CFD Software (Computational Fluid Dynamics Software) has been revolutionising engineering and design optimisation practices since the 1980s. It was a time where industries finally began to recognise the immense potential of the CFD concept and started implementing it into their solutions.
Over time, CFD Software has evolved significantly, getting more advanced functionalities and fine-tuning already existing ones. As a result, now it offers cutting-edge features for more precise simulations of heat transfers and fluid flows than ever before.
Consequently, engineers have a powerful piece of software that streamlines the design process, reduces the need for time-consuming physical testing, and enables more accurate predictions, leading to efficient and optimised designs.
Let’s go through the most essential capabilities of the advanced CFD Software we have today.
Capabilities of advanced CFD Software
In fact, modern CFD Simulation Software comes with a wide selection of features that enable thorough analysis.
A few of the most essential advancements in CFD Software are:
Multiphysics integration
Multiphysics integration includes the coupling of diverse phenomena, such as:
- 1. fluid-structure interaction (FSI),
- 2. conjugate heat transfer,
- 3. particles modeling,
- 4. chemical reactions.
Such integration has allowed engineers and designers to get a comprehensive understanding of heat transfers and fluid flows in various realistic scenarios.
As a result, multiphysics coupling helps to make predictions, anticipate issues, and optimise the engineering system’s performance under various conditions (for example, in combustion engines and heat exchangers).
Sophisticated meshing techniques
Sophisticated meshing techniques encompass unstructured and hybrid meshes, or adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). Each of them contributes to:
- 1. enhanced reliability, efficiency, and resolution of flow features,
- 2. better flexibility and robustness of designs,
- 3. more accurate predictions of fluid flows and heat transfers.
Consequently, advanced CFD Software is capable of generating highly accurate representations of complex geometries.
High-performance computing (HPC) integration
HPC systems have increased computation power, which has enabled designers to perform more intricate simulations and decrease the total computational time.
It is also worth mentioning that HPC systems are based on parallel processing, allowing the leveraging of computing power from numerous available CPUs in workstations as well as remote clusters and clouds. As a result, with HPC Integration, CFD Software can compute more efficient complex simulations.
Advanced physical models
Finally, innovative CFD software is equipped with advanced physical models capabilities, such as:
Turbulence models
Such models enable highly precise simulations of turbulent flows, which are common in many real-world applications, for example, aerodynamics and industrial processes.
Multiphase flow models
Multiphase flow models are essential to capture the interactions between different phases of matter (like gas and liquid). They can be used in many applications, such as oil and gas extraction, water treatment, and food processing.
Immiscible and miscible fluid flow models
Such models allow to simulate fluid flows where fluids either do not mix (immiscible) or mix completely (miscible).They are essential in use cases such as chemical mixing, environmental engineering, and pharmaceuticals.
Particles modeling
Particles modeling allows to track the behavior of separate particles in fluid flows. Such models can be used, for example, in simulations of smoke dispersion in air.
Mesh motion and rotating/deforming meshes models
Finally, mesh motion models are useful to simulate flows where the geometry changes over time or rotates, for example, in wind turbines, vehicle aerodynamics, or pumps.
Advanced features of the CFD Software foster the democratisation of the design optimisation process
In fact, the primary impact on the design optimisation revolution of the mentioned capabilities of modern CFD software stems from their capacity to:
- 1. offer an in-depth understanding of design performance,
- 2. create precise simulations.
Along with the development of advanced features in the CFD Software, there have also been improvements in visualisation tools and user interfaces.
Intuitive user interfaces, following the best UX practices, contribute to improved accessibility, better understanding, and easy use of these tools. As a result, modern CFD Software can also be used by non-expert users, which is a step forward towards the democratisation of the design optimisation process.
All in all, modern CFD Software is revolutionising the engineering landscape by equipping engineers with more efficient and highly precise tools.
The combination of multiphysics integration features, sophisticated meshing techniques, HPC computing, advanced physical models, more accessible visualisation tools, and more user-friendly interfaces has expanded the possibilities of design optimisation and enabled more users to take advantage of this technology.
With the ongoing progress and enhancements in CFD Software, we can anticipate a future where the design process becomes even smoother, better informed, and remarkably intuitive, surpassing all previous expectations.