As engineers, we sometimes find ourselves focused on the detail of our designs and risk losing sight of the bigger picture. The process of designing and analysing complex 3D components is now simpler, faster and more cost-effective through readily available CAE tools, such as CAD integrated with ANSYS FEA and CFD. However, it is important to keep in mind that these detailed components are rarely acting alone, but rather form part of a bigger network or fluid system. It is clear that ultimately the overall performance of the system is the most important design requirement, and that engineers need to adequately understand the impact of variability in a component’s performance characteristics on the system as a whole. This is where Flownex is a valuable tool in any engineer’s toolbox.

The Flownex Simulation Environment delivers 1-D system simulation technology that enables engineers in Australia and New Zealand to study how thermal-fluid network systems will behave in the real world, whenever fluid dynamics is the driving factor. Flownex system simulation provides the ability to quantify the overall effects of changing specific component properties (in isolation or in combination), allowing engineers and system designers to examine all possible variations of a system during the system design process.

Within Flownex, you are able to lay out components and connect them together to create your system – much like you would in a schematic diagram. Flownex provides a comprehensive library of pre-configured components you can use, or you can create your own and re-use via a customised library of frequently used components. You then define the characteristics of your components and deciding what type of simulation you would like to do: Flownex simulates both Steady-State and Transient effects, for either Compressible or Incompressible flows. Heat Transfer for thermal-fluid systems can also be simulated.