CFD Suite Upgraded

By Anthony J. Lockwood

SC/Tetra uses an octant to specify the mesh resolution for a geometry and creates grids using the Advancing Front Method. It can create tetrahedron, pentahedron and hexahedron elements. Prism layers can be inserted at walls to provide fine grid resolution in the boundary layer. Image courtesy of Software Cradle Co., Ltd.

Software Cradle Co., Ltd. (Cradle North America Inc., Beavercreek,  OH, and Kita-ku Osaka, Japan) has announced the release of SC/Tetra Version 11,  its unstructured grid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software for simulating thermal-fluid phenomena. The company also announced the 11th Versions of its scSTREAM general-purpose structured mesh thermal-fluid analysis system, its Heat Designer 3D structured mesh thermal-fluid analysis system for electronics cooling and its EOopti optimization engine extension option for SC/Tetra,  scSTREAM and Heat Designer.

Software Cradle describes SC/Tetra as a general-purpose CFD tool that employs an unstructured mesh—tetrahedron, pentahedron and hexahedron—to calculate complex geometries. It provides both automatic mesh generation and a Wizard-based interface that guides users through the set-up process step by step. In addition to simulating fluid flow and heat transfer applications, SC/Tetra is said to be able to calculate various phenomena such as acoustics, chemical reactions, Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) for moving and/or rotating boundaries, free surfaces, and human body thermoregulation (JOS–JOint System Thermoregulation).

Among the highlights of SC/Tetra Version 11 that are reported by the company is a new Modify Solid toolbox that enables solid shape modifications of CAD data as a standard function of the SC/Tetra pre-processor. The Version 11 solver now offers a new liquid film model that, along with its existing particle tracking function, is said to help users simulate droplets spattering to a wall and turning into a liquid film. SC/Tetra Version 11 also has been enhanced with new visualization schemes for simulation results. Notable among these is a new Moving Arrows function that can help users understand 3D flow patterns at a glance.

A still screen capture of the new Moving Arrows visualization function in Version 11 of SC/Tetra, scSTREAM and Heat Designer CFD applications. Image courtesy of Software Cradle Co., Ltd.

Additional new features in SC/Tetra Version 11 include a surface de-noising function, a navigation interface for improved usability, a heat conduction panel model of laminated material, a new piston analysis function with improved mesh deformation and an evaporation function of free surface calculation (VOF–volume of fluid). Version 11 now offers an expanded selection of unit system and sub-units, detailed display of analysis conditions in the post-processor, improved color bar functions and upgraded wrapping functions. The capabilities of the density-based solver (discontinuous mesh,  periodic boundary) have also been enhanced.

Software Cradle’s scSTREAM and Heat Designer applications are closely aligned. The company defines scSTREAM as a general-purpose structured grid (Cartesian or cylindrical) CFD thermal fluid analysis tool for thermal-fluid simulation applications encountered in various industries including electronics, HVAC design, civil engineering and product design. Heat Designer is an edition of scSTREAM specializing in thermal design of electronics.

SC/Tetra Version 11 provides a new Modify Solid toolbox that enables users to refashion CAD solid shape data as a standard function of the SC/Tetra pre-processor. Image courtesy of Software Cradle Co., Ltd.

According to Software Cradle, a new ElectronicPartsMaker utility helps scSTREAM and Heat Designer Version 11 simulate electronics in more detail. This tool, says the company, allows users to create a model of SOP (small outline package) or QFP (quad flat package) and to save it as a library file of scSTREAM/Heat Designer pre-processors.

A key enhancement in Version 11 includes a cut-cell solver for flow analysis that is said to enable simulation of curved objects while using a structured grid. Version 11 of scSTREAM and Heat Designer also now deliver a Moving Arrows function for visualizing 3D flow patterns.

A new ElectronicPartsMaker utility in Version 11 of scSTREAM and Heat Designer is said to enable simulating electronics in more detail. This utility tool allows creation of a model of SOP (Small Outline Package) or QFP (Quad Flat Package) and can be saved as a library file in the scSTREAM/Heat Designer pre-processor. Image courtesy of Software Cradle Co., Ltd.

EOopti Version 11 offers a new random sampling method. It enables a non-universal distribution of design parameter values, as opposed to a universal distribution of the existing Latin Hypercube sampling. Version 11 of EOopti, which delivers MOGA (Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm) technology,  is said to offer improved accuracy of response surface with the introduction of EGO (Efficient Global Optimization) technology. EGO, says the company, achieves better accuracy by adding sampling points where the EI (Expected Improvement)  or RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) indicator becomes the maximum. Additional functions and improvements in EOopti Version 11 include implementation of numerical type and discretized width, new ranked display of individual Pareto solutions,  new calculation of objective function and a new redraw function of response surface.

SC/Tetra runs on Windows workstations as well as Windows-  and Linux-based HPC (high-performance computing) systems. Software Cradle is a member of the Altair Partner Alliance.

For more information on SC/Tetra Version 11, click here.

Go here for more information on scSTREAM.

Go here for more information on Heat Designer Version 11.

Check out how Software Cradle’s CFD applications are used in various fields.

Attend a webinar or seminar on Software Cradle’s CFD systems.

See why DE’s editors selected Software Cradle’s updated CFD suite as their Pick of the Week.

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