Realis Simulation 2025.2
The 2025.2 release is now available to download. With the requirement to deliver lower powertrain emissions across multiple applications including motorcycle, passenger car, commercial vehicle, heavy-duty, rail and maritime - 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 exploring multiple design options before investing in expensive physical prototyping. The new 2025.2 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, structural mechanics and systems engineering.
Fluid Dynamics
Our high-fidelity 1D and 3D CFD fluid dynamics simulation tools enable engineers to optimise existing Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) for maximum efficiency and lower emissions, as well as modelling new clean combustion fuels for stand alone ICE or hybrid system installations.
Modelling new clean fuel technology
The 2025.2 release of VECTIS introduces a major step forward in R2DK performance and combustion modelling cutting run times by up 50% without compromising accuracy. Delivering immediate benefits for users running large-scale, detailed chemistry cases enables faster turnaround and higher productivity across development programs.
Complementing this, new dual-fuel auto-ignition capabilities extend VECTIS into the heavy-duty and large-engine sectors with engineers now able to simulate dual fuel compression-ignition cases, including diesel-piloted CNG, ammonia or hydrogen, providing more accurate predictions of ignition behaviour across complex fuel blends.
Additionally for spark ignited engines, as well as improved combustion accuracy, new dual fuel laminar flame speed models enhance accuracy for the combustion prediction for complex gasoline blends as well as low-carbon applications such as hydrogen-ammonia or hydrogen-CNG.
Faster, more optimised design for cleaner internal combustion engines
The 2025.2 release delivers even faster real-time solutions in WAVE-RT, with a newly optimised solver offering a 10-20% speed improvement without compromising accuracy to ensure reliable, high-fidelity results at accelerated simulation speeds.
Also, this release introduces enhanced 3D modelling for WAVE acoustics, and a new physics-based turbocharger controller which removes the need for manual calibration and includes turbocharger acceleration making it suitable for both steady-state and transient simulations.
Both WAVE and WAVE-RT benefit from improved workflows including simplified model tuning and the use of WAVE as an external model to co-simulate with an external tool.
The 2025.2 release of VECTIS strengthens the overall CFD process - from automation to visualisation, including smarter and faster solution handling, improved boundary and flow handling with better tools for complex CFD workflows including direct coupling of VECTIS with modeFRONTIER for simulation optimisation, parameter sweeps and Design of Experiments (DOE).
Structural Mechanics
Structural Mechanics delivers a powerful, end-to-end simulation toolset that empowers engineers to optimise for durability, NVH and efficiency across motorcycles, hybrid light vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, rail, and maritime applications. The suite enables smarter design decisions for both existing engines and next-generation clean-fuel internal combustion (IC) technologies.
Modelling new clean fuel technology
The 2025.2 release introduces an enhanced in-cylinder combustion model, providing more accurate temperature predictions on the cylinder head flame-face and in-cylinder temperature for FE thermal analysis with FEARCE-Vulcan. This capability is crucial for developing engines running on non-carbon fuels. The model has been validated on a Euro VI heavy-duty diesel engine converted to hydrogen direct injection, as highlighted in SAE-2025-01-0383 and presented at the SAE 2025 Energy & Propulsion Conference, giving engineers confidence in advanced fuel technologies.
Faster, more optimised design for cleaner internal combustion engines
Predicting lubricant oil consumption is now more reliable thanks to the improved Oil Control Ring (OCR) expander model in RINGPAK. The new approach to calculating expander stiffness delivers a realistic representation of OCR behaviour across a variety of design and operating conditions.
Engineers also benefit from a single GUI for streamlined ring pack optimisation, integrating PISDYN and RINGPAK with comprehensive post-processing in R-Post. This setup makes it easy to explore load cases, visualise results, and analyse parametrisation outcomes with clarity and precision.
Transmission design workflows are further strengthened with SABR and SABR-Gear, now featuring bevel gear design in line with ISO 10300. Users can size straight, spiral, and hypoid bevel gears for complex duty cycles with confidence. Plus, the new solver preconditioner accelerates solutions of complex models, cutting convergence times by up to 50%.
Together, these updates enhance productivity, improve accuracy, and support engineers in designing cleaner, more efficient engines and transmissions with confidence.
Systems Engineering
IGNITE is a comprehensive systems engineering toolset that delivers faster-than-real-time system analysis across all drive cycles, enabling optimal component selection.
Supporting simulations of electric, hybrid, and combustion technologies across motorcycle, passenger car, commercial vehicle, off-highway, and heavy-duty transportation applications, IGNITE integrates seamlessly with other Realis Simulation and third-party tools. It empowers engineers to model complete systems with a strong focus on minimising tailpipe emissions and maximising overall efficiency.
Faster, more optimised design of vehicle systems for reduced emissions
Electric vehicle simulations have been enhanced in this release with automated reporting of EV performance metrics, automatically calculating and visualising key energy consumption and range data. Fully parameterised links to vehicle and battery properties ensure results are always accurate, enabling rapid comparison of multiple designs with minimal setup.
Additionally, the 2025.2 release advances aftertreatment development for combustion applications with accelerated catalyst tuning with multi-CPU support. By distributing optimisation workflows across multiple CPUs, the workflow significantly speeds up catalyst model tuning, saving time and enabling faster, high-throughput optimisation.
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 the Realis Simulation suite.
The 2025.2 release introduces several key improvements across workflow processes:
- The ND-Map Editor moves to R-Desk environment and renamed as R-Map. It provides an intuitive workspace for creating, editing, and visualising multi-dimensional arrays or interpolation maps.
- R-Post, the environment for post-processing and data analysis has a new plot manager, providing a centralised location for users to edit multiple pages and plot attributes simultaneously.
- R-Geometry, the powerful CAD pre-processing tool benefits from streamlined geometry handling to reduce the complexity typically associated with mesh generation to ensure that users can focus more on analysis rather than preparation.
Additionally, as part of the integration with 3rd Party tools, the direct integration of Realis Simulation products with ESTECO’s modeFRONTIER plugin for easy setup optimisation, is expanded to include all R-Desk plugins. This allows users to efficiently optimise model parameters and carry out comprehensive optimisation or Design of Experiment (DOE) studies.