This Week in CFD

Still catching up with the backlog of CFD news but there’s a lot of good stuff including a new Lattice-Boltmann method, several open positions for those of you who are looking, financial updates from several companies to assess how they’re weathering the macroeconomic slowdown, a glowing review of Discovery Live, and a multiphysics simulation of the sound an electric guitar string would make when plucked. Shown here is a FieldView visualization of helicopter downwash from their presentation at the Altair Technology Conference.

Software

Learn about Pointwise’s mesh adaptation for a turbomachinery application including surface mesh adaptation constrained to the geometry model in this on-demand webinar.

Jobs & Stevies

[Given IMO the lack of decent CFD images in this week’s roundup of CFD news I decided to go with this.] This graphic celebrating the USAF’s 73rd birthday has two notable features. First, the faceted background. Second, the aircraft featured. Coming on the heels of a statement that a a prototype of the Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft (i.e. the F-22 replacement) has already been flown, folks are speculating that this is that prototype. Image from theaviationist.com.

Financials & News

  • 3D Systems‘ gross revenue for Q2 was down 29% relative to the same quarter last year. The company announced a reorganization and a 20% headcount reduction.
  • Stratasys fared no better with a 28% loss.
  • ANSYS on the other hand was up 5% during Q2 with gross revenue of $385 million which includes the largest deal in the company’s history.
  • ESI reported a 13% decline in Q2.
  • The U.S. DoD awarded grants to eight universities for hypersonic research, many of which will involve CFD.
  • Read about the engineering simulation revolution on automation.com.
  • Engineers Rule enumerates the benefits of the cloud for CAE. #3 Simplified data management.
  • Tecplot and Pointwise announced a partnership whereby the former will distribute the latter’s products in Europe.
Screen shot of ANSYS Discovery in action for a fluids simulation of a control valve. Image from a DEVELOP3D review of ANSYS Discovery 2021 that says it’s remarkable to behold.

Events

CFD for…

CFD simulation around a tugboat by Robert Allan Ltd. See link below. Image from marinelink.com. [Finally, a decent CFD image to use.]

The Geometric Meets the Organic

The tension between the geometric and the organic is palpable in Sipho Mabona‘s origami-inspired, cotton-based works. The cotton sheet, the natural dyes and the frayed edges bring softness to the otherwise hard-edges, so much so that it imparts a strong desire to touch the work.

Form and color are never separate and Mabona’s folded third dimension brings light and shadow into the image, elevating the simple to the sublime.

See more at Colossal.

Sipho Mabona, The Dove’s Wing and Shoulder (11), 2020. Image source.

Bonus: Which square is larger?

Competing Squares from Futility Closet. See link above.
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