Thermal analyser simplifies mechanical models

The version of Flotherm allows parts and assemblies from mechanical CAD packages to be imported directly in their native file formats, and then simplified for reliable thermal analysis.

The latest release of Flomerics' market-leading thermal analysis software for electronic equipment enables parts and assemblies from mechanical design (MCAD) software such as Pro/Engineer and Solidworks to be imported directly in their native file formats, then simplified and transferred to Flotherm 4.2 for thermal analysis.

"We call this approach "intelligent integration", because it recognises that connecting thermal analysis to mainstream mechanical design software involves more than simply transferring geometry", says Dr Mike Reynell, Flomerics' Director of Marketing.

"A full-blown solid model of a typical electronic assembly contains thousands of geometrical details which have absolutely no effect on thermal performance.

Including all these details in the thermal analysis makes it a slow, complicated process.

The new Flo/MCAD module in Flotherm 4.2 removes unnecessary geometrical detail automatically, and creates a simplified "thermal equivalent" model which runs rapidly through thermal analysis, enabling the design engineer to explore many different solutions in the time taken to analyse one the old-fashioned way".

Flo/MCAD v4.2 uses the latest translator software from TTF - a French company specialising in interoperability between CAD systems - to provide direct import of MCAD data files in their native format.

Direct interfacing removes the need to export files from the MCAD software, eliminates the risk of geometry corruption, and maintains full data associativity between MCAD and thermal analysis software tools.

Flo/MCAD also has bidirectional data-transfer capabilities, so that after thermal design is optimised, the revised geometry can be exported back to the MCAD software.

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