Air flow modelling software takes advantage of enhanced computation speeds offered by multi-processor PCs

Citation

(2000), "Air flow modelling software takes advantage of enhanced computation speeds offered by multi-processor PCs", Facilities, Vol. 18 No. 7/8. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2000.06918gab.001

Air flow modelling software takes advantage of enhanced computation speeds offered by multi-processor PCs

Air flow modelling software takes advantage of enhanced computation speeds offered by multi-processor PCs

Keyword: Computer modelling

Flomerics has launched a new ultra-fast version of its Flovent air flow modelling software for HVAC Design Engineers, developed specifically to take advantage of the enhanced computation speeds offered by today's multi-processor PCs.

Operating on a two-processor computer system, the new Flovent solver can perform a typical thermal analysis up to 1.65 times faster than that achievable on a single processor platform. Operating on a four-processor system, it can solve simulations up to 2.5 times faster. This latest performance improvement follows closely behind the introduction earlier this year of Flomerics' "conjugate residual solver", which itself solves equations 13 times faster than its predecessor.

With the introduction of new, lower-cost, desktop PCs featuring multiple processors, such computational power is now accessible to most engineers for use with CPU-intensive packages such as Flovent.

This latest Flovent solver is based on the "OpenMP" Application Program Interface (API), which has been jointly defined by a group of major computer hardware and software vendors. OpenMP is a portable, scalable interface which enables programmers to develop parallel applications for platforms ranging from the desktop to the supercomputer, using memory-sharing and multi-threading techniques (www.openmp.org).

Mike Reynell, marketing director at Flomerics, said:

"This new parallel solver is just the first step in our overall strategy to maximise our customers' productivity by constantly reducing the time required to perform air flow modelling. The next step is to improve and extend our parallelization techniques to enable distributed processing via a network. This means that, if Fred is on holiday, and his machine is networked to mine, my Flovent solver will automatically make use of Fred's spare processing power to execute the job as fast as possible. In fact, I will be able to run bits of my project on machines all over the network. Right now, we are developing a new module called 'Command Centre' - the first of its kind in the industry - which controls and co-ordinates distributed processing of multiple Flovent projects simultaneously across a large heterogeneous network."

Further information can be obtained from Dr David Stribling, Technical Sales, Flovent, Flomerics Limited, 81 Bridge Road, Hampton Court, Surrey KT8 9HH. Tel: +44 (0) 020 8941 8810; Fax: +44 (0) 020 8941 8730; E-mail: ds@fiomerics.co.uk Website: www.fiovent.com