Computational Fluid Dynamics Now Available For The Homebuilder

Mass times velocity equals momentum. In the world of expensive CFD analysis, the mass of weighty decision-making has always been enormous, but the velocity of accurate results has been painfully slow.

In an "epic" collaboration between experts in the next generation of fluid dynamics software and advanced aeronautical design, a radically more powerful and faster solution has emerged. MVAero brings a hundred times more velocity to the process of discovering the real-world physics of complex, moving parts in viscous flows. Simultaneous internal and external geometries with heat transfer? No problem. NASA-level R&D on a homebuilder budget? Finally here.

The field of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis has seen steady improvement in recent years as processing power has increased. Yet both commercial and open-source CFD software has been difficult to use and expensive in the face of complicated geometries, moving parts, and internal/external flows with heat transfer.

A more radical transformation has recently arrived in the form of a new computational scheme that tackles the Euler, Navier-Stokes, and Barnette equations of fluid dynamics from a new angle. Normally these deterministic equations don't quickly or fully solve, requiring assumptions and workarounds in the software (and a CFD guru to sign off on them all.)

The closely related Boltzmann equation delivers the same physics as all three of the other equations, depending on the number of variables used. By processing the outputs into a probability matrix, a number of programs are now capable of delivering assumption-free physics by simulating large or very large "flow eddies", from which the state of the art "Large Eddy Simulation" CFD method takes its name.

MVAero has taken this powerful next-generation process to its ultimate extremes using custom built parallel processing systems and massively scaled cloud computing resources. Now it is possible (and economical) to obtain unprecedented accuracy across all scales of inquiry. No assumptions, just direct numerical simulation of actual dynamics all the way down to the scale required for a given accuracy.

Perhaps more valuable, however, are the mind blowing ways this mountain of data can be presented. MVAero creates highly visual, video-based simulations that communicate and validate at a level far beyond conventional analysis. With real-time and slow-motion video, optimization becomes collaborative, and the invisible is made obvious. The hidden value and refinements embedded in years of painstaking product development is communicated, often without a word.

MVAero is an outgrowth of a three year transatlantic collaboration between two of the most knowledgeable aeronautical innovators in the industry, Jac van Egmond and John McGinnis.

(Image provided by MVAero)

FMI: http://mvaero.nl