New York, 23 October 2001 - CFX, a division of AEA Technology (LSE: AAT) has announced today the availability of CFX-5.5, the latest and most powerful addition to its Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software.

Building on its superior meshing and solver technology, CFX-5.5 provides a wide range of new models, meshing tools and a completely new post-processor that greatly enhance its application range and usability. New models include: a multiple-frame of reference capability, new state-of-the art turbulence models, combustion and radiation models, Eulerian two phase modeling extensions and a free surface flow capability. These models greatly expand the range of industrial fluid flow applications that can be quickly evaluated with CFD. The automated unstructured meshing capability has been improved with several advanced technologies, such as 3D proximity sensing and greater tolerance to certain CAD problems, that significantly reduce the user time to get a quality mesh. The new post-processor, as well as having a modern Graphical User Interface (GUI) and powerful visualization tools, has a programmable quantitative post-processing feature that allows the automation of standard calculations, such as efficiency of a mechanical design or yield of a chemical process.

"CFX-5.5 will greatly assist our customers in improving their profits by rapidly optimizing every aspect of fluid flow design within their overall design and manufacturing processes," says Chris Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of CFX.

CFX-5 has established itself as best-in-class CFD software by offering capabilities that provide enormous benefits in both chemical and manufacturing industries. It generates meshes quickly and easily, surpassing other packages in the mesh quality it provides. In addition, a new Generalized Grid Interface (GGI) capability significantly enhances CFX-5's geometric flexibility. Users can now independently generate a set of meshes for different sections of a problem using any tools or mesh structure within each component. The individual grids can then be combined into a single model. This and all CFX-5's new features are fully supported by the coupled multigrid linear solver and scalable parallelization, directly reducing design cycle time.

"CFX-5's new meshing tools provide tremendous geometric flexibility," says Michael Raw, Vice President of CFX Product Development, "it greatly reduces the user time needed for even the toughest geometries found in many industrial applications, and does so with high quality hybrid element meshes that resolve boundary layers and regions of geometric detail".

For process applications, CFX-5.5 also substantially extends its advanced multiphase modeling capabilities. Energy and minor species can be transported and exchanged between phases, and with other new models,make it possible to improve the efficiency of equipment such as reactor vessels, contact tanks, bubble columns and fluidized beds.

CFX-5.5 provides a new and efficient method for free surface modeling, relevant to applications as diverse as marine hydrodynamics, tank sloshing and hydraulic engineering. A new method for sharp capturing of the gas-liquid interface combined with CFX-5's advanced solver technology provides the user with unmatched accuracy and solution efficiency.

New single and multi-step models simulate single chemical reactions in combusting or reacting flows. CFX-5 solves all species with the coupled algebraic multigrid solver in order to accelerate convergence, delivering results quickly especially for complex reaction mechanics.

New also is a unique approach to Multiple Frames of Reference (MFR) for modeling applications such as the interaction of impeller and baffles in mixing vessels. This approach offers higher resolution in the interface between the two domains, providing results quickly and reliably. The applicability of CFX-5 is also extended to a wide range of combined stationary-rotating component combinations, commonly found in fans, compressors, pumps, turbines and other turbo/rotating machines.

CFX 5.5 offers the latest and most advanced turbulence models, one being the SST model combined with automated wall functions. Extensive validation has shown that this model "raises the bar" on what can be expected from turbulence modeling in commercially available CFD. The predictions of difficult effects such as flow separation and heat transfer is much improved, enhancing the utility of most industrial flow simulations.

Completely new in CFX-5.5 is the CFX post-processor. It employs a modern, easy-to-use GUI, which runs on Windows and UNIX platforms. The post-processor is highly configurable, and most importantly has direct access to flow solver data structures for accurate quantitative post-processing. Furthermore, it can be programmed with a scripting language so that repetitive optimization or review tasks, usually found in design environments, can be automated, making CFX-5 well suited to such real world tasks.

A number of significant additional functions and enhancements will be added to CFX-5 within the next year. These releases, coupled with the rest of the industry-leading CFD software from CFX, will offer even greater value to the user. Reid concludes "CFX-5.5 combines the world-class meshing and solver technology of earlier CFX-5 releases with new physical modeling, meshing and post-processing tools that make it possible to apply the most powerful and precise CFD technology to a very broad range of problems. We can also apply the industry's most knowledgeable and experienced application consultants to work directly with our customers to solve their most complex fluid handling problems."

For more information on CFX, visit the website at http://www.cfx.aeat.com

For further information please contact.

• Gillian Rowe,
  AEA Technology,
  The Gemini Building, Fermi Avenue,
  Harwell International Business Centre,
  Didcot,
  Oxon,
  OX11 0QR
• Tel: 01235 448035
  Fax:. 01235 448001
• Email: gillian.rowe@cfx.aeat.com