Simcenter FLOEFD is an award-winning CFD simulation solution for design engineers facing complex design challenges. By adopting a frontloading approach, it enables early CFD simulation in the design process, empowering engineers to evaluate design options and improve product performance and reliability. This paradigm shift in CFD brings fluid dynamics analysis to a wider user base, including design engineers. With Simcenter FLOEFD, users can leverage fully CAD-embedded CFD software within leading design software like NX, Solid Edge, CATIA, and Creo, facilitating earlier evaluation of fluid flow and heat transfer and therefore streamlining development processes.
FloEFD - Supporting Your Design Process
Frontload CFD simulation to shorten development
Simcenter FLOEFD allows design engineers to perform early simulations for cost-effective problem identification, issue resolution, and design improvement. Integrated in CAD, it has shown significant productivity improvements ranging from x2 to x40.
Leverage an intuitive CFD interface for designers
Simcenter FLOEFD puts simulation capabilities in the hands of design engineers through its CAD embedded interface, guided simulation setup and execution, intelligent automation, and easy result viewing. This allows design engineers to explore design performance early and make informed decisions without overcoming traditional barriers.
Perform CFD directly on native CAD geometry and eliminate CFD overheads
Simcenter FLOEFD enables direct CFD analysis on native CAD geometry, eliminating delays in geometry translation and simplifying the preparation process. With robust automatic meshing and SmartCell technology, it can handle CAD geometry of any quality, including small gaps and surface inconsistencies. This reduces healing time typically encountered in traditional CFD tools. The software also offers intelligent automation for pre-processing tasks such as automatic sealing of CAD geometry and leak identification.
Use simulation driven design – explore, compare and optimize
Simcenter FLOEFD allows for parametric studies and design exploration, enabling evaluation of more design options within available time. ‘What if’ scenarios can be evaluated to ensure product performance and reliability in different conditions, facilitating informed decision-making in the design process.
CAD-embedded CFD simulation
Simcenter FLOEFD – CAD-embedded CFD simulation software, empowers engineers to perform fluid flow simulation and heat transfer analysis directly within the CAD design environment. With its intuitive interface and direct utilization of CAD geometry, it eliminates the need for time-consuming CAD data translation. Engineers can conduct multiple design studies, assess the impact of geometry modifications and operating conditions on performance, and make informed decisions earlier in the development process. This capability facilitates seamless communication with other CAD-driven engineering functions, enhancing overall efficiency and collaboration.
Automated meshing
Simcenter FLOEFD offers automatic fluid volume detection and meshing capabilities that seamlessly integrate with CAD geometry. It can handle complex and varying quality geometry without the need for simplification. The SmartCells Technology enables efficient meshing by accurately resolving solid and fluid regions within a single cell, even in the presence of challenging conditions like interfering geometry or thin volumes. Automatic mesh refinement and solution adaptive refinement enhance mesh resolution based on geometry features and flow/thermal gradients. Engineers have options for local meshing and manual control.
Simcenter FLOEFD combines 3D finite-volume numerical approaches with empirical and analytical methods, allowing for the generation of a comparatively coarse yet efficient and stable mesh that maintains high accuracy. Adoption of Simcenter FLOEFD often results in significant reduction of meshing time, from days to hours, or from hours to minutes. This CAD-embedded approach empowers design engineers and non-specialists to perform reliable CFD analyses early in the design process, while providing experienced analysts with a fast and efficient solution for a wide range of typical CFD problems.
Parametric studies
Simcenter FLOEFD has a powerful and user-friendly parametric study functionality that allows engineers to explore changes in model geometry and operating scenarios. The compare configuration feature enables easy comparison of results through numerical values, graphs, and visualized plots. Three primary methods for design exploration are available:
1. ‘What if’ studies to explore altered parameters and find the best solution,
2. Goal-based optimization which uses a range of variation for a single input variable to find the best design, and
3. Design of Experiments (DOE) that enables setting a range of variation for multiple design variables and find the optimum design using Response Surface interpolation.
Simcenter HEEDS plugin further enhances design space exploration with smart search and automation, using the proprietary Sherpa Algorithm for quicker and more efficient optimization of design concepts that meet or exceed performance requirements.
LED thermal simulation
Simcenter FLOEFD is ideal for LED thermal management in lighting product design. It allows engineers to explore luminaire thermal designs early on and throughout development to avoid re-spins. Specific capabilities include combined thermal-electrical and photometric modeling of LEDs, the ability to import custom LED models, and detailed modeling of LED component thermal behavior to predict accurate LED junction temperature when powered under a forward current and and the resulting operating light output (hot lumens) for the LED installed in a luminaire. Simcenter FLOEFD can also combine simulation with measurement data from Simcenter Micred T3STER for RC-ladder compact thermal model and optical characterization data from Simcenter Micred LED Tester for the highest accuracy test data-based LED model. Additionally, the LED module supports Monte Carlo radiation modeling for semi-transparent solids (e.g. glass) and condensation modeling for automotive lighting and other demanding applications.
Electronics thermal and thermo-mechanical analysis in CAD
Simcenter FLOEFD offers thermal engineers and designers the ability to perform electronics thermal and thermo-mechanical analysis directly in the CAD environment. It provides various options for thermal analysis of printed circuit boards (PCBs), including simple, detailed, and explicit copper trace models. The SmartPCB option ensures accurate thermal modeling while supporting electro-thermal co-simulation and thermo-mechanical stress analysis. The software supports easy PCB data import from major EDA software file formats through the Simcenter FLOEFD EDA Bridge. Package modeling options, such as 2-Resistor, network assembly, and detailed models, are available and can be created quickly using the Package Creator utility.
Additional capabilities include transient modeling, measurement calibration using Simcenter Micred T3STER, and the use of BCI-ROM technology to generate reduced order models for electrothermal circuit simulation and system simulation tools. Simcenter FLOEFD enables efficient and accurate analysis, allowing for accelerated thermal design and comprehensive evaluation of electronics cooling and thermo-mechanical behavior.
The online trials provide a convenient and straightforward opportunity to explore and utilize CFD simulation within your preferred CAD environment (NX, Solid Edge, and Creo).
Trial features:
Trial requirements
Simcenter FLOEFD for NX
Simcenter FLOEFD for Solid Edge
Simcenter FLOEFD for Creo
