technology, but rather the continual evolution of the current tools (there will be no "black box" into which you can speak "optimize this system for me"), then you can see that what we need is a revolution in the way in which we use CFD as a tool. A large amount of time has been spent developing and validating the CFD tools we use, but very little time has been spent developing an efficient manner for using the tools and for passing that information along to the uninitiated user.

CFX-TASCflow version 2.11, designed for analysis of mechanical engineering flows, includes a new user-customizable interface, a new solver monitor for tracking the solution progress, significant improvements to the transient analysis capabilities, new turbulence models including LES and a non-linear eddy viscosity model, and enhanced post processing.

CFX-TurboGrid is an interactive grid generation tool designed to ensure an accurate mesh in the blade passage of turbo-machines. The new version uses a variety of new features to speed up processing and improve functionality. These include a customizable application launcher, a new smoothing capability to increase the quality of meshes produced, a control for the parameterization of meridional space in geometries with a highly curved blade passage, and further increases in the speed of the post processor.

As part of a strengthening relationship with ICEM CFD Engineering, Inc., AEA Technology, has released CFX-Hexa, a parameterized top-down mesh generator for CFD applications. CFX-Hexa, based on the well-established ICEM CFD Hexa product, offers time and money savings to engineers by producing high-quality hexahedral grids in a fraction of the time associated with traditional methods.

CFX-Hexa features fast grid generation algorithms, patch-independent meshing, hanging node refinement, elliptic smoothing, simple geometry creation, a new multi-block smoother and enhanced STL/CAD repair. CFX-Hexa is initially launched as an integrated grid-generating option in CFX-TASCflow, CFX-4 and CFX-5.

The quarter also saw the sale of the 500th SGI Reality Center immersive visualization facility which based on the Onyx family.

The annual conference, which is hosted by a different NASA site each year, focuses on the applications of thermal and fluids analysis in the aerospace field.

The conference features:

• Short courses on topics of interest to the community
• Hands-on classes where participants can evaluate software
• Product overview lectures from commercial software vendors
• Fluid and thermal analysis papers