New release has an enhanced Fluent loader, expanded PyTecplot APIs, improved SZL Server performance and integrated Q-Criterion calculation
Highlights of this release include:
Enhanced Fluent Loader
- Significantly improved performance and reduced memory requirements for data with shared grids (typically time-dependent solutions).
- Fluent Additional Quantities can now be loaded.
- Variables in symmetry zones can now be loaded.
- Fluent variable name map updated to give more variables meaningful names.
- Increased responsiveness and progress feedback while reading Fluent data.
In our test using a transient solution with 30 time steps of about 1 million data points each, time to first image fell from just over 74 seconds to under 4 seconds (a reduction of 95%), and memory use was cut by 93% (both compared to Tecplot 360 2017 R1).
Expanded PyTecplot APIs
PyTecplot, Tecplot’s Python API, has expanded to cover Interpolate, 2D and 3D vectors, Streamlines, View adjustments, Contour and line legends, 3D orientation axis, Auxiliary data, Node map, face map, and face neighbor information, Solution time for transient data and Slice extraction.
Improved SZL Server Performance
SZL Server, Tecplot’s client-server module, supports two-factor authentication and password authentication for SSH connections. Performance for data sets with a large number of zones has also been improved. In our test involving a 681-million-cell simulation with 81 time steps accessed from Tecplot SZL Server over a SSH-tunneled connection, the time needed to open the file and display all time steps in sequence was cut in half, from 1,737 seconds to 834 (compared to Tecplot 360 2017 R1).
Integrated Q-Criterion Calculation
Q-Criterion, a method for vortex identification, is now built into Tecplot 360’s CFD Analyzer. This integration makes the calculations faster, more memory efficient and easier to use. In our test using a Plot3D data set with 5,800 zones and 263 million cells, calculating Q-Criterion using Calculate Variables was more than 6 times (84%) faster than a macro we provide for the calculation (from nearly 47 minutes to 7 minutes and 20 seconds). Using a SZL file format further reduced the time required by 22%.
