CD-adapco announces the release of the STAR-CAD Series V4.14, a range of CAD and PLM-embedded simulation environments that allow engineers and designers to perform advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses.

The STAR-CAD Series is specifically created to enable Design and Professional engineers to undertake flow and thermal analyses directly within their company’s chosen CAD environment. Using the power of associativity, any design change made in response to the results of the CFD simulation, is reflected almost immediately in the CFD solution. Solutions are updated at the click of a button without additional user intervention.

This new version of the STAR-CAD Series includes: STAR-CAT5 - CAAV5 Based software - for CATIA V5; STAR-Pro/E for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire; STAR-NX for NX; and STAR-Works for SolidWorks.

Developed after extensive consultation with our industrial users, STAR-CAD Series V4.14 introduces a number of modeling enhancements. Of particular note is the introduction of a ‘periodic’ boundary condition that is particularly useful for turbomachinery simulation, allowing users to exploit rotational symmetry of a problem by simulating a representative wedge rather than the full geometry. STAR-CAD Series V4.14 also allows users to specify the velocity at an inlet boundary condition using a cylindrical local co-ordinate system, which is useful for prescribing inflow condition in turbo-chargers and compressors.

Users of STAR-CAT5 are also able to use CATIA V5 sensors to monitor their solutions from within the CFD environment. CATIA sensors are aimed to be shared by any CATIA module and 3rd party partner component. Users will be able to create CATIA parameters which can be used for instance within optimization loops, the CATIA’s formula editor will add data together and allow to create derived engineering parameters like pressure drop, temperature difference, etc.

As well as supporting the latest CAD and PLM versions, the STAR-CAD Series is powered by CD-adapco’s latest solver technology: STAR-CCM+ V2.10.

“A recent survey of CD-adapco customer revealed that 88% of our users perform CFD analysis at the very earliest stages of the engineering design process; 63% of our users routinely use our tools as part of their iterative design process, analyzing new design variants as soon as the designer creates them,” says CD-adapco’s VP of Product Management Jean Claude Ercolanelli. “The demand for providing powerful and effective technology within a familiar design environment is clear. In recognition of this, we will continue to invest significant development resources in the STAR-CAD Series, and continue to bring it closer to our next generation software solution STAR-CCM+.”

The STAR-CAD Series V4.14 is now available from CD-adapco’s User Services site, or from your local CD-adapco office.