Simulating Methane-Oxygen Supersonic Combustion in a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) convergecfd 2021-08-06 | Using CONVERGE, Dr. Sinan Demir and Dr. Pinaki Pal (Argonne National Laboratory) performed a large eddy simulation (LES) of methane-oxygen combustion in a full-scale rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE). The first view shows the initial transient phase when the RDRE is ignited using a pre-detonator tube containing a stoichiometric methane-oxygen mixture (spark-ignited at the far end). Fuel and air enter at the bottom of the RDRE chamber through separate discrete injectors (shown in black and gray, respectively). Multiple reaction waves are initiated in the RDRE combustion chamber, and the combustion products are exhausted from the other end of the chamber. The second view, which corresponds to the unrolled mid-plane of the RDRE chamber, shows the quasi-steady-state behavior with sustained propagation of three quasi-detonation waves. This simulation accurately predicts both the number of waves and the wave speed. CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement enables computationally efficient, high-fidelity CFD simulations of full-scale RDEs. Engineers can leverage these simulations to design and optimize RDEs for practical hypersonic propulsion applications.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Submit an Abstract | 2023 CONVERGE CFD Conference convergecfd 2023-06-12 | Share your latest CONVERGE research at the 2023 CONVERGE CFD Conference! With hundreds of attendees from industry, academia, and research institutions around the world, this conference is a great opportunity to showcase your achievements to a broad audience. There are no registration fees for the conference, which will take place virtually from September 26–28. Abstracts are due July 7. Submit yours today! eventleaf.com/e/convergecc_2023
CONVERGE Simulation of Quadcopter Takeoff convergecfd 2023-06-09 | In this video, we applied CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling to simulate a quadcopter drone taking off. CFD simulations allow you to study how the design of the quadcopter’s propellers and body affects its stability, maneuverability, and thrust. In many CFD solvers, however, creating a mesh that can accurately capture the fast-moving propellers is a challenge. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing with cut-cell approach easily accommodates the motion of the propellers and the motion of the drone as it moves through the simulation domain. We defined an RPM profile for each propeller, then used CONVERGE’s FSI modeling to predict the motion of the drone due to the propeller-generated thrust. In addition, we took advantage of CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement to automatically increase the mesh resolution in areas with high velocity, which helped us capture the complex physics more efficiently. In all views in the video, the colors represent velocity, with blue indicating lower velocities and red indicating higher velocities. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Tubing Pump with CONVERGE convergecfd 2023-06-02 | Tubing pumps are used in the oil and gas industry to transport hydrocarbons from oil wells up to the surface. In this simulation, we used CONVERGE to simulate the flow of liquid hydrocarbons through a tubing pump. We applied CONVERGE’s fluid-structure interaction modeling to capture the motion of the stationary and traveling valves, which produce artificial lift and generate flow. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing easily accommodates the valve motion while maintaining the integrity of the mesh.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
WEBINAR | Assessing the Performance of a Mechanical Heart Valve Through Simulation convergecfd 2023-05-03 | Diseased or damaged heart valves can interfere with blood flow and adversely affect the performance of the heart. Artificial heart valves are implantable devices that keep blood flowing properly. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are a low-cost, low-risk approach to evaluate the performance of an artificial heart valve before performing an invasive procedure. In this webinar, we demonstrate how CONVERGE CFD software can be applied to model a 3D mechanical leaflet heart valve. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing makes it simple to set up simulations with fluid-driven valve motion. Because the density of blood is similar to the density of the leaflets, the added mass effect is significant and can cause explicit fluid-structure interaction (FSI) solvers to become unstable. CONVERGE’s implicit FSI solver can account for the additional inertial forces from the added mass effect and accurately predict the leaflet motion profile. The relatively fast turnaround time and the stability of the numerical analysis highlight the potential of CONVERGE for a wide range of biomedical fluid dynamics problems.Presented by:Pedram Tazraei, Senior Research Engineer, Convergent Science
Simulating Blood Flow Through the Aorta with CONVERGE convergecfd 2023-04-28 | CFD is a powerful tool to complement medical imaging techniques like 4D flow MRI in the biomedical field. In this simulation, courtesy of the Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, CONVERGE is employed to simulate blood flow through the aorta using a patient-specific geometry derived from medical imaging. CFD allows doctors to assess blood flow in different aortic diseases, such as coarctation or aneurysm, and helps them determine an appropriate treatment. CONVERGE’s velocity-based AMR efficiently captures the blood flow, and the Windkessel model is applied at the outlets to account for the compliance of downstream blood vessels. The first view in the video shows streamlines and cut-planes colored by velocity magnitude, and the second view shows streamlines colored by velocity magnitude. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing easily captures the complexity of biological geometries.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Virtual Product Design Solution | CONVERGE CFD Software convergecfd 2023-04-14 | CONVERGE CFD software provides efficient, accurate product design analysis. Virtually test design options and identify potential problem-areas before manufacturing. From engines to wind turbines to heart valves, CONVERGE helps you create successful products and stay ahead of the competition.
WEBINAR | Multi-Physics Modeling for Oil & Gas Applications convergecfd 2023-04-05 | Efficient and accurate multi-physics simulations are an invaluable tool in the oil and gas industry. Simulations can provide insight into the fluid flows critical to the extraction, refinement, and delivery of hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds, as well as into the performance of the specialized equipment involved in these processes. CONVERGE CFD software’s autonomous meshing technology, including Adaptive Mesh Refinement, allows you to capture the geometrical complexities, body dynamics, flow-chemistry coupling, and conjugate heat transfer present in many oil and gas industry applications. CONVERGE’s ability to simulate these complex, real-world phenomena facilitates meaningful validation of the simulation results. This webinar demonstrates the range of CONVERGE’s multi-physics simulation capabilities on a variety of example cases, including tank sloshing, capping stack placement, porous media modeling, and drill bit performance studies.Presented by: Mattia Sulis, Senior Principal Account Manager, Convergent Science
WEBINAR | How to Make Reliable Temperature Predictions: Battery Pack & Electric Motor Applications convergecfd 2023-03-01 | The automotive industry is rapidly evolving, and much of the focus is on electric vehicles (EVs). EVs can help the transportation industry become more sustainable and reduce local emissions. A major challenge for EV manufacturers is thermal management. The electrical systems must be kept within a certain temperature range to provide the best performance and not exceed safe operating conditions.In this webinar, Tamara Gammaidoni and Dr. Jacopo Zembi from the Università degli Studi di Perugia demonstrates how CONVERGE CFD software is a valuable tool for designing and optimizing cooling systems for battery packs and electric motors. Comparing their simulations to available experimental data, they show that CONVERGE provides predictive results for temperature and flow distribution in EV applications. Finally, they outline the best practices for battery pack and motor simulations to achieve the most accurate results possible while saving computational time.Presented by:Tamara Gammaidoni, Graduate Student, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Winner of the 2022 CONVERGE Academic CompetitionJacopo Zembi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Università degli Studi di Perugia
WEBINAR | Go With The Flow: Modeling Fluid-Structure Interactions convergecfd 2023-02-01 | As the world transitions to clean technologies, simulations have become a vital tool for designing ever more efficient and cost-effective engineering solutions. Many engineering problems involve coupled physics, with fluid-structure interaction (FSI) being one of the most common multi-physics phenomena. Accurately solving FSI problems is essential to advance our understanding and develop improved technologies for a wide variety of applications, including pumps and compressors, marine engineering, and biomedical research. The complexity of the geometry and its motion, along with the associated transient flow features, often create a substantial roadblock for engineers wishing to perform FSI simulations. Generating an initial computational mesh and maintaining mesh quality for arbitrary structural motion can be prohibitively challenging and time-consuming. In this webinar, we discuss how CONVERGE CFD software’s autonomous meshing and coupled fluid and structural solvers enable efficient set up and simulation of FSI problems with complex moving geometries. We showcase a variety of examples to demonstrate the application of CONVERGE to pumps, compressors, and valves, as well as marine, wind energy, and biomedical applications.Presented by:Jasim Sadique, Principal Research Engineer, Convergent Science
Simulating Vent Gas Combustion in a Battery Pack with CONVERGE convergecfd 2023-01-20 | If a battery pack goes into thermal runaway, there is a possibility that flammable gases vented from the affected cells could ignite and combust. Understanding how a battery vents, if the gases will catch fire, and the severity of the resulting combustion is key to improving the safety of the battery pack. In this simulation, a battery cell (shown in red) enters thermal runaway and begins to vent out gas products. We simulate a short-circuit spark near the faulty cell, which ignites the gases. Because there is limited oxygen available within the battery pack, most of the combustion occurs outside of the pack. We use CONVERGE’s SAGE detailed chemistry solver to model the combustion of the vent gases. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing automatically creates a high-quality mesh for the complex battery pack geometry, and Adaptive Mesh Refinement helps to efficiently capture the flow solution (shown in the second view in the video).Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulation of Thermal Runaway Propagation in an E-Bike Battery Pack convergecfd 2023-01-13 | An increasingly popular method of transportation, electric bikes are an excellent choice for those who want the nimbleness of a bike at the speed of a car. However, with an increase in the number of people using battery-powered transportation comes a rise in potential battery fires caused by thermal runaway. Engineers can use CONVERGE’s conjugate heat transfer modeling to predict thermal runaway propagation in battery packs under stress conditions. In this simulation, thermal runaway is forcefully triggered in four cells on the right side of the e-bike battery pack. When a battery cell goes into thermal runaway, it sees a sudden increase in temperature. As the heat is conducted and convected to the rest of the pack, thermal runaway is triggered in other battery cells, and soon there is cascading thermal runaway across the entire battery pack. In all views, we are visualizing 3D battery temperatures. The close-up view shows that the battery is not heating up uniformly. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing allowed us to capture the complicated pack geometry. We used the Hatchard-Kim mechanism available in CONVERGE Studio to solve the thermal runaway chemistry in 3D with our SAGE detailed chemistry solver.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Happy New Year! convergecfd 2022-12-29 | Cheers to the new year! We hope your 2023 is a blast.Original illustration by Brigid Doty
Join us in Pune! | 2023 Indian CONVERGE User Conference convergecfd 2022-12-23 | Join CONVERGE users from around the globe at the 2023 CONVERGE User Conference–India! This year’s Indian conference offers technical presentations on a wide range of simulation topics, hands-on workshops on emobility and alternative fuels, and CONVERGE training taught by our expert Applications engineers—all free of charge! The conference will take place February 13–16 in Pune. Check out our website for details and registration! uc.convergecfd.com/in
WEBINAR | Overcoming H2 Combustion Simulation Challenges with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-12-07 | H2 has the potential to play a significant role in our global transition to carbon-free mobility. Manufacturers of internal combustion engines (ICEs) and gas turbines (GTs) are showing considerable interest in H2, with several OEMs already working on prototype engines that use H2 as a fuel. CFD is an effective tool for designing H2-powered ICEs and GTs, but H2 poses a number of modeling challenges: high injection velocities, low density, high mass diffusivity in air, wide flammability range, high burning velocities, and low ignition energy. In this webinar, we discuss how CONVERGE CFD software is uniquely suited to address these challenges for various applications. We look at examples including supersonic direct injection of H2 in ICEs, flame flashback control in dual-fuel ICEs and GTs, lean blow-off in GTs, accurate NOx modeling in ICEs, and the transition from deflagration to detonation in rotating detonation engines.Presented by:Sameera Wijeyakulasuriya, Senior Principal Engineer, Convergent ScienceAccess the webinar slides with references here: api.convergecfd.com/wp-content/uploads/H2_Combustion_Modeling_Webinar_11302022.pdf
Simulating Vortex-Induced Vibration Using Implicit FSI convergecfd 2022-12-02 | In this simulation, we applied CONVERGE’s implicit fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling to study the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a rigid cylinder interacting with an external viscous flow. Within the range of Reynolds numbers studied, vortices are shed alternately with a constant frequency. The solid body motion is induced by the von Karman vortex street. The ratio of the solid and fluid densities is ~0.8, so the added mass effect is significant. CONVERGE’s implicit FSI tightly couples the CFD solver with the 6 DOF rigid FSI solver to account for the additional inertial forces from the added mass effect. In addition, CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement allows us to accurately capture the vortex shedding throughout the simulation with minimal computational cost.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
WEBINAR | Compressor Design: Reduce Costs and Enhance Performance With Simulation convergecfd 2022-11-09 | An ideal compressor would be perfectly efficient and consume a minimal amount of power. While a real-world compressor will always have some inefficiencies, simulation can help engineers bring their designs closer to that ideal. In this webinar, we discuss how you can take advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to minimize detrimental phenomena including leakage, backflow, vibration, pulsations, and noise. CFD studies can take place early in the design phase before any physical prototypes have been made, saving you a significant amount of time and money. However, because of their complex geometries and moving components, it can be a challenge to create a suitable compressor model in a reasonable amount of time in many CFD software packages. CONVERGE CFD software overcomes this limitation through fully autonomous meshing. This feature can reduce the time it takes to create a computational model by several weeks, even for a novel design. In addition, CONVERGE can easily handle moving components, including flow-driven valves, and any type of refrigerant. We demonstrate how effective the CONVERGE approach is by applying it to a novel spool compressor.Presented by:Ameya Waikar, Research Engineer, Convergent Science
CONVERGE Simulation of the TORAD Spool Compressor convergecfd 2022-10-14 | TORAD Engineering's spool compressor has a complex rotor-vane mechanism for compression and an array of poppet valves. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing easily accommodates the moving geometry, and robust fluid-structure interaction modeling captures the valve displacement.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
CONVERGE Academic Competition - Winner 2022 convergecfd 2022-09-22 | In this video, Hannah Leystra, Convergent Science’s University Relationship Specialist, reveals the winner of the 2022 CONVERGE Academic Competition: Tamara Gammaidoni of the University of Perugia. Tamara, who is studying for her master’s in mechanical engineering, explains to us how she used CONVERGE to simulate an air-cooled battery pack. Participating in the the competition is invaluable, says Tamara, because it is a great opportunity to grow personally and technically.All graduate students who participate in the CONVERGE Academic Competition receive an academic license for CONVERGE for the duration of the competition, receive support from Convergent Science engineers, and attend office hours to get help with their novel simulation that contributes to the research community at large. The top three entries in each category (new and existing CONVERGE users) win prize money.Applications for the 2023 CONVERGE Academic Competition close December 15, 2022.
CONVERGE Simulation of a Battery Energy Storage System convergecfd 2022-09-09 | Storage of energy from renewable sources for future use is an obstacle that needs to be overcome to build a more sustainable future. One way to overcome that obstacle is with battery energy storage systems (BESS), which can store energy from both renewable and conventional sources in rechargeable batteries for use at another time. In the BESS, battery cells generate heat while charging and discharging, which makes designing a proper cooling and ventilation system key. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing allows us to simulate the BESS quickly and efficiently, helping achieve fast turnaround from cooling system design changes to valuable simulation results. The first view shows a photorealistic rendering of the BESS. The second view shows the temperature profile on the battery packs as they are cooled by the cold air (blue represents cooler temperatures; red represents warmer temperatures). The third view shows vertical slices of temperature at two different air inflow nozzle locations; the slice at the second location has the mesh overlaid. The final view in the video shows a moving horizontal slice colored by temperature. In this simulation, we defined the heat flux at the battery surface to relay heat generation data from the battery packs, a faster method than conducting full-fledged battery conjugate heat transfer simulations. We used RANS modeling to capture turbulence, and we applied fixed mesh embedding around the battery packs to obtain accurate results.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating the Blow-Out of a Premixed Ammonia/Hydrogen/Nitrogen-Air Flame convergecfd 2022-08-12 | We used large eddy simulation (LES) with the detailed chemistry solver in CONVERGE to investigate the combustion characteristics of a premixed ammonia/hydrogen/nitrogen-air flame. Ammonia is a promising energy carrier that could eliminate CO2 emissions from gas turbine engines, but the combustion properties of pure ammonia are not well suited to gas turbine combustion. When ammonia is blended with hydrogen and nitrogen, however, the mixture exhibits more favorable combustion characteristics. For this simulation, we took advantage of the Computational Chemistry Consortium’s C3MechV3.3, which contains accurate chemistry for ammonia and hydrogen. The first view in the video shows a photorealistic rendering of the flame and air, which then transitions to show the temperature isosurface of the flame (1500 K) colored by velocity magnitude. The final view shows a slice with temperature contours and the mesh. You can see CONVERGE’s fixed embedding capability to refine the grid in the flame and recirculation zone. As the velocity of the inflow increases, the flame blows out. With LES and detailed chemistry, CONVERGE accurately predicts the blow-out velocity compared to experimental data.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
WEBINAR | How Simulating Wind Turbines Can Accelerate the Renewable Energy Transformation convergecfd 2022-08-10 | With demand for renewable energy skyrocketing, designing durable wind turbines optimized for maximum power output is essential. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables engineers to virtually assess key design parameters, such as power output under various conditions, wind and wave loads, and downstream wake effects on wind farms. In this webinar, we discuss the tools CONVERGE CFD software offers for simulating both onshore and offshore wind turbines. CONVERGE’s fully autonomous meshing easily accommodates complex environmental terrain as well as rotating turbine blades. To speed up wind turbine simulations, CONVERGE includes simplified models that allow you to capture essential flow structures without needing to resolve the 3D geometry. In addition, CONVERGE features robust fluid-structure interaction modeling, wave generation, and a mooring cable model for accurately simulating offshore wind turbines. We demonstrate the efficacy of these modeling approaches on a variety of cases, including individual onshore wind turbines, wind farms, and floating offshore wind turbines.Presented by:Shengbai Xie, Principal Research Engineer–Applications, Convergent ScienceJasim Sadique, Principal Research Engineer–Development, Convergent Science
Simulation of the Lubricant Flow Inside a Gearbox convergecfd 2022-08-05 | In recent years, environmental concerns have turned more eyes toward gearbox efficiency. There are many possible reasons for power loss in a gearbox, including hydraulic loss caused by churning, windage, pocketing, and/or cavitation. CFD can help anticipate these load-independent losses and optimize gearbox design to increase its efficiency. In this CONVERGE simulation, we used our volume of fluid modeling to capture the oil-gas interface inside the gearbox. We also used RANS modeling to capture turbulence. The first view in the video shows the lubricant churning and spreading inside the gearbox. The second view shows the velocity contours on the lubricant-air interface. The third view shows the velocity contours on the surface of the gears, with blue representing a low velocity value and yellow representing a high velocity value. The final view shows the mesh, colored by velocity magnitude, passing through the axis of the gears. CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing with Cartesian orthogonal cut-cell approach can both capture the complex moving geometry with ease and decrease overall runtime. CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement adds cells only in the areas required, optimizing cell count and reducing the cost of the simulation.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating the Potsdam Propeller Test Case with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-07-15 | CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing easily accommodates complex moving geometries, as demonstrated in this simulation of the Potsdam propeller test case. We applied CONVERGE’s k-ω SST turbulence model and velocity-based Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) to capture the wake of the submerged propeller. The first view shows an isosurface of the Q-criterion to visualize the vorticity. In the second view, the velocity magnitude is plotted on the propeller surface, and the mesh is shown on a plane perpendicular to the propeller axis. You can see how CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing accommodates the propeller motion and how AMR adjusts the resolution to capture the velocity field. In the final view, the isosurfaces are colored by velocity magnitude. With its advanced meshing capabilities and state-of-the-art physical submodels, CONVERGE is well-suited to marine propeller simulations.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Visual Overview of Tamara Gammaidonis Air-Cooled Battery Pack Project convergecfd 2022-07-13 | In this video, Tamara Gammaidoni (Università degli Studi di Perugia) shows an overview of her winning air-cooled battery pack project for the 2022 CONVERGE Academic Competition.Video provided courtesy of Tamara Gammaidoni.
Simulating Electronics Cooling by Forced Convection convergecfd 2022-07-08 | CONVERGE’s conjugate heat transfer (CHT) modeling with super-cycling and Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) allows you to efficiently analyze cooling strategies for electronics. This video shows a simulation of forced convection cooling of electronic components inside an enclosure. The first view presents a photorealistic model of the geometry. In the second view, a volume rendering of the airflow is colored by air temperature. As the air travels over the hot electronics, it absorbs heat and cools the components. The third view shows temperature contours on the electronic components, and the final view shows contour slices colored by temperature. CONVERGE’s super-cycling approach significantly speeds up CHT simulations, and AMR refines the grid throughout the simulation to capture gradients in the velocity and temperature fields. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulation of a Wet Cooling Tower with a Forced Air Draft convergecfd 2022-06-24 | Wet cooling towers are used to cool water heated during industrial or power generation processes. This CONVERGE simulation of a wet cooling tower with a forced air draft shows the heat and mass transfer in the domain. A warm water stream is sprayed into the air stream via 12 injectors. In the first view, the contour colors on the parcels show the temperature of the water droplets (blue represents a low value; red represents a high value). The temperature of the water decreases as it falls after coming into contact with the cold air forced into the tower. The volume contours show the water vapor mass fraction (greater than 1.5%) in the domain (blue contours represent a low value of vapor mass fraction; white contours represent a high value). In the second view, you can see the velocity magnitude of the fluid (blue regions represent low velocity; red regions represent high velocity). The third view shows the streamlines, which visualize the air flow and recirculation zones inside the domain. In this view you can also see the “fill”, shown in red. A fill consists of layers of bars or slats (splash fill), or layers of sheets in a corrugated pattern (film fill). They are used in wet cooling towers to increase the interaction time and area of contact between the water and the air. Simulating the flow field between the fine-scale geometrical structures in the fill is computationally expensive. To save time, CONVERGE offers a porous media source model that simulates the flow in the fill without the need to include the actual fill geometry. The model captures the flow effects by converting the defined fill region to distributed momentum resistances.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating an Aviation Gas Turbine with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-06-10 | We took advantage of CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing and accurate combustion modeling to simulate an aviation gas turbine, which is included in CONVERGE Studio as an example case. This single-sector combustor case represents a high-power condition and includes wall effusion cooling holes. We used the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) model to simulate the combustion of Jet-A fuel and Adaptive Mesh Refinement to capture the flow through the effusion cooling holes. The video shows the streamlines in the casing and the combustor, as well as wall temperatures and an isosurface of OH representing the flame front. CONVERGE Studio is included with a CONVERGE license at no extra cost, and it contains the setup files for this—and many other—gas turbine example cases. These example cases allow you to conduct parametric studies to determine the sensitivity of spray, combustion, heat transfer, and turbulence models on results such as NOx, flame shape, and wall and exit profile temperatures.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Battery Thermal Runaway Caused by Nail Penetration convergecfd 2022-06-03 | In this CONVERGE simulation, a single prismatic LCO-type battery cell is punctured by a nail, which creates a short-circuit. The resulting current causes a local temperature rise around the nail, initiating thermal runaway. We used the Hatchard-Kim thermal runaway mechanism, which calculates heat generation from four exothermic reactions. In all three views, the contours represent temperature. In the first view, temperatures are shown on the nail’s surface and on a plane passing through its axis. Only temperatures above 450 K are plotted on the plane, and the isosurface in the first view is generated using a temperature value of 850 K. In the second and third views, the mesh is shown on three different planes, and the mesh lines are colored with temperature. We used our Adaptive Mesh Refinement to track the temperature propagation within the solid, and we achieved quick simulation runtimes thanks to our SAGE detailed chemistry solver.Convergent Science’s CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating an Offshore Capping Stack with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-04-29 | CONVERGE’s volume of fluid (VOF) and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling allow us to capture the real-world physics of offshore capping stack placement. In the oil and gas industry, capping stacks are brought in to contain oil leaks in the case of a subsea blowout. In this simulation, the capping stack is tethered to a crane on the surface. The crane maneuvers the capping stack onto the faulty blowout preventer as a mixture of oil and gas streams out. We employed CONVERGE’s species-based VOF solver to simulate the oil and gas jet leaking out into the surrounding water. The mooring cable model enabled us to simulate the tethering cable, and we used rigid-body FSI to capture the interaction between the oil/gas jet and the capping stack. In the first view, you can see how the capping stack wobbles due to the forces from the oil/gas jet. The second view shows how Adaptive Mesh Refinement adds cells when and where they are needed to resolve the jet dynamics. CONVERGE’s fully autonomous meshing eliminates user meshing time for complex geometries and seamlessly accommodates moving boundaries.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
WEBINAR | CONVERGE CFD Software for the Development of Electric & Electrified Vehicles convergecfd 2022-04-21 | PRESENTED BY:Daniel Lee, Owner & Vice President, Convergent ScienceKislaya Srivastava, Senior Research Engineer, Convergent ScienceRonald O. Grover, Jr., Staff Researcher, General Motors Research & DevelopmentHOSTED BY:Ashish Joshi, Senior Business Development ManagerConvergent ScienceIn this webinar, we discuss the state-of-the-art 3D modeling capabilities of CONVERGE CFD software for emobility applications. We share our best practices for air- and liquid-cooled electric motors as well as one-way coupling with the electromagnetic solver JMAG-Designer. In addition, we present examples of battery thermal management simulations—including battery cooling, battery thermal runaway, and battery fire—using specially developed chemistry mechanisms solved with our SAGE detailed chemistry solver. We cover some of the novel features of CONVERGE, such as conjugate heat transfer with super-cycling and fixed flow techniques, which significantly reduce your simulation turnaround time. You also get to see how CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing technology and Adaptive Mesh Refinement drastically reduce user meshing time from hours or days to mere seconds. Special guest Dr. Ronald O. Grover, Jr., Staff Researcher at General Motors Research & Development, also shares how he has used CONVERGE to perform cooling simulations of a GM electric motor.
Simulating a Wind Turbine with the Actuator Line Model convergecfd 2022-04-15 | CONVERGE’s actuator line model (ALM) enables you to efficiently simulate wind turbines. This video (courtesy of the Wind Section of the REASE group at the University of Florence) shows a CONVERGE simulation of a DTU 10 MW reference wind turbine with the Q-criterion isosurface plotted to visualize vortices. ALM replaces the rotor blade with 1D lines that impose body forces corresponding to blade loading on the flow field. CONVERGE’s ALM uses novel methods for velocity sampling and force projection, which increase the model’s accuracy and efficiency. With autonomous meshing and Adaptive Mesh Refinement, CONVERGE easily accommodates the moving boundaries and efficiently captures the important flow structures.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Urea Deposit Formation on a Clamshell Mixer convergecfd 2022-04-08 | With CONVERGE’s detailed decomposition chemistry, conjugate heat transfer modeling, and a variety of acceleration techniques, we efficiently and accurately predicted urea deposit formation for a clamshell mixer. In a urea/SCR aftertreatment system, the clamshell mixer enhances the mixing of ammonia with the incoming exhaust gasses. A more uniform distribution of ammonia at the SCR inlet will result in better NOx reduction. However, in adverse flow conditions (e.g., low temperatures and high flow rates), undecomposed urea can form solid deposits on the mixer walls, which degrades the performance of the system. The first view in the video shows the deposit formation with the mixer colored by temperature. In the second view, the film parcels are hidden to show how the spray cools the surface of the mixer. The final view shows the film thickness over time. We used a 12-step detailed urea decomposition mechanism, which allowed us to predict both the deposit mass and the chemical makeup of the deposit species. To speed up the simulation, we employed several acceleration methods: fixed flow, parcel consolidation, and super-cycling. With these features, CONVERGE enables you to accurately predict urea deposit formation in aftertreatment systems in a reasonable amount of time. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating an Air-Cooled Switched Reluctance Motor convergecfd 2022-04-01 | CONVERGE’s conjugate heat transfer (CHT) modeling with transient super-cycling enabled us to efficiently simulate this air-cooled switched reluctance motor. Designed to be used in small power tools, the motor is cooled as the rotation of the rotor pulls in and pushes out air along the stator slots. With autonomous meshing, CONVERGE can easily handle the moving asymmetric rotor geometry. We took advantage of CONVERGE’s one-way coupling with JMAG to calculate the copper and iron losses, which we modeled as heat sources in the various motor components. Transient super-cycling allowed us to accurately predict the winding temperatures over time at a fraction of the cost of a fully transient calculation. In the video, you can see how the temperature of the solid components is updated every few rotations as super-cycling is applied. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Hydrogen Direct Injection Engine with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-03-25 | Simulating alternative fuels in IC engines is simple with CONVERGE’s SAGE detailed chemistry solver. In this video, we use SAGE to simulate a hydrogen direct injection engine. The first view shows the mesh on a cut-plane through the axis of the cylinder, colored by temperature. You can see how Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) adds cells throughout the simulation to efficiently capture the hydrogen injection and the flame front. The second view shows a volumetric rendering of hydrogen during injection and the temperature in the cylinder during combustion. CONVERGE makes it easy to investigate carbon-free and carbon-neutral fuels as we move to decarbonize the transportation industry. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating an Industrial Mixing Tank with CONVERGE convergecfd 2022-02-25 | CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing and volume of fluid (VOF) modeling allowed us to accurately and efficiently simulate an industrial mixing tank. At each simulation time-step, CONVERGE regenerates a stationary mesh to accommodate the moving geometry without deforming the mesh. To maintain a sharp liquid-air interface, we employed CONVERGE’s High Resolution Interface Capturing (HRIC) scheme. In addition, Adaptive Mesh Refinement adds cells when and where necessary to help resolve the fluid interface. In CONVERGE, you can alter your geometry without having to set up your case again, so you can easily test different geometries to assess key parameters such as mixing efficiency, mechanical loading on the impeller, and power requirements. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Vortex Damper with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-12-17 | In this vortex damper simulation, CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing easily accommodates the rotating surfaces. Vortex dampers, also known as variable inlet vane dampers or inlet guide vanes, are often used with fan inlets or turbine engines to pre-spin the incoming gasses in the direction of fan rotation. This reduces the load on the fan and enhances its performance and efficiency. In the first view, you can see how the incoming air accelerates once the vanes open completely. The second view shows velocity vectors with the mesh overlaid on orthogonal planes along the axis. The last view depicts the airflow with streamtraces. CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement helps to efficiently capture the gradients in flow velocity.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Vehicle Water Wading with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-12-10 | It’s crucial for a car to maintain stability and functionality in a water wading scenario (i.e., being driven through shallow to deep water). However, performing physical wading tests is expensive both in terms of time and money, requiring costly iterative design changes if the car fails. CFD simulations can help detect problems related to water wading at an earlier point in the design process. Here, we used CONVERGE’s volume of fluid (VOF) modeling with a High Resolution Interface Capturing (HRIC) scheme to investigate how water spreads around a car as it moves through shallow water. The first view shows how the water splashes as the car moves. The colors transition to pressure contours at 0:06, and then to velocity contours at 0:11. The second view shows the mass fraction of the water on the car’s surface, illustrating how the water spreads over the car. In the last two views, you can see how CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing with cut-cell approach seamlessly handles the moving geometry and Adaptive Mesh Refinement helps capture the dynamics of the water throughout the simulation.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Lubricant Churning in a Gearbox with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-12-03 | CONVERGE’s autonomous meshing with cut-cell approach easily handles moving boundaries, as demonstrated in this simulation of a bevel gear reducer gearbox. We used volume of fluid (VOF) modeling to capture the churning of the lubricant inside the gearbox and Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling to simulate the turbulence. The first view shows how the lubricant splashes and spreads, coating the surfaces as the gears turn. The second view shows a slice with the mesh overlain. You can see how CONVERGE’s meshing approach seamlessly accommodates the moving gears. In addition, Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) helps to efficiently resolve the lubricant-air interface, thus optimizing the total cell count while still maintaining a sharp interface. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Tire on Wet Ground with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-11-19 | When a car is driving on a wet road, the water between the tires and the ground can cause the car to lose traction, a phenomenon known as aquaplaning or hydroplaning. Aquaplaning can send the car off course and, in some cases, cause a serious accident. To prevent aquaplaning, tires must be capable of quickly dispersing water underneath them. We leveraged CONVERGE’s volume of fluid (VOF) modeling and autonomous meshing to simulate the dispersion of water from a tire rolling on wet ground. The first view shows an isosurface representing the surface of the water as it is dispersed. In the second view, the isosurface transitions to contours showing velocity magnitude. The last views show the mesh during the simulation. We used CONVERGE’s mesh embedding and Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) to help resolve the liquid-gas interface. In addition, we implemented proximity AMR to locally refine the mesh in the small gaps between the tire and the ground, while keeping the overall computational cost of the simulation reasonable. With CONVERGE’s automated cut-cell meshing technique, the solver easily handles complex moving boundaries and user meshing time is all but eliminated.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
In Situ Post-Processed LDI Gas Turbine Combustor Simulation convergecfd 2021-11-12 | CONVERGE can be coupled with ParaView to enable in situ post-processing of your CFD simulations. The SAGE detailed chemistry solver and large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence modeling were leveraged to simulate a lean direct injection (LDI) liquid fuel gas turbine combustor, and the results were processed with ParaView. This visualization shows a temperature rendering of the flow, where each pixel is rendered with a certain color (red indicates lower temperatures; blue indicates higher temperatures) and a certain transparency (lower temperatures are more transparent), which allows you see through the flame to the hotter flame core. In situ post-processing is set up in CONVERGE Studio. You can choose from simple post-processing operations included in CONVERGE Studio—for example, extracting and saving slices or iso-volumes—or you can import a custom script for advanced post-processing procedures. During the simulation, CONVERGE will send data to ParaView to post-process directly on the cluster. Depending on the size of your case and your post-processing workflow, in situ post-processing can save you a significant amount of time.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Horizontal Oil Separator with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-11-05 | Combining CONVERGE’s volume of fluid modeling and mixture model approach enables you to simulate three-phase separation due to gravity. This video shows a simulation of a horizontal oil separator, a system commonly used in the oil and chemical industries. A uniform mixture of oil, water, and air flows from the top inlet into the tank, which is partially filled with water. Because of the difference in densities, the oil separates from the mixture and stays on top of the water. In the second view, you can see how Adaptive Mesh Refinement intelligently adds cells to help resolve the oil/water and oil/air interfaces, while keeping the simulation computationally efficient. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-10-01 | In CONVERGE, you can easily set up and efficiently simulate wind turbine cases, such as the vertical-axis h-blade wind turbine shown in this video. CFD simulations of wind turbines are valuable for studying the interaction between the blades and the air, which can help you improve turbine efficiency. The first view shows the pressure contours on the surface of the blades (blue represents lower pressure values; red represents higher pressure values).The volume rendering visualizes the velocity magnitude of the air—you can see that the air slows down as it is obstructed by the wind turbine blades and structure. The second view shows the velocity magnitude on three slices (lighter shades of blue represent lower velocities). In the third view, you can see the mesh, with the grid lines colored by velocity. CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) automatically refines the mesh throughout the simulation to capture large gradients in the velocity magnitude. The fourth and fifth views visualize the vortex shedding from alternate sides of the turbine blades and from the turbine structure. Because CONVERGE employs a stationary, cut-cell mesh that is regenerated at each simulation time-step, it can easily accommodate the moving surfaces in the geometry. This approach also minimizes the artificial viscosity that is otherwise introduced with a moving-mesh technique. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Wind and Wave Fields with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-07-30 | CONVERGE includes a variety of tools for efficiently simulating realistic wind and wave fields and capturing wind-wave interactions. The wave generation and synthetic turbulence generation tools (currently implemented as UDFs) allow you to easily simulate 3D waves and introduce realistic turbulence into the wind field. In addition, CONVERGE’s volume of fluid (VOF) modeling enables you to accurately capture the wind-wave interactions at the interface. These features are valuable for offshore and marine applications, including naval vessels, commercial ships, and floating wind turbines and oil platforms.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Webinar | New Updates for Running Converge on TotalCAE with Intel Hardware convergecfd 2021-07-21 | When it comes to completing jobs accurately and timely, high-performance computing (HPC) provides significant performance advantages to the CFD industry. In this webinar, learn about applications for CONVERGE and HPC scalability using TotalCAE.Hear special guest CFD engineer Vamsie Sampath from MAHLE share how he dramatically reduced his CONVERGE runtimes with a managed HPC cluster from TotalCAE. In addition, watch a live demo of how TotalCAE makes it easy to submit CONVERGE jobs to HPC, and see the latest CONVERGE benchmark results with 3rd Gen Intel Scalable Processors.
Simulating a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine with CONVERGE convergecfd 2021-07-02 | In this video, we took advantage of CONVERGE’s actuator-line model (ALM) and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling to simulate a floating offshore wind turbine. The cut-plane is colored by velocity, and the vortices are visualized with the Q-criterion isosurface. ALM allows you to model the wind turbine rotor without having to resolve the wind turbine blades, which significantly speeds up the simulation while still maintaining a high level of accuracy. We used CONVERGE’s FSI modeling to simulate the interaction between the waves and the wind turbine platform and a mooring model to simulate the mooring cable. Unlike many codes, CONVERGE enables you to simulate these various phenomena in a single simulation. This allowed us to see how the predicted power corresponds with the wave phase, as shown in the inset plot. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Smoke Dispersion from an Accident in a Train Tunnel convergecfd 2021-06-11 | Performing accident analyses with CONVERGE can help you design solutions to mitigate negative outcomes should an accident occur. In this video, we simulated a scenario in which a fire started inside a train, and the train stalled in a tunnel. The first view shows the smoke billowing out of the train and dispersing in the tunnel. For this simulation, we assumed that the ambient air inside the tunnel is stagnant. The second view shows the velocity magnitude of the smoke (blue indicates low velocity; red indicates high velocity) on a horizontal and a vertical cut-plane. On the vertical cut-plane, you can see how CONVERGE’s Adaptive Mesh Refinement was used to capture gradients in the smoke velocity. This type of simulation can help engineers design effective tunnel ventilation systems, even in the case of an accident. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Simulating Deflagration to Detonation Transition convergecfd 2021-06-04 | In this video, we leveraged CONVERGE’s detailed chemistry, autonomous meshing, and Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) to capture the deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) in a 2D obstructed channel. Unwanted or uncontrolled DDT in energetic mixtures can be highly destructive, making it a key topic of interest for the safe handling and storage of fuels and explosive mixtures. On the other hand, advanced propulsion devices such as pulse detonation engines rely on rapid DDT in order to reduce the size of the engines. Predicting DDT is challenging due to the wide range of length scales involved (4–10 orders of magnitude) and the non-linear interaction between the flame, shock, turbulence, and boundary layer. 2D obstructed channels allow a controlled numerical study of the various stages of flame evolution: 1) laminar flame propagation, 2) acceleration of the flame as it passes over the obstacles, 3) wrinkling of the flame due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, 4) formation of shock waves and their interaction with the flame, leading to Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, 5) formation of mach-stems, and, finally, 6) transition to detonation and subsequent propagation. The geometry in this simulation corresponds to the unstaggered configuration (S = 4 cm) with an obstacle height of 3S/16 (blockage ratio = 0.5) used by Gamezo et al. (2007) [1]. The 2D channel is filled with a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture at 1 atm and 293 K. “Soft ignition” [2] is simulated by initializing a quarter-circular zone (radius = 5 mm) at one end of the channel with a temperature of 2400 K and a composition corresponding to burnt gases. All wall boundary conditions are adiabatic and no-slip. AMR is used to capture the flame and the detonation front, while maintaining a reasonable computational time. With this approach, CONVERGE accurately predicts the onset of detonation and subsequent propagation.Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.References[1] Gamezo, V.N., Ogawa, T., and Oran, E.S., "Flame Acceleration and DDT in Channels With Obstacles: Effect of Obstacle Spacing," Combustion and Flame, 155(1-2), 302-315, 2008. DOI: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2008.06.004 [2] Gamezo, V.N., Ogawa, T., and Oran, E.S., "Numerical Simulations of Flame Propagation and DDT in Obstructed Channels Filled With Hydrogen–air Mixture," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 31(2), 2463-2471, 2007. DOI: 10.1016/j.proci.2006.07.220
Simulating a Train Passing Through a Tunnel convergecfd 2021-05-28 | With autonomous meshing, it’s easy to simulate moving geometries in CONVERGE. In this video, we simulated a train entering and passing through a tunnel to investigate the effect of the train on the velocity of the air and the pressure variations along the tunnel. These simulations are valuable for designing appropriate tunnel ventilation systems, such as determining the best size and location for fans inside the tunnel, and to mitigate tunnel boom. The first view shows isosurfaces of the velocity magnitude, colored by pressure (blue indicates low values, and red indicates high values). In the second view, you can see how Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) was used to capture gradients in velocity as the train passes through the tunnel. The last view shows the velocity at different positions along the length of the domain. We leveraged CONVERGE’s turbulence modeling and AMR to obtain high-fidelity results for pressure and velocity, while maintaining a reasonable computational cost. Convergent Science's CONVERGE is an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that eliminates the grid generation bottleneck from the simulation process through autonomous meshing.
Webinar | CONVERGE Academic Program convergecfd 2021-05-24 | The CONVERGE Academic Program empowers students, professors, and academic researchers around the world to advance science and technology. Convergent Science offers exclusive CONVERGE license deals for academic research, along with free support, training, and resources. In this webinar, you’ll learn about the goals and scope of the CONVERGE Academic program, the process for obtaining a license, and the resources we offer for academic users. In addition, you’ll hear directly from prominent professors about how they use CONVERGE in their research and see firsthand how simple it is to set up a complex case in CONVERGE.Presented by: Hannah Leystra, University Relations Specialist, Convergent Science
