AcuSolve Interface 2019 Release Notes

Altair HyperMesh

All new features, enhancements, and resolved issues in the AcuSolve solver interface from 2017.2.4 and 2017.3 hotfix versions are available in version 2019.

New Features

DENSITY_MODEL
New material density types include: Isentropic, Piecewise Linear, Cubic Spline, and User Function.
SPECIFIC_HEAT_MODEL
New material specific heat types include: Piecewise Linear, Cubic Spline, and User Function.
VISCOSITY_MODEL
Nw material viscosity types include: Ramped, Power Law, Bingham, Carreau, Piecewise Linear, Cubic Spline, and User Function.
CONDUCTIVITY_MODEL
New material conductivity types include: Constant Prandtl Number, Ramped, Piecewise Linear, Cubinc Spline, User Function, Constant Anisotropic, Piecewise Linear Anisotropic, Cubic Spline Anisotropic, and User Function Anisotropic.
GRAVITY, VOLUME_HEAT_SOURCE, MASS_HEAT_SOURCE
body_force commands support multiplier_function and user_function.
AUTO_WALL
The option auto_wall = ON/OFF is added to Wall boundary condition. This option is hidden under Advanced Features, and is turned ON by default. When auto_wall = on, mesh motion and reference frame related settings need not be specified on the Wall boundary, and will not be accessible under SIMPLE_BOUNDARY_CONDITION. The auto_wall feature can also be used to model interface surfaces and internal surfaces. When auto_wall = ON, SURFACE_OUTPUT commands are automatically generated by the solver. Additional SURFACE_OUTPUT command is generated by modifying the default output frequency settings.
THERMAL_SHELL
Model heat transfer through 2D thermal shells.
FAN_COMPONENT
Model flow through a radial or axial fan component via body forces without the need for modeling a realistic fan geometry.
HEAT_EXCHANGER_COMPONENT
Model flow and heat transfer through a heat exchanger component.
ELEMENT_BOUNDARY_CONDITION
Specification of heat_flux, convective_heat_flux, and radiation_heat_flux on Walls.
SURFACE_INTEGRATED_CONDITION
Specification of integrated boundary conditions for temperature and mass_flux at Inflow and Outflow boundaries.
ELEMENT_OUTPUT
Output of quantities averaged over a volume of elements. This option is available under each Volume component.
Discrete Ordinate Radiation Model
Model heat transfer effects due to participating media radiation using Discrete Ordinate Model. This option is available under PROBLEM_DESCRIPTION card.
Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE)
New mesh motion type under PROBLEM_DESCRIPTION card, which allows arbitrary mesh motion. Useful for FSI applications.
Temperature Boundary Condition Type = None
Temperature BC at a Wall can be set to None under Simple_Boundary_Condition. This is useful when advanced thermal BCs need to be specified via Element_Boundary_Condition.
Reference Temperature Multiplier Function
Specification of Multiplier Function for Convective Heat Flux Reference Temperature on a Wall.
Velocity Standard Deviation
Standard deviation of x/y/z velocity components are added to the types of surface output quantities under RESPONSE_VARIABLE.
Advanced Solver Settings
Access advanced settings for individual equation’s STAGGER command (min/max number of stagger iterations, linear solver iterations, projection and pressure projection flags).
Inflow Velocity Type
Specify inflow velocity in cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems.
Wall Velocity Type
Specify velocity of a moving wall in multiple ways - Cartesian, Spherical, Cylindrical, Normal, and Zero.
Active Type
active_type is added to SIMPLE_BOUNDARY_CONDITION. Used in applications with mesh motion.
Curve Fit Variables in NODAL_BOUNDARY_CONDITION
Additional variables are added under curve_fit_variable in NODAL_BOUNDARY_CONDITION (x/y/z coordinate, reference coordinate).
GUIDE_SURFACE
Ability to specify a set of 2D elements as a guide for mesh motion.
FREE_SURFACE
Model a free surface by applying appropriate mesh motion boundary conditions on the surface nodes.

Enhancements

Mixed Topology Export (VOLUME_SET and SURFACE_SET)
Option to export AcuSolve input file in a new format. Mixed topology components containing multiple element topology types (quad4/tria3, tetra4/hex8/pyramid5/penta6) are exported as independent surface_sets and volume_sets, which are then referenced under solver commands such as ELEMENT_SET, SIMPLE_BOUNDARY_CONDITION, and so on.
NODAL_INITIAL_CONDITION
Set unique initial values per component or node set for each variable, such as initial liquid volume fraction, or initial temperature. This is useful in multiphase and heat transfer applications.
NODAL_BOUNDARY_CONDITION
Specify nodal boundary condition at individual nodes or node sets. This is useful for setting reference pressure node in natural convection applications.
Default Multiphase Materials
Default material models are readily available for use with Multiphase Levelset approach (AirWater_Leveset_HM) and Multiphase Algebraic Eulerian approach (AirWater_Eulerian_HM). These material models can be used as a starting point to create other multiphase material combinations.
AcuFieldView Launcher
AcuFieldView launcher has been added in two locations 1) Adjacent to AcuSolve Job Launcher in the toolbar, 2) AcuSolve Controls > Tools tab after launching the simulation via AcuSolve Job Launcher.
Component colors
New components of the same type are assigned unique colors when created from the BCs > Components > CFD utility.

Known Issues

The following known issues will be addressed in a future release as we continuously improve performance of the software:

  • New features added to the AcuSolve user profile are not currently supported by the .inp reader. You should not import input decks written from AcuConsole or from HyperMesh 2019.

Resolved Issues

  • Data type of Redistribution Factor under SOLAR_RADIATION_PARAMETERS card has been changed from Integer to Real. This will require deleting and recreating this global card when loading HM models created with 2017.2.4 and 2017.3 into v. 2019 or newer.
  • Mesh_Displacement_Type will be exported as “none” for all SIMPLE_BOUNDARY_CONDITION cards when performing shape optimization simulations (users need not do this manually).
  • Import bugs in the NODAL_INITIAL_CONDITION card.
  • Supervised Training data in DESIGN_VARIABLE does not accept duplicate values.

Altair HyperView

Enhancements

AcuSolve reader
AcuSolve reader supports AcuSolve 2018 solver result files.

Altair HyperGraph

New Features

Support of AcuSolve (*.Log files)
The AcuSolve reader supports .Log file input. Solution convergence can be plotted via Residual Ratio and Solution Ratio and integrated surface and element output can be plotted based on data written to the results directory. The results directory is currently required to be present for plotting AcuSolve data in HyperGraph.