News | April 6, 2000

Fluent Releases Version 1.1 of GAMBIT Software

Source: Fluent Inc.
The Synergy of Flow Modeling and CAD Increases Designer Efficiency

Fluent Inc. the world's leading supplier of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow modeling software announces the release of GAMBIT 1.1. This newest version of GAMBIT tightens the link between CAD and flow modeling, enabling engineers to use both tools more efficiently. "A significant reason I use GAMBIT 1.1 is because I can import my geometry from Pro/E," says Dwayne Terracina of Smith Tool International. "We're analyzing drill bits, which typically have several hundred surfaces to mesh. It would be a detriment to our program if we had to rebuild the geometry from scratch. I really like the flexibility of GAMBIT meshing and the capacity to refine, tailor, and examine the mesh. This has enabled us to reduce the element count on our problems and at the same time, get a better solution. Using GAMBIT 1.1 has definitely advanced our analysis capabilities," he concludes.


GAMBIT mesh of a vacuum cleaner fan.

Preprocessing Software Essential in CFD Modeling

GAMBIT 1.1 is preprocessing software. Its role is to build the computer model, which is then processed by the solver portion of the software. The model structure, or geometry, is built. Then, a mesh of numerical coordinates is overlaid onto it, so that the analysis can take place. In many cases, the designer already has a CAD geometry and mesh of the product or system. The ability to read that model into the preprocessor is a significant time saver over re-building the model from scratch. Although both CAD and flow modeling preprocessors are model-building tools, and both are 3-dimensional, they have different goals. CAD geometries are highly detailed. CFD models must be more selectively detailed and focused on aspects of the geometry concerned with the phenomena to be studied. The preprocessor must help the designer to quickly and easily convert a CAD geometry to one appropriate for CFD.


Racing two-valve port and chamber model in I-DEAS Master Series 6A, courtesy of Ford R&VT Racing.

GAMBIT 1.1 has a new IGES translator which gives excellent results with complicated CAD geometries from leading CAD packages, such as Pro/ENGINEER, Unigraphics, and IDEAS. It has new, automatic "healing" and "virtual cleanup" technologies, which help the designer to quickly convert files. Pro/ENGINEER part files can be directly imported via VRML, a geometry format popular on the World Wide Web. Other enhancements to this newest version of GAMBIT include import of Optegra Visualizer geometry files and PLOT3D mesh files, and performance improvements across the board.


The same model, imported with GAMBIT's new IGES translator.