Mentor Blogs

The CAD/CAM/CAE market has been fairly stable over the past few years – we get a merger to two every few years. But over the past couple of months we’ve seen a couple of acquisitions. While one acquisition in a quiet market is interesting, two may be the beginnings of a trend. So I thought we could look at the recent developments from the perspective of you – the end-user of technology — and how … Read More

CFD, CFdesign, Acusim, FloVENT, FloEFD

So, after three blog posts, what is the moral of this Blue Ridge Numerics’ “CFD Comparison Chart” saga? Well, clearly one should not believe every “CFD Comparison Chart”! – or even the many “charts” that one vendor has put out. Rather, the story suggests that people who are thinking of buying a CFD tool for the first time might be well advised to be wary of what vendors claim about their own software … Read More

Ed Williams, Concurrent CFD, FloEFD, Blue Ridge Numerics, Caveat Emptor, 5-Star Support, Global Environment Fund Management Corporation, Choosing a CFD Code, Jim Spann, Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD Comparison Chart, Upfront CFD, CFdesign

In my earlier posts I pointed out some glaring errors in the “CFD Comparison Chart” that Blue Ridge Numerics released on March 19th this year. Once we became aware of the “Chart” we quickly wrote a letter to Ed Williams, the CEO of Blue Ridge Numerics, and asked that they reveal the technical workings behind their outrageous claims. Including those I’ve mentioned, we pointed out a total of 6 very obvious … Read More

Jim Spann, Global Environment Fund Management Corporation, Upfront CFD, CFD Comparison Chart, CFdesign, Blue Ridge Numerics, Ed Williams, FloEFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Concurrent CFD

In my last post I pointed out a very obvious mistake in Blue Ridge Numerics’ “CFD Comparison Chart” of March 19th this year, which incorrectly stated that FloEFD can only handle incompressible sub-sonic flows. The reason I highlighted this as the most obvious mistake in the “CFD Comparison Chart” is that FloEFD can trace its history back to the Russian Aerospace Industry in the late 1980s originating … Read More

FloEFD, Fan Characterization, Global Environment Fund Management Corporation, CFD Comparison Chart, Turbomachinery, Upfront CFD, CFdesign, Blue Ridge Numerics, Jim Spann, Ed Williams, Pump Efficiency, Electronics Cooling, Rotating Reference Frame, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Solar Heating, Concurrent CFD

Rarely do I get a feeling of déjà vu in my professional life, but in March of this year something I was shown gave me a flashback to the 1980s. Some people will remember those halcyon days of two decades ago when commercial CFD was still in its infancy. Way back then the big commercial CFD vendors (Fluent, CHAM, Fidap, Flomerics, STAR-CD, and AEA) would regularly bring out CFD Comparison Charts comparing … Read More

Ed Williams, Desktop Engineering, FloEFD, Upfront CFD, Blue Ridge Numerics, Shock Capture, CFD Comparison Chart, SolidWorks, Supersonic, ANSYS, Transonic, Fluent, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Global Environment Fund Management Corporation, Concurrent CFD, Hypersonic, CFdesign, Jim Spann, CFX