Software & Hardware

• simFlow version 1 was released.
• Cloud-based CFD solver Ciespace gets a nice write-up on Engineering.com but the closing statements are pretty damning, especially this one: “If they don’t get more funding they could disappear.” It’s damning because they write “more funding” not “more customers.” Is the implication that folks on the bleeding-edge of cloud-based CAE are only going to pave the way for future commercial successes? Is the value proposition just not there yet?
• The folks at OPTALYSYS are “pioneering light-speed optical processors” and specifically cite CFD as a target market.
• Beta CAE‘s newsletter introduces their new mobile app for Android and iOS devices.
• The latest version of FloEFD from Mentor Graphics includes “advanced multicore meshing” that speeds-up simulations by “orders of magnitude.”

Applications

This is a CFD simulation performed in Palabos of a bubble bursting through a liquid surface. Click the image to see the 13 sec. video.

• Can you think of anything better than reducing mesh generation time from a day to 10 minutes? CRAFT Tech shares a video walkthrough of meshing a valve using T-Rex in Pointwise.
• Symscape questions why CFD/CAE isn’t applied more frequently in urban planning for building design and cites a couple of examples in the UK where it might have come in handy. [We have a similar issue in Dallas where reflected sunlight from a neighboring condo tower is roasting the artwork in the Nasher Sculpture Center.]
• Meshes show up in the most interesting places. Smashing Magazine wrote an Introduction to Polygonal Modeling for those interested in doing 3D graphics in a web browser.

Vortex on the rear wing of a Formula 1 car. Image from the F1 Technical forum. Click image for animated version.

In Other News…

• Registration is open for the STAR Global Conference 2014 to be held in Vienna on 17-19 March.
• Lawrence Livermore National Lab is seeking to hire a postdoc for research into algebraic multigrid solvers.
• The 13th LS-DYNA US & International Conference will be held 8-10 June 2014 in Dearborn, Michigan. [This website looks kinda squirrely but is noted as “temporary site – under construction.”]
• Lifecycle Insights delves into the CAE visualization capabilities of VCollab and asks whether they’re democratizing simulation visualization. [Personally, I think visualization is the last thing needing democratization – most engineers relate well to color images of a CFD simulation.]

Best Picture in Physical Science

It’s easy to see why Frank Muldoon and Hendrick Kuhlman at the Vienna University of Technology were given the Best Picture in Physical Science Award for this image of “Invariant Streamtubes of a Hydrothermal Wave in a Thermocapillary Liquid Bridge.” [I see why they didn’t win an award for best caption because I have no idea what that means.]

Award winning image – Best Picture in Physical Science. Image from the Tecplot blog.