When a reader asked me whether there would be a post for CFD in 2014, I realized it is time to think about 2014. CFD in 2013 is entering its grave. This post is the final nail in the coffin for that old post. So, it's time to talk about CFD in 2014. Of course, I don't want to pretend to be an industrial analyst for CFD. I'm not rubbing the crystal ball. Instead, I'm ranting from the perspective of end users, because I think I am part of them. Branding, not just technology Technology is abused nowadays. If you… Read More
When open source CFD solution is talked, two familiar statements are often heard: Open source CFD solution is cheap because nothing can be cheaper than free. Open source CFD solution is inferior, otherwise, why is it free? Both of them are wrong. Open source CFD solution is not cheap, although licensing is free Most open source CFD packages are licensed under GNU General Public License (GPL) or BSD license or MIT license. Under such licenses, anyone can use the software (including source code) for free. There is no limitation on the usage (it means it can be used in commercial… Read More
Obviously, the doomsday didn't come. It proves again it is hard to predicate what will happen when you don't have sufficient knowledge of how the system works now. Maybe it is just a bug in Mayan's calendar (Google also forgot to put December in People App in Android 4.2 (aka Jelly Bean 4.2) last November). Predicting the future of CFD is similar to weather forecasting, maybe just like Mayan's Apocalypse. But this does not stop us from expecting a new prediction, just like you check the weather forecast before travel. As my first degree is meteorology related, please do not expect the… Read More
We all know post-processing because it is part of CAE. All textbooks teach you how important the post-processing is. For most Generation Y engineers, post-processing (and maybe even the whole CAE) almost equal to visualization as discussed in this post. Yes, post-processing is important: it gives you the chance to justify your one-month (or one-day, or one-week, or one-year) work; it shows you something you want or something unexpected. If you are lucky, you can even show how your simulation matches the experimental results. If you don't have any experimental data (unfortunately, nowadays, this is not uncommon any more), you can still justify your… Read More
Last year, FieldView jumped into Altair's bed, and now got a baby named AcuFieldView in the latest AcuSolve package. Recently, FLOW 3D was married happily with EnSight (CEI), and will get EnSight 10 integrated into FLOW 3D in a few months (this fall). It seems most CFD software vendors now are aware of the importance of post-processing capabilities. Competition for buyers will be extended from brains to eyeballs. If your CFD software can only draw black and white lines, or can only generate mediocre animations, it seems it will prepare to die, soon. The trend of getting better visualization and post-processing tools is surely driven… Read More
Although there are quite a few mesh-free (mesh-less) FEA and CFD codes, meshing is still one of the most important tasks for most CAE users. The importance of generating high-quality mesh can never be overemphasized. But how to define a high-quality, or more preciously good, mesh? Reading the output of mesh quality report in your meshing software is only the first step; you need to make judgements whether the mesh is good enough for your physical problem. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misunderstanding of good mesh. Nowadays, it is hard to find meshing course in engineering departments. The numerical algorithm… Read More
If you happened to touch a real punch card in your university time, you probably would be surprised to find out most CAE software companies are touting "ease of use" for their software. CAE software is still not a mass product for the time being. The required knowledge and input from the user make it almost impossible to just use fingers. You still need a mouse, for the time being. It is probably impractical to expect dramatic changes in the requirements of the users. Unarguably, simulation has penetrated into more and more industries. A lot of companies have used it… Read More
Like in any other industries, the partnership is not new among CAE players, big or small. A technical partnership usually creates a win-win situation; at least, this is the major intention of forming the partnership. The two parties involved usually are not balanced: a big shark in the CAE or PLM market and an almost unheard (for the majority of CAE users) name. For the smaller party, who usually has something special in a niche market, the partnership gives them greater exposure to more potential customers; while for the bigger party, such a partnership can complement their product portfolios so… Read More
Cloud computing now is one of the fastest growing sectors in the IT industry. How will this affect the CAE industry? Actually, cloud computing is not new for CAE industry, especially for CFD users. 15 or 20 years ago, when you accessed supercomputers in the computing centre from home or office through dial-up modems (do you know what it is?), or ISDN if you are lucky, you were already using "cloud computing". Now this cloud computing is so popular that every computing event must have a dedicated session for it. If you are not sure, check the coming Supercomputing Carnival… Read More
For most people, CFD is about continuity and Navier-Stokes equations. But this is not always true. One of the alternatives for CFD simulation is the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE), where the fluid is treated as fictitious mesoscopic particles (not molecules). If you need something to make you sleepy, please read the short (and concise, and free) book: A Practical Introduction to the Lattice Boltzmann Method. But for commercial CFD code, most are based on Navier-Stokes equations, and differ in the numerical method: finite volume, or finite element, or a hybrid of both. Finite difference based CFD is hard to find… Read More