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) 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 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.