Modules and new features in release 2021.1 for Simcenter FloEFD

In Simcenter FloEFD you can add modules to your basic license, this allows you to add more complex physics together with additional smart features. In the latest release of Simcenter FloEFD, version 2021.1 there are two new modules, Structural and Electromagnetics.

In this week’s blog post we will therefore take a closer look at these new modules, together with shorter descriptions of the other modules available, and some of the new features for version 2021.1.

Modules for Simcenter FloEFD

Here we will describe the modules available for Simcenter FLoEFD, starting with the new modules. At the end of the blog post there is a table (from the documentation of Simcenter FloEFD) which describes which physical areas can be modelled with which module. If you want to read more you find the documentation from the Start menu (in Windows) -> Simcenter FloEFD -> Online help, or from the software -> Help -> Flow analysis help -> In the Online user’s guide change to the tab Content -> the second item FloEFD modules.

Structural module (new): Now it is possible to perform structural calculations within Simcenter FloEFD. You can solve for both linear stresses and modal-frequencies. This allows you to obtain static responses to loads, resulting thermal expansion and eigenvalues for your simulation setup. The structural calculations are even combined with the CFD analysis, which allow the output – pressure and temperature – to be automatically applied as loads.

Electromagnetic module (new): It is also possible to simulate alternating current and electromagnetic effect, at low frequencies. Both transient and time-harmonic sinusoidal waveform analysis are possible to simulate. With the Simcenter MAGNET mesher and solver, this module considers Ohmic and iron core losses. This allows for increased accuracy of thermal simulations.

Advanced module: provide the possibility to simulate, for instance: hypersonic flow, on-orbit radiation environments, two-phase gas-particle flows, combustion of gas-phase mixtures and evaporation of condensate film.

HVAC module: adds Comfort parameters and Traces studies for contaminant distribution simulations, that can be useful in analysis of air-conditioning and ventilation systems. One additional radiation model (Discrete ordinates, with improved solar radiation) is added.

LED module: is useful for both LED lights and other lighting applications. Two additional models for radiation (Discrete ordinates and Monte carlo) are added, together with absorption in transparent materials, refraction in lenses, and film condensation on cooled surfaces.

Embedded HEEDS: using HEEDS software optimization technology, the possibility to perform optimization for more than one parameter is added.

Power electrification module: provides the capability of simulating electric battery cell.

Electronics cooling center: Is a module for combining the four modules adding special features for electronics cooling. These four module can be used separately as well.

Electronics cooling module: is recommended when running more detailed electronics cooling simulations, since the thermal management simulations be calculated with higher accuracy. An extended database, including fan curves is also added.
T3Ster autocalibration module: when having test data from T3STER measurements, this module allows you to use that data directly as input for your simulations.
BCI-ROM and Package creator: efficiently extracts a dynamic compact thermal model for heat transfer coefficient values, and creates a package of your specified components. This can give a huge speed up your electronics cooling simulations.
EDA bridge: uses an interface between FLOEFD and your program for PCB boards, for a better user experience when simulating electronics cooling.

New features in Simcenter FloEFD version 2021.1

Hopefully this information makes it clearer which modules that could be beneficial for your simulations. And if you already have the correct module set up, we recommend you downloading the latest release of Simcenter FloEFD. Follow the link, https://support.sw.siemens.com/en-US/product/852852070/downloads, to download version 2021.1 of Simcenter FloEFD. There you will also find release notes where you can read about the new features. Some of the features worth mentioning are:

Candela is added as unit, the SI-unit for luminous intensity.

Thin channel meshing with smart cell is improved in the laminar-turbulent transition areas. Thin channel meshing is used to not get to high cell count in narrow channels where high mesh resolution is important to capture the flow physics.

Scene plot is a new feature which will store the settings for a displayed plot. The model orientation, zoom setting and part visibility are stored and can be loaded to easily switch between the post-processing which will describe the results in the best way.

Compare tool for merged plots will allow you to compare results from different projects in the same view. You can for example plot the difference between the result of a certain parameter, from two different projects, and only evaluate the differences between the simulations.

Flux plot is available in the transient explorer, which visualizes how the flux in your simulation behaves over time.

We at Volupe thank you for this week, wish you a happy squeeze-day (in Sweden today it is common to take the day off since we had a holiday yesterday, and we call it squeeze-day), and hope that you have found this blog post interesting. If you want to discuss the modules, evaluate any of the modules (receive a test license and work with us in our evaluation process) or discuss your simulations – we are always here for you, just send an email to support@volupe.com.