Realis Simulation 2024.2
The 2024.2 release is now available to download. With the requirement to deliver lower emissions across multiple propulsion applications, engineers need to simultaneously design for new fuel compositions and continue to optimise existing IC engines for cleaner, more efficient performance.
In this rapidly changing environment, simulation software is central to answering the ‘What ifs’ when multiple design options make it impossible for expensive physical prototyping of all available scenarios. The new 2024.2 release further enhances the software tools to make workflows as fast, accurate and cost effective as possible, addressing a range of design challenges across fluid dynamics, mechanical structures and systems engineering.
Fluid Dynamics
Our 1D and 3D CFD fluid dynamics simulation tools enable engineers to optimise existing Internal Combustion Engines for maximum efficiency and lower emissions as well as modelling new clean combustion fuels used on their own or as part of a hybrid electric system with motors and batteries.
Modelling new clean fuel technology
Traditionally, NOx emissions have been modelled to consist of NO oxidizing into NOx as the emissions leave the engine. This is often not the case for new non-carbon fuels, particularly for e-fuels containing alcohol, with NOx comprising NO2, NO and in some cases N2O. The improved NOx analysis model in 3D CFD VECTIS has been developed in collaboration with LOGEsoft to allow for accurate simulation of NOx emissions from complex e-fuel applications.
Faster, more optimised design for cleaner internal combustion engines
The previous release delivered specialist rotary engine simulation for automotive and aerospace applications that required the rotary engine to be represented as three multiple reciprocating engine cylinders. The 2024.2 release of 1D CFD WAVE and WAVE-RT has dedicated rotary engine modelling where users define the Wankel engine using original engine parameters without any additional calculations.
With the use of simulation software providing many workflow enhancements, this release applies integrated parametric optimisation workflow with ESTECO modeFRONTIER, enabling WAVE users to determine optimal geometric parameters for components such as mufflers and silencers in a fraction of the time taken with other methods, enhancing acoustic design efficiency.
In parallel, WAVE and WAVE-RT now provide extended automation and workflow optimisation capabilities including auto-calibration of PID controllers, enhanced pressure loss modelling and advanced sensor capabilities, whilst VECTIS has introduced several new workflow processes to enhance model setup and configuration.
VECTIS 3D CFD applications are further extended with enhanced rigid-body motion modelling where flow modelling of ball valves and pressure release valves are essential for equipment safety in a range of industries.
Structural Mechanics
Our structural mechanics simulation tools enable engineers to analyse temperature, friction, cylinder piston-ring and gearbox efficiency, optimising performance across existing and new fuel Internal Combustion (IC) engines.
Modelling new clean fuel technology
More accurate exhaust port thermal modelling, in this release of FEARCE-Vulcan, enables engineers to accurately model the effects of different exhaust port gases on the thermal load of the cylinder head assembly. With the option to link to 3D CFD VECTIS, gas dynamics models can be imported automatically using a geometry file to set the gas side boundary conditions and accurately predict wall temperatures.
Faster, more optimised design for cleaner internal combustion engines
Previous FEARCE-Vulcan versions assumed the fuel injector was located at the top of the piston bowl. The enhanced diesel combustion model in FEARCE-Vulcan, now allows the user to specify a vector defining the injector position, improving temperature prediction accuracy.
2024.2 enables workflow efficiency improvements across the structural mechanics toolset with faster solutions for simulations with multiple cases in FEARCE, direct mapping of boundary conditions from VECTIS into FEARCE-Vulcan delivering usability improvements, and a significantly faster non-linear solver in SABR which converges between 1.5 to 6 times faster than previous versions.
PISDYN and RINGPAK benefit from efficient distributed computing using RDM from the R-Desk GUI increasing productivity and maximising CPU usage. All RINGPAK cyclic data is now plotted in R-Post including the complex oil transport model, allowing users to quickly navigate outputs compared with R-Plot.
New ring flank and groove profiles are introduced for RINGPAK, alongside enhanced modelling of high-speed transmissions, saving and sharing of lubricant data and modelling of plain bearings in SABR, with VALDYN now predicting the dynamic behaviour of double row bearings.
Systems Engineering
Systems engineering with the IGNITE toolset supports the simulation of combustion, HEV and electric technologies allowing engineers to model complete systems, focussing on minimising tailpipe emissions.
Faster, more optimised design of exhaust aftertreatment systems
In this release, IGNITE builds on the capability of modelling and tuning catalyst models and enhances the user experience with early detection of catalyst geometry attribute conflicts before a first aftertreatment simulation is executed. Additionally, IGNITE users can now balance the trade-off between achieving higher catalyst prediction accuracy and managing the associated increase in simulation time by setting the number of catalyst discrete volumes.
Application Toolkit
Our application toolkit is designed to create an infrastructure which optimises the use of simulation software making workflow processes as efficient and productive as possible. The toolkit comprises a set of pre- and post-processing tools and other utilities that are common, to facilitate effective use across Realis Simulation products.
New productivity functions to improve workflow speed and accuracy
With an increasing focus on improving combustion modelling for biofuels and renewable drop-in fuels, fuel composition is varying dramatically, which means that not all fuels are included in pre-built tables. In this release, the combustion toolbox has been updated to address this with new laminar flame solution tasks and enhanced multi-node processing allowing rapid generation of custom flame speed tables in VECTIS and WAVE R-Desk plugins.
A new enhanced session comparison tool is also introduced with powerful comparison and filtering features to simplify and detection and analysis of differences between sessions, vital for trouble shooting and understanding changes across multiple model builds. Using the R-Desk environment, makes the functionality available in the FEARCE-Vulcan, IGNITE, PISDYN/RINGPAK, VALDYN-Kinematics, VECTIS and WAVE product plugins.
Additionally, R-Desk introduces the inclusion of parameters in user-defined libraries to enable users to build databases of frequently used components for quick, efficient re-use across multiple projects.
R-Geometry has a new surface meshing editing capability to provide fine-grain control over mesh surfaces giving higher quality meshes and more reliable results. Alongside this R-Post, the post-processing and data analysis platform, has enhanced cross plotting controls when loading new data sources simplifying addition of data sets from new sources.
Finally, the suite of Finite Element (FE) translators includes the support of ANSYS 2023 R1 in this release.