In the six years since its first release, STAR-CCM+ has evolved into more than just a CFD code, and is now an integrated platform for powerful multi-disciplinary simulation, including: combustion; multiphase flow; heat transfer through solids and fluids; dynamic fluid body interaction; and solid stress: all from within a single environment.

As with each previous release, STAR-CCM+ V4 includes new physical models, such as the introduction of erosion modeling, improved combustion models as well as the capability to simulate melting and solidification. However, according to Jean-Claude Ercolanelli, CD-adapco’s Vice President Product Management, the new version delivers much more in terms of productivity and collaboration enhancements: ”To play an effective role in a modern integrated engineering environment, simulation demands a tight collaboration among engineers and designers from a wide range of backgrounds and engineering disciplines. STAR-CCM+ V4 introduces new tools that facilitate the sharing of CAD data and engineering simulation, driving innovation through increased levels of integration and automation.”

Integrate

STAR-CCM+ V4 provides a free stand-alone results viewer called STAR-View+, that facilitates collaboration between engineering teams by giving everyone access to interactive visualization of the computed results: “Understanding someone else’s simulation displays is never an easy task,” says Ercolanelli. “Industrial CAE results are inherently three-dimensional; in order to properly understand a flow, thermal and stress solution you need to explore it. STAR-View+ is a new utility for STAR-CCM+ that makes the viewing of CAE results more interactive and moreover is accessible to everyone regardless of whether they hold a STAR-CCM+ license or not.”

STAR-CCM+ V4 allows users to distribute post-processed simulation results as “scene files” containing a three-dimensional representation of the stored CAE plot. When viewed using STAR-View+, scene files allow the viewer to zoom, pan and rotate the stored model and post-processing data, as if the model were in STAR-CCM+. Now anyone, whether a STAR-CCM+ user or not, can have the luxury of fully exploring the solution.

STAR-View+ is free to distribute, requires no license, which means that you can simply attach it to an email with a selection of scene files.

To download and share STAR-View+, along with some example scene files, please visit: http://www.cd-adapco.com/starviewplus

Automate

“Automation is the central tenet of the STAR-CCM+ philosophy,” says Ercolanelli. “Rather than restricting users to the simulation of a few design points, STAR-CCM+ is specifically designed to allow engineers to simulate the entire design space – spawning multiple design iterations from a single simulation scenario. The release of STAR-CCM+ V4 sees the introduction of a new ‘parts structure’ within the user interface, closing the gap between CAD design and CAE simulation. As CAD data is imported the hierarchy of the assembly is reproduced allowing users the ability to duplicate, replace, repair, transform and export individual components from the tree, manually within the STAR-CCM+ environment, or automatically using simple macros.”

CAD part-names and meta-data are also preserved in the hierarchy, meaning that the simulation remains linked to the original CAD model. Once an initial simulation has been prepared, meshing and physics data are stored in a template, so that any changes to the CAD model can be reflected in the simulationresults with little or no effort from the user.

Complex assemblies of parts, STAR-CCM+ V4 can also automatically identify the contact regions between adjacent parts and define a boundary condition and interfaces between them - a feature that considerably eases the process of setting up conjugate heat transfer and thermal stress problems.

To see a video demonstrating the new parts functionality in action, please visit: http://www.cd-adapco.com/partsdemo

Innovate

“The overall benefit of increased automation is that engineers get to spend less time manually preparing simulations and more time analyzing engineering data,” says Ercolanelli. “Increased levels of collaboration mean that this information can more easily be disseminated to the entire engineering organization; breaking down barriers between the different disciplines that contribute to the engineering design of a new product. A constant stream of more complete engineering information flowing through an organization can only lead to better engineered, more innovative products which are better suited to the needs of an increasingly competitive global marketplace.”

To see how STAR-CCM+ drives engineering innovation, please visit our website, register for one of our conferences or subscribe to our customer magazine.

Try STAR-CCM+ V4.02 today

The STAR-CCM+ V4.02 is now available from CD-adapco’s User Services site, or from your local CD-adapco office.