Effective use of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation tool requires at least a working knowledge of fluid dynamics itself. Tools alone don’t make for a good engineer. When interviewing for jobs within the Mechanical Analysis Division (and way back into Flomerics days too) a common question posed to tease out such an understanding is to describe the air flow patterns in and around a … Read More
I don’t know about you but last Saturday night I decided to stay in – I was only halfway done with my weekend but I was exhausted. The day before I had taken a vacation day and driven down to Weymouth to watch Olympic sailing and got up super early to drive back to London to do an 8-mile hike in Surrey. So the thought of going anywhere or doing anything too taxing was out of the question (especially … Read More
When I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, I knew I needed to analyze something related to the Olympics during this special time of year. At first I thought I would analyze the Olympic Rings. Not a real scientific CFD analysis, but just something cool and easy to do, by hollowing out some Olympic CAD rings and putting some flow through. Well, using FloEFD to do this analysis was easy, … Read More
Shuttlecock, Olympics, Badminton, Birdie, aerodynamics, Creo, FloEFD, CFD, Compuational Fluid Dynamics
One thing the Mechanical Analysis Division is not guilty of is vendor hubris. Despite the passion we have about our CFD based simulation solutions we know our place, especially in terms of where best to apply our solutions throughout the design process. CFD is a very powerful tool to predict 3D heat air flow and heat transfer but it certainly isn’t the only approach. As is common in both electronics … Read More
FloVENT, HVAC, Electronics Cooling, thermal comfort, U-Value
Hi. You may have been wondering why I’ve been so quiet lately. Quite frankly I’ve been busy. Busy at work and busy during my downtime (which is when I do most of my thinking and writing for this blog). This has been a tremendous summer for those of us who are in London. First we celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Then came the Olympics.
Yes I stood in the cold and monsoon rain for … Read More
Conventional wisdom has it that the best place to put a radiator in a room is under the window. However, there’s nothing conventional about wisdom and one should be obliged to question and verify those facts that we take for granted. CFD and its ability to predict air flow and heat transfer offers an unrivalled efficient method to study such applications. Using the concept of PPD (percentage people … Read More
I know I promised that the next blog would be a BBQ CFD analysis, but I came across this model and it was too interesting to pass up. A number of years ago, I was flipping through the channel guide and saw a show about choppers. At first, I thought I read copters, and being an aerospace engineer, watching a show on helicopters was something I was interested in. Of course the show was about … Read More
Sometime between 40 and 100 thousand years ago humans started to wear clothes, an estimate as accurate as you’d expect for something that wasn’t documented at the time. Earliest estimate of humans documenting language are a mere 5000 years ago. One can only assume that it wasn’t modesty or fashion that drove the adoption of clothing, but comfort. Much of what we still do today, frequently … Read More
thermal comfort, Fanger, FloVENT, CFD, PPD, radiator, HVAC, PMV
Automotive systems are increasingly complex and time-to-market deadlines are increasingly tight. Design engineers face relentless pressure to develop consistently reliable products quickly, so it’s not surprising that virtual prototyping is popular. The technology supports the “What if?” thinking that leads to innovation. It’s the way Thomas Edison worked, but much faster, and faster still when … Read More
CIMdata, FloEFD, 1D and 3D models, Thomas Edison, Flomaster, Mentor Graphics
With the gulf stream having shifted south and now flowing happily somewhere high over Paris, the summer weather in the UK has been ‘unseasonably’ (literally) wet and miserable. People’s heating has been thermostatically popping back on all over the country which for July is unheard of. So with this as the background and in the context of a stagnating world economy, ever continuing … Read More
Downdraft Range Vent Hood Flow Analysis
One of the cool kitchen features that caught our attention when we saw what would become our house was that the stove had a retractable range vent. It would pop up behind the stove, and sucks the air away from the side, then down through the counter, down through the floor, and out the side of the wall. What really makes these things great is they open up … Read More
Stove, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Concentration, CFD, Range, Steam, Downdraft Vent, FloEFD
I’m not a fan of soccer (urm I mean football). I’m more of a Rugby gal myself. But on Saturday I along with 100+ fans played sardines in a small pub and jostled for the best viewing position in front of one of the handful of TVs to watch the European Cup game. The pub erupted when England scored the winning penalty shot. I had not seen so many grown men scream, dance and cry with joy at the same time. … Read More
Bronswerk Heat Transfer, CFD, Air-Cooled Cooler, ROI, Whizz-Wheel, fans, FloEFD
Hockey Puck Aerodynamics
This blog has been in the works for about a year. I think it was worth the wait. Let me explain, as a number of things were at play here. First, I had just attended a Siemens NX CAD system training in advance of our release of FloEFD for NX last year. So I was looking for an application I could cut my teeth on for my first FloEFD for NX analysis. Something with CAD … Read More
Computational Fluid Dynamics, FloEFD for NX, CFD, Puck, Flow, Hockey
I admire mechanical engineers. I really mean it. If the world ever implodes, then I want to be hanging out with you guys. You know how to build and fix things. I on the other hand can probably contribute to the betterment of future society by picking berries (so long as I don’t have to deal with any creepy crawlies) or by spreading good cheer – I can’t help it I’ve got a sunny disposition (that … Read More
Smoke, Smoke, Everywhere?
This has the possibility to be my most unpopular blog ever, which I’m ok with. The topic of this blog is smoking, specifically the second hand kind. Let me start by saying I am not a smoker. I don’t care for the smell, and am happy that it is not allowed in most building, Vegas casino’s being the main exception. My mom was for a long time though, and in general it seems … Read More
Smoke, parts per million, CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, California, isosurfaces, Park, Concentration, FloEFD