In the year 2000, a German challenger started to work towards a future challenge called Pinta Racing. An international team of experts for hull form design, sailing aerodynamics, and further technical resources were brought together to support an outstanding crew of internationally renowned sailors to challenge the cup holder. The independent consulting company, Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) was asked to join the Pinta Racing’s expert team and perform the hydrodynamic assessment of the new ship hull. The main activities of HSVA comprised CFD computations and natural experimental tests in their large towing tank. The CFD analysis was based on potential flow results using the CFD code Comet from the CD adapco Group.

Amit R. Patel, Lecturer
Mechanical Engineering Department
Faculty of Tech. & Engg.
The M. S. University of Baroda
VADODARA"

Today, the use of fluid flow analysis to solve design problems is slowed by the fact that the person performing the analysis often is not an expert on the design issues involved, while the engineers and customers who know the design best often have difficulty interpreting fluid flow results.

Virtual reality can overcome this problem by creating a computer-generated world in which people who are not analysis experts can see the results in a context that they can easily understand. Even people who are familiar with interpreting analysis results can gain insights that make it possible to understand the root causes of observed problems and plan design changes in much less time.

Virtual reality software is becoming more common and is now available commercially for visualizing CFD results. At the same time, virtual reality hardware has become less expensive leading to increased adoption of this powerful technology.

PERMAS, developed by INTES, is one of the most advanced finite element software systems available in the world. It has been used in the automotive, aerospace, and ship building industries for almost two decades. PERMAS enables the engineer to perform analyses in many fields including statics, dynamics, fluid-structure acoustics, heat transfer, design optimization and reliability.

For all analysis types, highly efficient solvers boost the performance of PERMAS. The elapsed time and the amount of required computer resources are considerably smaller than those of other general-purpose finite element systems. Moreover, the software is continually adapted to the most advanced and powerful computers and also offers fully parallelized computing. An additional benefit is its breakthrough in vibration modal analysis for large models and high number of modes. It also offers extremely fast contact algorithm for large solid models, which results in more accurate stress results. Automated part coupling and automated generation of spotweld connections contribute to reduced modeling times and improved mesh quality.

Bill Wheeler, Director of Structural Engineering at the CD adapco Group says: “We are very excited to be working with INTES. PERMAS is well proven software that has been available for many years in numerous structural analysis departments. This ties in with our vision to provide best quality CAE products and services and is a real step forward”.

Automotive engines typically use the pulse turbocharging method in which the turbine inlet is closely coupled with the exhaust manifold. As a consequence, the turbine is subjected to a highly pulsating flow field caused by, and synchronized with, the opening and closing of the engine valves. However, there is a lack of understanding of the turbine aerodynamics under pulsating conditions. As a consequence of this, over the past decade the Thermofluids Section at Imperial College, London, has focused on researching the aerodynamics of turbocharger turbines under pulsating flow conditions.

The Defence Aeronautics Programme at the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), in South Africa has been a key technology solution provider to the South African Air Force (SAAF) for the past five decades. Considerable resources have been dedicated to Helicopter Technology in particular. The programme’s CFD modeling and simulation, aeroelasticity, advanced structures and wind tunnel facilities, are being used to advance aeronautical technology relevant to helicopters in support of helicopter acquisition, operations, aerodynamic analysis and optimization, flight simulator development, hardware development and improvement.