ANSYS Launches Immersed Boundary Module for Rapid Design Evaluation

By DE Editors

ANSYS, Inc. has released the Immersed Boundary module for ANSYS FLUENT 12.0 software. Jointly developed by ANSYS and Cascade Technologies Inc., the module reduces the amount of time needed for fluid flow simulations. This first release, which is parallelized, supports the physical models and boundary conditions needed for modeling low-speed external aerodynamics and automotive front-end airflows.

A conventional fluid dynamics simulation starts with the transfer of CAD data to a grid-generation package, in which a surface mesh and then a volume mesh are generated before the simulation can be set up and the solution run. The effort and time required for such pre-processing tasks can be significant. For example, in cases with complex or dirty geometry that require CAD cleanup, this part of the process may take 50 percent to 90 percent of the total time required for the simulation. The Immersed Boundary module addresses such issues by providing a rapid, automated, preliminary design approach.

“This is an ideal tool for reducing lead time during the early stages of the product development cycle, when it is crucial that design evaluations are made rapidly,” said Dipankar Choudhury, vice president of corporate product strategy and planning at ANSYS, Inc. “The Immersed Boundary module helps engineers identify the most promising designs,  then use traditional methods for the final high-fidelity analysis.”

Fluid flow simulations using the Immersed Boundary module for ANSYS FLUENT 12.0 software start with the surface data of the simulation geometry in the STL file format. This CAD geometry does not need to be clean, does not require smooth surfaces, or geometry connectivity, and may contain overlapping surfaces, small holes, and missing parts. The simulation geometry is meshed automatically. Mesh refinement also is carried out automatically after specifying the desired resolution on the boundaries.

For more information, visit ANSYS.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.