What factors contribute to making CAE projects successful? In the company I work for, in 15 years, we have delivered hundreds of CAE projects to industrial companies (most of them in the turbomachinery field). Some projects were highly successful, while others were not. In this article, I would like to share a few thoughts and lessons learned about project-success patterns and engineering productivity in general.
In engineering, we donโt simulate reality. We merely simulate our understanding of reality with currently available resources. In other words, the game we play here is about turning our knowledge and effort (and talent) into the best possible results. CAE projects, like software, are never really finished. They only have their versions. At any point, you can make them better. When chasing accuracy, the effort grows exponentially, so itโs smart to recognize the point when the results are good enough. Having clear, measurable goals is critical to prevent infinite drift, resource waste, and disappointment. Well-defined goals help to navigate, focus, and prioritize. The game we play is all about goals and their feasibility with the available knowledge and effort.
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Component 5, (Nacelle_Top) and Component 7 (Nacelle_Bottom) are experiencing failure to mesh. Can you take a look? It might be obvious to you.
Here's a download link to the compressed project file for your review. Please see my comment for a better Component map image for reference.
Edit: I've even tried performing the meshing operation using Salome-Meca. Meshing just one stl fails with it too, but unlike TCAE, takes several hours to fail completely. The component 5 (fuchsia) is Nacelle_Top, the patch in question is named Solid_Top_Bell-Mouth_inlet_and_Duct_Surface_08_21_25a.
I suspect Nacelle_Bottom is going to be just as bad, or worse, than Nacelle_Top. It is slightly smaller in diameter, but it's a more complicated surface.
Thanks in advance,
David
The previous iteration of this TCAE project experimented with omitting a central component from the topology, the Duct_Separator, going from the Top_Fan rim (sometimes called a hub, in this case an open outlet interface), through which air not used by the Top_Fan flows from the Top_System_Suction outlet interface, and continues directly to the inlet interface of the Bottom_Fan open rim, skipping the Duct Separator. Confusing, I know, but the Bottom_Fan is upside-down compared to the Top_Fan, so it takes in air not from the shroud inlet interface, as in the case of the Top_Fan, but from the Bottom_Fan's open rim inlet interface.
This iteration is more like the actual setup, Suction, Top_Fan, Duct_Separator, Bottom_Fan, Nacelle, Outlet_Extension. Please see my comment for a more complete image of the Component Map.
Who knows? It might eliminate some setup errors seen previously.
Working through the Check for Errors exercise finally presented only this orange border in the Components Map. Other than TCAE Output messages, there's no textual description of what or where things have gone awry. I'm assuming it's displayed somewhere in the TCAE Output messages, but what should I be looking for? Is it because the component Duct Separator (Co6) is without a partner, present in the group, barely visible, but no interaction with any other?
Still working through the Check exercises. Narrowing the errors down (hopefully!).
That I've gotten this far, in my estimation, is cause for celebration. 5-lime margarita time!
(they only yielded 4 oz. of juice from those small organic limes, but it'll do).
I'm amazed at the Check functionality. I've been eliminating one similar error after another until now.
From the directory for the component named "Top_Fan", I copied and pasted an interface patch (.stl) into the directory for the component named "Hull__Inlet__Outlet", same file name, same type: "outletInterface" with the intention to prevent this from happening. It seems to me that in that instance it should be an inletInterface (just saying, I tried it that way...didn't help), Static Reference frame, another, different component.
Setup Problem is displayed upon selecting Check, listing the source, the copied patch in Top_Fan as the problem.
When I go into the Top_Fan component to connect the patch to the patch of same name in the Hull__Inlet__Outlet component, I don't see it listed as a choice, nor do any of the available listed options seem to work.
Changing the name slightly of the file in Hull__Inlet__Outlet had no effect.
How can I fix this? I'm stuck. Your help is appreciated in advance.
David
Each piece of software has its pros and cons. Usage of any of them depends on the particular project needs and many other circumstances (Physics, resources, skills, experience, โฆ).
Please contact us if you find new open-source software to complete this list or broken link or any inaccuracy. Weโll be happy to fix it.
May you have any questions, donโt hesitate to get in touch with us.
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CAE, or Computer-Aided Engineering (CFD, FEA, FSI, and optimization), is a field that utilizes computer software and tools to deliver the design, analysis, and optimization of engineering systems and components. This field plays a crucial role in industries such as automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, and civil engineering, enabling engineers to make informed decisions and improve the efficiency and reliability of their designs.
With recent developments, seeing how AI (Artificial Intelligence โ here I mean rather Machine Learning but only calling it AI to make things easier) is disrupting field by field, everything seems that AI will disrupt the CAE field too. In my humble opinion, itโs just a matter of time and the only question is when (and how exactly) it happens rather than if it happens.
Weโre just somewhere at the beginning and itโs even very difficult to say what is going on at the moment โ not a mention that itโs impossible to predict what will happen in the future. However, there are a couple of things that we CAN say.
The thing is, the usual CAE workflow involves a bunch of easy manual tasks and decisions based on data. And AI seems to be perfect for lending a hand with all of that.
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