Engine simulator cuts development times

Wave 8.0 has an improved interface and upgraded 3D functions, helping users meet increasingly demanding fuel economy and emissions standards.

The latest release of Ricardo's Wave engine performance and gas dynamics simulation software improves its performance and modelling capacity in the pursuit of increasingly demanding fuel economy and emissions standards.

Wave 8.0 is the product of more than a year of intense development by Ricardo Software.

It features an improved interface and upgraded 3D functions, among enhancements designed to reduce product development lead times.

Today's demanding fuel economy and emissions requirements mean that accurate engine performance simulation has never been more important.

The Controls on Canvas front end for Wave transforms the way in which users use and manage control elements.

The Elements Manager has been extended to include all control elements such as sensors, actuators PID controllers, valve actuators, interpolation maps and load models, all of which can be manipulated on a simple drag and drop basis.

Wiring now links actuators, sensors and control elements, so there's no need to hunt through drop down menus to work out the connectivity.

There are new control elements too, including integrator, differentiator and function, the latter allowing the user to introduce logic expressions into the simulation.

Control circuits can be dimmed, turned off or viewed alone for increased clarity.

Wave3D gives Wave 8.0 an improved 3D modelling capability.

A fully-integrated solution for 1D/3D co-simulation within the Wave environment, Wave3D is so sophisticated it allows a 1D analyst to perform an advanced simulation without any input from a CFD analyst.

A 3D CFD computational mesh can be created quickly and easily, the simulation set up simply and post-processing performed without any additional software tools or expertise.

For the first time, it is possible to perform a 1D/3D co-simulation without the need for two different sets of software and without the need for two different skill sets.

With Wave Live users can interact with the Wave model while the simulation is running and see responses to changes they make as they happen.

Interactive control inputs include turbine wastegate, rack position, EGR valve position, combustion timing, duration and heat exchanger effectiveness.

WaveBuild/ WavePost offer significant improvements to Wave's primary pre-processor and post-processor, increasing productivity and scope.

The interface has been significantly enhanced so that users can load multiple models using tabbed models on canvas.

This feature allows quick comparisons to be made between designs and the seamless copy and paste of elements between models.

Rectangular ducts can be modelled for the first time and mapless turbocharger elements allow rapid assessment of a turbo engine model in its early stages without the need for a manufacturer's data map.

Turbocharger modelling has also been enhanced, including modelling of reverse flow and surge.

An R-CAT SCR model now allows analysis of this important area of diesel emissions control.

WaveBuild has also undergone many other detailed refinements including, for example, the ability to export raw plot data to Microsoft Excel.

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