CFD software is made for use with Catia V5

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 13, 2005

Fluent for Catia combines the world's most widely used and powerful CFD code with the leading Catia V5 PLM software environment from Dassault Systemes.

Fluent previewed its latest CFD software to delegates at the annual CFD Summit in Detroit, Michigan last week.

Fluent for Catia is scheduled for release in late 2005, with final prototypes to be demonstrated at the European Catia Forum between 4th and 6th October in Frankfurt, Germany.

Additional demonstrations of Fluent for Catia will be made at the European Automotive CFD Conference (EACC) on 29th and 30th June in Frankfurt, Germany, where Fluent and Dassault Systemes will jointly present the benefits of integrated analysis in the automotive PLM environment.

"We want to make it easier for our customers to predict product performance", said Severin Lafranchi, Dassault Systemes' R and D Director for Catia Simulation.

"The open Simulia scientific platform, based on CAA V5 architecture, enables focused applications like Fluent to be used much earlier in the engineering process by many more engineers".

"Fluent has created a fully PLM-integrated CFD solution that reveals the effects of fluid dynamics during product design".

"The result will be better performing, more cost effective products in less time".

"We are excited to team with Fluent, among the industry leaders in CFD, to bring this unique and innovative product to market".

Commenting on this major step forward for the CFD Industry, Paul Bemis, Vice President of Marketing at Fluent said: "In contrast to other approaches, the Fluent for Catia solution operates completely within the native Catia data structures".

"The key benefit of this unique implementation is full associativity with all upstream operations allowing functionality such as analysis driven design optimisation to be utilised in the first release".

"By embedding Fluent, a major analysis CFD code into the popular Catia V5 infrastructure, we allow users the ability and flexibility to carry out product lifecycle management all within one workflow".

Fully embedded in Catia V5, Fluent for Catia combines the world's most widely used and powerful CFD code, Fluent 6.2, with the leading Catia V5 PLM software environment from Dassault Systemes.

Fully associative to the PLM data structures, Fluent for Catia provides fluid flow analysis in the Catia working environment and is a dramatic step forward for the use of CFD in the design process.

It will allow engineers, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries, to achieve significant product design improvements and cost savings.

The software will help engineers test conceptual designs at the earliest possible stages of the product development cycle in a PLM workflow environment.

The unified design and analysis process provided by Fluent for Catia leads to improved product quality, faster time to market, and reductions in large downstream manufacturing costs.

The Fluent for Catia product provides automated tools for geometry conditioning, flow volume creation, meshing, the CFD solution process, and report generation.

The product exposes the CFD analysis process within the familiar environment of the Catia interface.

Fluent for Catia is fully upwardly compatible with the vast array of turbulence, physics, chemistry, and multiphase models in Fluent V6.2.

Fluent for Catia V1.0 will handle steady state, single-phase, laminar and turbulent nonreacting flows, with a range of heat transfer options for incompressible or mildly compressible flow physics.

The software will therefore model flows in ducts, pipes and manifolds, external aerodynamics, heat exchangers and HVAC systems, architectural designs and cabin ventilation models, as well as engine cooling and automotive powertrain applications.

Fluent for Catia is being beta tested currently and is planned to be available by the end of 2005 from local Fluent offices and distributors worldwide.

The software is owned, supported and managed by Fluent.