Simulation methods

Virtual prototype development through multiphysics, coupled simulations in the fields of flow modelling (CFD), heat transfer, thermomechanics (FEM), acoustics, electric fields, particles, etc. to reduce the required measurement technology and process development time.

The FHNW Institute of Thermal and Fluid Engineering has expertise in thermomechanical simulations (FEM), numerical flow calculations (CFD) and multiphysical calculations. By supporting experimental validation, we cover many thermal and fluid engineering application areas – from power electronics to transient wind loads in photovoltaics and atomisation systems.

With our expertise in areas such as flow modelling and heat transfer, we can effectively support and validate experiments. The virtual laboratory enables detailed analyses and contributes to the planning of experiments, the efficient use of measurement technology and the further development of components - a clear advantage in terms of the quality of the results, time and costs.

Depending on the requirements, we use the appropriate simulation tools:

• Software expertise: Abaqus, Ansys CFX, Ansys Fluent, Comsol, Flow-3D, NX, Open-Foam
• Automation and optimisation: MATLAB, Python, C

Our simulations are carried out on the institute's own simulation cluster, which has around 300 processor cores and over 3.1 TB of RAM.

We look forward to putting our constantly advancing expertise in the field of simulation in thermal and fluid engineering to work for you. If you have any questions or are interested, we look forward to hearing from you.