Siemens Releases STAR-CCM+ Version 12.02

Siemens PLM Software has released version 12.02 of its STAR-CCM+ multidisciplinary simulation software. STAR-CCM+ v12.02, the company says, provides engineers new analysis tools combined with enhanced visual realism that can enhance and accelerate ability to digitally simulate and understand how a product will perform in the real world using a digital twin–a precise virtual model of a product’s physical and performance characteristics.

STAR-CCM+ will become a part within Siemens’ nascent Simcenter portfolio, a suite of simulation software and test solutions for predictive engineering analytics. (For more on this topic, read Randall Newton’s DE article “Siemens Puts Simulation on the Path of Predictive Analysis.”) Major new features in STAR-CCM+ v12.0 include Adaptive Gridding and ray-tracing capabilities as well as new models for analyzing electrochemical reactions.

Engineers can apply STAR-CCM+ version 12.02’s new Adaptive Gridding capability for combustion tables to all flamelet combustion models. Image courtesy of Siemens PLM Software.

STAR-CCM+‘s new adaptive gridding feature increases the accuracy of a combustion table in less time while keeping the table size at a minimum, according to Siemens. In this example of carbon monoxide in gas turbine combustor, v12.02 required 5 minutes to generate a 128MB combustion table. An earlier version of STAR-CCM+ created a 1.16GB table of the same model in 19 minutes. Image courtesy of Siemens PLM Software.

STAR-CCM+ v12.02 adds capabilities to accelerate simulation throughput for products that deal with reacting flows, such as furnaces, reformers, internal combustion engines and gas turbines. According to Siemens, the software’s new Adaptive Gridding capability for combustion tables significantly reduces computational effort without any loss of accuracy. Applicable to all flamelet combustion models, the company says, adaptive gridding can reduce table size and corresponding memory usage by up to 30 times, increasing efficiency and allowing engineers to iterate designs more quickly.

Using STAR-CCM+ v12.02’s new ray-tracing capabilities, engineers can create photorealistic renderings of design and simulation results. Shown here are identical CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation results with and without ray tracing. The lower images show only the CFD simulation data. Image courtesy of Siemens PLM Software.

STAR-CCM+ v12.02’s new ray-tracing capability allows engineers to apply photorealistic renderings to their design and simulation results with technology that’s similar to CGI (computer-generated imagery) used for special effects in movies and computer games. The company notes that this enhanced visualization capability is particularly useful when communicating the results of simulations to stakeholders outside of the core simulation community.

Version 12.02 also includes multi-component gas/liquid species and solid ions models for analyzing electrochemical reactions, such as those that occur with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). With these new capabilities, STAR-CCM+ users are now able to create a digital twin to improve further the efficiency of their SOFCs, resulting in cleaner cells for generating electricity.

STAR-CCM+ version 12.02 introduces new ray-tracing capabilities that allow engineers to apply photorealistic renderings to their design and simulation results. Image courtesy of Siemens PLM Software.

In addition to the Simcenter portfolio, STAR-CCM+ is also part of Siemens Multidisciplinary Design Exploration (MDX) toolset. Among the other components within the MDX toolset are HEEDS for automating analysis workflows and maximizing computational resources, STAR-CD for analyzing in-cylinder flow and combustion and SPEED for electric machine design and analysis.

“STAR-CCM+ version 12.02 is exclusively focused on making engineers more effective and enabling them to more quickly discover better designs, faster using predictive engineering technology,” Jean-Claude Ercolanelli, senior vice president of Product Management at Siemens PLM Software, said in a press statement.

“These same engineers are also increasingly called upon to communicate their results across their organizations, to people who have little direct exposure to interpreting simulation results,” Ercolanelli’s statement continued. “Such a new functionality in STAR-CCM+ greatly facilitates this communication using digital twin simulation models that not only behave like their real-world counterparts, but also present a precise visual representation, promoting understanding and inspiring confidence.”

For more on the new features available in STAR-CCM+, click here.

Learn about STAR-CCM+ v12.02’s new Adaptive Gridding capability.

Learn about STAR-CCM+ v12.02’s new ray-tracing capability.

Learn about the MDX toolset.

Download the STAR-CCM+ brochure.

See why DE‘s Editors selected STAR-CCM+ 12.02 as their Pick of the Week.

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