Monday, May 08, 2006
Software accelerates thermal simulations
Software enables users to set up and view a first-pass airflow and heat transfer simulation in minutes while generating high-fidelity design reviews up to 20 times faster than previous versions.
Blue Ridge Numerics has released a new version of its CFdesign software that enables users to set up and view a first-pass airflow and heat transfer simulation in minutes while generating high-fidelity design reviews up to 20 times faster than with previous versions. CFdesign V9, developed for multitasking mechanical and thermal engineers, also offers new analysis features to increase innovation during electronic systems development. CFdesign is used by electronics engineers worldwide to determine chip-junction temperatures in electronics devices, visualise and optimise airflow patterns in enclosures, generate detailed simulations of novel heatsink designs in real-world usage scenarios, test inlet and outlet louvres, hole patterns and hidden air vents, and place critical components in ruggedised systems.
Automation in CFdesign V9 allows both novices and experts to breeze through simulation set-up thanks to two new features: auto mesh sizing and rules on parts.
Auto mesh sizing performs a comprehensive topological interrogation of the geometric model, assigning mesh sizes based on curvature, geometric gradients, and proximity to neighbouring features.
An optimally sized surface and volume mesh ensures faster mesh generation and higher-quality simulation results without any user input.
'This was the last aspect of our software that required some guru-like CFD expertise', says Ed Williams, President of Blue Ridge Numerics.
'With auto mesh sizing, that headache is a thing of the past'.
CFdesign V9 beta customers report meshes to be cleaner and smoother, critical transition regions are instantly and expertly managed, and the ultimate CFD solution is achieved faster than ever before.
The new rules on parts feature in CFdesign V9 intelligently detects MCAD part names within an assembly and automatically assigns volumetric boundary conditions and material properties.
Boundary conditions include heat generation and total heat generation, both of which can be steady-state, transient or temperature dependent.
Materials are assigned from CFdesign's customisable library of fluids, solids, printed circuit boards and the newly added two-resistor electronic components.
The new Accelerant solver within CFdesign V9 uses proprietary CPU optimisation algorithms to radically reduce the time it takes to achieve fully converged fluid-flow and heat-transfer results.
Testing conducted by Blue Ridge Numerics and CFdesign customers show that simulation results for simple models can be generated 40% faster than in previous versions and extremely complex simulations can be completed up to 2000% faster.
'We're addressing the need for speed', says Williams.
'Our surveys show that CFdesign is up to 70% faster than physical test methods and 65% faster than traditional CFD tools for electronics cooling'.
Blue Ridge Numerics has added new analysis features in CFdesign V9 based on its long-established premise that advanced functionality is fully compatible with ease of use.
Compact thermal models allow electronics, mechatronic and thermal engineers to answer one of the biggest questions related to product reliability: 'What are the temperatures within integrated circuits during system operation?'.
CFdesign V9 can supply junction and case temperature and heat transfer information for every component within the system and supports a wide range of microchip configurations.
Supported microchip configurations include BGA (ball grid array), PBGA (plastic ball grid array), TBGA (taped ball grid array), FC-BGA (flip chip ball grid array), QFP (quad flatpack), PQFP (plastic quad flatpack), NQFP (no-lead quad flat ack), and SOIC/SOP (small-outline IC/small-outline package).
The PCB characteriser provides a simple way to accurately include thermal characteristics of any PCB material within a CFdesign simulation.
The unique properties of each copper and dielectric (FR-4) layer are specified, allowing conductivities to be computed automatically and applied within the simulation.
Each characterised PCB can be added to the CFdesign material library for re-use, and can be automatically assigned with the new rules on parts functionality.
Solar loading shows transient electromagnetic heat transfer from the sun, which can for example affect the performance of outdoor security cameras, climate control systems and power utility transformers.
This feature includes radiation through transparent media and even shows shadowing based on the movement of the sun.
Simulation set up is simple: specify time of year, time of day and location on the globe using the database in CFdesign, or assign specific latitude/longitude co-ordinates.
Thermostatically controlled fans and blowers enable users to control a fan or blower with a specified trigger temperature.
The fan is activated automatically when trigger temperature is reached to provide a highly realistic view of full-cycle system performance.
CFdesign V9 delivers its greatest value to the customer when used to conduct comprehensive design optimisation studies prior to physical prototype testing.
The software contains two new enabling technologies for this effort: process automation scripting and the design review server.
Process automation scripting allows users to create a project-specific script that defines model set up, analysis execution, and results extraction for a large number of similar analyses that differ parametrically.
A tradeoff study containing unlimited result quantities is presented as a function of the varying input.
Scripts can also be created that allow CFdesign to operate as part of a design optimisation environment.
The design review server distributes computations across available networked computers, providing a convenient way to conduct extensive, highly interactive design review sessions while working within current hardware and network limits.
CFdesign V9 is fully associative and integrated with Autodesk Inventor, Catia V5, CoCreate, Pro/Engineer Wildfire, SolidWorks, Solid Edge and UGS NX 3D MCAD systems.
Fluid-flow and heat-transfer results can be transferred as an input deck for structural simulations in Abaqus, Ansys, Cosmos, Nastran and Pro/Mechanica.
Blue Ridge Numerics has released a new version of its CFdesign software that enables users to set up and view a first-pass airflow and heat transfer simulation in minutes while generating high-fidelity design reviews up to 20 times faster than with previous versions. CFdesign V9, developed for multitasking mechanical and thermal engineers, also offers new analysis features to increase innovation during electronic systems development. CFdesign is used by electronics engineers worldwide to determine chip-junction temperatures in electronics devices, visualise and optimise airflow patterns in enclosures, generate detailed simulations of novel heatsink designs in real-world usage scenarios, test inlet and outlet louvres, hole patterns and hidden air vents, and place critical components in ruggedised systems.
Automation in CFdesign V9 allows both novices and experts to breeze through simulation set-up thanks to two new features: auto mesh sizing and rules on parts.
Auto mesh sizing performs a comprehensive topological interrogation of the geometric model, assigning mesh sizes based on curvature, geometric gradients, and proximity to neighbouring features.
An optimally sized surface and volume mesh ensures faster mesh generation and higher-quality simulation results without any user input.
'This was the last aspect of our software that required some guru-like CFD expertise', says Ed Williams, President of Blue Ridge Numerics.
'With auto mesh sizing, that headache is a thing of the past'.
CFdesign V9 beta customers report meshes to be cleaner and smoother, critical transition regions are instantly and expertly managed, and the ultimate CFD solution is achieved faster than ever before.
The new rules on parts feature in CFdesign V9 intelligently detects MCAD part names within an assembly and automatically assigns volumetric boundary conditions and material properties.
Boundary conditions include heat generation and total heat generation, both of which can be steady-state, transient or temperature dependent.
Materials are assigned from CFdesign's customisable library of fluids, solids, printed circuit boards and the newly added two-resistor electronic components.
The new Accelerant solver within CFdesign V9 uses proprietary CPU optimisation algorithms to radically reduce the time it takes to achieve fully converged fluid-flow and heat-transfer results.
Testing conducted by Blue Ridge Numerics and CFdesign customers show that simulation results for simple models can be generated 40% faster than in previous versions and extremely complex simulations can be completed up to 2000% faster.
'We're addressing the need for speed', says Williams.
'Our surveys show that CFdesign is up to 70% faster than physical test methods and 65% faster than traditional CFD tools for electronics cooling'.
Blue Ridge Numerics has added new analysis features in CFdesign V9 based on its long-established premise that advanced functionality is fully compatible with ease of use.
Compact thermal models allow electronics, mechatronic and thermal engineers to answer one of the biggest questions related to product reliability: 'What are the temperatures within integrated circuits during system operation?'.
CFdesign V9 can supply junction and case temperature and heat transfer information for every component within the system and supports a wide range of microchip configurations.
Supported microchip configurations include BGA (ball grid array), PBGA (plastic ball grid array), TBGA (taped ball grid array), FC-BGA (flip chip ball grid array), QFP (quad flatpack), PQFP (plastic quad flatpack), NQFP (no-lead quad flat ack), and SOIC/SOP (small-outline IC/small-outline package).
The PCB characteriser provides a simple way to accurately include thermal characteristics of any PCB material within a CFdesign simulation.
The unique properties of each copper and dielectric (FR-4) layer are specified, allowing conductivities to be computed automatically and applied within the simulation.
Each characterised PCB can be added to the CFdesign material library for re-use, and can be automatically assigned with the new rules on parts functionality.
Solar loading shows transient electromagnetic heat transfer from the sun, which can for example affect the performance of outdoor security cameras, climate control systems and power utility transformers.
This feature includes radiation through transparent media and even shows shadowing based on the movement of the sun.
Simulation set up is simple: specify time of year, time of day and location on the globe using the database in CFdesign, or assign specific latitude/longitude co-ordinates.
Thermostatically controlled fans and blowers enable users to control a fan or blower with a specified trigger temperature.
The fan is activated automatically when trigger temperature is reached to provide a highly realistic view of full-cycle system performance.
CFdesign V9 delivers its greatest value to the customer when used to conduct comprehensive design optimisation studies prior to physical prototype testing.
The software contains two new enabling technologies for this effort: process automation scripting and the design review server.
Process automation scripting allows users to create a project-specific script that defines model set up, analysis execution, and results extraction for a large number of similar analyses that differ parametrically.
A tradeoff study containing unlimited result quantities is presented as a function of the varying input.
Scripts can also be created that allow CFdesign to operate as part of a design optimisation environment.
The design review server distributes computations across available networked computers, providing a convenient way to conduct extensive, highly interactive design review sessions while working within current hardware and network limits.
CFdesign V9 is fully associative and integrated with Autodesk Inventor, Catia V5, CoCreate, Pro/Engineer Wildfire, SolidWorks, Solid Edge and UGS NX 3D MCAD systems.
Fluid-flow and heat-transfer results can be transferred as an input deck for structural simulations in Abaqus, Ansys, Cosmos, Nastran and Pro/Mechanica.
# posted by Swathi @ 12:34 PM 
