Fluent releases Version 5.0 FLUENT software

Citation

(1999), "Fluent releases Version 5.0 FLUENT software", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 71 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1999.12771bab.005

Fluent releases Version 5.0 FLUENT software

Fluent releases Version 5.0 FLUENT software

Keywords Computational fluid dynamics, Fluent, Software

Fluent, supplier of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software, announces the joint release of FLUENT 5.0 and GAMBIT 1.0. FLUENT 5.0 combines and extends two of Fluent's previous software offerings, FLUENT/UNS and RAMPANT, giving users a consolidated tool with an unprecedented ability to model CFD applications.

The combined offering promises users faster turnaround and increased ability to solve a wider array of engineering problems. Fluent's new pre-processor, GAMBIT 1.0, provides users with the latest technology for geometry modelling and mesh generation.

A broad spectrum of companies worldwide use CFD-based virtual prototyping in order to reduce design times and improve performance. The software enables the engineer to build a computer model of a design and simulate fluid flow, heat transfer, chemical reactions or related phenomena. Because designs can be tested and optimised before physical prototyping, time and cost are saved throughout the design process.

FLUENT 5.0 contains a full suite of efficient solver algorithms, including segregated, coupled explicit and new coupled implicit methods. Current FLUENT/UNS users will reportedly see a faster and more memory-efficient segregated solver, while RAMPANT users will, it is believed, see faster convergence from the coupled implicit solver.

FLUENT 5.0 claims new turbulence models, greatly improving the accuracy of turbulent flow predictions. It also offers enhanced combustion modelling capability with a toolkit for modelling coal and gas turbine combustors, industrial burners and furnaces. Fluent has also updated FLUENT 5.0's modelling capability for pollutant formation, which is of great environmental concern today across the whole spectrum of industries. Finally, new radiation models address the wide range of applications involving thermal radiation including semiconductor processing, home appliance, glass processing, automotive applications and combustion.

FLUENT 5.0 also has a structured mesh-based solver that continues to advance multiphase modelling. New solution methods in the structured solver reduce turnaround time on calculations by up to a factor of ten and include the full-elimination algorithm, more efficient time marching and a fully-coupled implicit treatment of multiphase transport equations. FLUENT also supports its leadership in modelling granular (fluid-solid) multiphase flows encountered in the chemical and process industry with extensive physical models.

GAMBIT is the result of a major investment by Fluent to develop general-purpose pre-processing software as part of its core technology. By developing pre-processing tools in-house, Fluent is able to focus specifically on the needs of CFD users and streamline the interface between pre-processing and simulation.

"GAMBIT resolves the largest bottlenecks in the CFD process ­ geometry modelling and mesh generation", notes Fluent's GAMBIT Product Manager, Scott Gilmore. "GAMBIT gives FLUENT users a capability unmatched in the CFD community ­ a single tool for state-of-the-art geometry modelling and mesh generation. GAMBIT's solid modelling tools are said to dramatically reduce geometry creation times for many applications."

GAMBIT includes tools for structured, unstructured hybrid meshing with hexahedral, tetrahedral, pyramid and wedge elements. Hybrid meshes created by GAMBIT allow CFD users to optimise both mesh quality and meshing effort by combining automation with control over mesh topology. Fluent has a proven record in hybrid meshing for CFD applications and GAMBIT extends that leadership with unmatched ease of use.

GAMBIT also provides Fluent with a single, unified pre-processor for its multiple CFD solver options: FLUENT, FIDAP, and POLYFLOW. By focusing developments on a single toolkit, Fluent is poised to rapidly deliver technology improvements to its users.

Further details can be obtained from Fluent Europe Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 114 281 8888; E-mail: info@fluent.co.uk