Meshing and visualization are heavily featured in this two-week compilation of news from the world of CFD. Plus, there’s a cool, online, interactive CFD simulator that’s worth checking out (shown here to the right). And, of course, here’s your reminder to register for the Pointwise User Group Meeting 2018. So with apologies to Edward Tufte who tells us that alphabetical is the least valuable sort order…

News A-Z

• AeroDoodle is a great time waster application of browser-based CFD simulation. Drop a few shapes into the wind tunnel, enjoy the visualization, and look at the results.
• BIM and CFD is the topic of a survey that Envenio asks you to complete to learn more about the role of CFD in building design.
• CADfix 12 has new levels of quad and hex mesh automation.
• CoolSim for AutoCAD 2.0 was released.

• CMN2019, the Congress on Numerical Methods in Engineering, will be held in Portugal on 1-3 July 2019.
• Discovery Live is like a spell-checker for CAD according to PTC’s CEO who further said “So I think that everybody wants it, every single user and probably especially the ones that are creating geometry would benefit from this capability. “
• Femap 12 has an updated UI with new interactive controls and visualization capabilities as described in this first in a promised series of teasers leading up to the software’s launch.

• FLOW-3D CAST v5 HPC Version was released.
• Kitware announced ParaView Glance, a browser-based data viewer.
• Mach 18 is pretty fast and the new AEDC hypervelocity wind tunnel is using CFD to ensure that the tunnel meets all their testers’ goals.
• OpenFOAM Conference North America 2018 from ESI is on 30 October in Detroit.

• Pike’s Peak presents a hill-climbing challenge in the world of motorsport that FEA and CFD are helping overcome.
• SimScale’s online postprocessor now approaches the performance of a desktop system. Be sure to watch the video included in this article from DEVELOP3D.
• Subdivision (aka Sub-D) surface require a certain amount of expertise to get right; hence, the Pushing Points Topology Workbook [for purchase].

• Wind Tunnels vs. CFD (registration required) is the title of a 6-page article offered by the folks who are also running the Advanced Automotive Aerodynamics International Forum in Crewe, UK on 21-22 November 2018.

News from Pointwise

• The program is being finalized for the Pointwise User Group Meeting 2018 in Fort Worth on 14-15 November. Registration is open and I borrowed words from DEVELOP3D so that you’ll uunderstand how attending will benefit you.
• We are seeking entries for the highly coveted Meshy Award for the mesh generated in Pointwise with the best visual appeal, originality, and uniqueness. Due 26 September.
• Have you downloaded your copy of The Ultimate Guide to Writing Import and Export Plugins?
• To learn about the new features included in the recently released Pointwise V18.1, watch this prerecorded webinar.
• To learn about meshing in Pointwise including best practices, watch this recorded webinar on meshing the Potsdam Propeller benchmark case.

Meshes That Digitize Real Space

I was absolutely stunned by the photos of a Paxos Contemporary Art Project installation by Quintessenz. As first seen on Colossal, screens of painted mesh are suspended within ancient Greek ruins on the island of Paxos to achieve a startling effect that makes it appear as though your perception of reality is getting pixelated. Rather than distracting from reality, the effect actually enhances the appearance of the ruins, at least for me.  I highly recommend you browse the entire article on Colossal and then checkout the artist duo’s website. How do people think of this stuff?

Bonus: Given that A-B-C is isosceles, prove that C-E-B is a 3-4-5 right triangle. (Answer available on Futility Closet.)