Cradle – CFD software, flows and heat transfer

Cradle provides highly reliable, multiphysics-focused computational fluid dynamics (CFD), thermal dynamics software and integrated simulation tools that enhance customers’ product quality and creativity.

Since software simulation enables predicting performance without creating a hardware prototype, the tools can be used early in the planning state of product development to sift through preliminary design concepts. Simulation can also be used to predict performance of products where it is difficult to make experimental measurements. In addition, simulation software can be used to visualize invisible fluid flow and heat transfer. This results in increased engineering understanding while providing a vehicle for communicating this knowledge to non-experts

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Software Cradle offers two different types of thermo-fluid analysis tools:

scSTREAM and HeatDesigner with structured mesh. scSTREAM thermo-fluid software has serviced the electronics and architectural industries for more than thirty years. The ever-evolving software is characterized by its overwhelmingly user-friendly interfaces and high speed processing. HeatDesigner is based on scSTREAM and is specially developed for thermal design of electronics products. HeatDesigner provides physical functions required only for thermal design with its simple interfaces and powerful computing performance.

Designing thermal and air flow inside an office
Evaluating air flow around buildings
Evaluating heat island effect
Heat dissipation design of electronics and precision instruments
Dust-proof and moisture-proof review of electronics and precision instruments
Multi-phase flow analysis such as mixing, spray, solidification, melting, boiling, and condensation
Analysis involving moving objects such as cars, controlled equipment, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, and robots

scFLOW and SC/Tetra with unstructured mesh. SC/Tetra has been characterized by sophisticated mesh generation function, high speed computing capability, and user-friendly features throughout the operation. As its advanced version, scFLOW has been released. It is equipped with more stable Solver that achieves calculation speed three times faster (at maximum) than before, and new Preprocessor that helps entry-level users build complicated models and high quality mesh. scFLOW, the new generation software, keeps on evolving.

Aerodynamic simulation for automobiles
Evaluation of rotational devices such as fans and pumps
Prediction of cavitation and erosion
Design of household electric appliances such as refrigerators and wash machines
Internal flow analysis of ducts and nozzle
Analysis involving chemical reactions including reactor, catalyst, furnace, combustor, and CVD
Analyses of multiphase flow phenomena such as mixing, blending, spraying, solidification, melting, boiling, and condensation.

CFD Flow Software – scSTREAM i HeatDesigner – features

Preprocessor

		scSTREAM	HeatDesigner
Modeling	CAD data Interface (import)	Parasolid, STEP, JT, STL, IGES, ACIS, CATIA V6, CATIA V5, CATIA V4, Creo Elements/Pro (Pro/Engineer), SOLIDWORKS, NX, Solid Edge, Inventor, DWG, DXF (2D, 3D-face), 3DM, VDAFS, XGL, IDF, Autodesk Revit, ARCHICAD, Nastran, SHAPE, 3ds, SketchUp, IFC, PRE, MDL, NFB, Gerber (RS-274D, RS-274X), IPC-2581B	Parasolid, STEP, JT, STL, IGES, ACIS, CATIA V6, CATIA V5, CATIA V4, Creo Elements/Pro (Pro/Engineer), SOLIDWORKS, NX, Solid Edge, Inventor, DWG, DXF (2D, 3D-face), 3DM, VDAFS, XGL, IDF, MDL, NFB, Gerber (RS-274D, RS-274X), IPC-2581B
	CAD data Interface (export)	Parasolid, STL, MDL, NFB	Parasolid, STL, MDL, NFB
	Primitives	Cuboid, hexagon, cylinder, cone, sphere, revolved rectangle, point, panel (orthogonal, quadrilateral), 2.5D solid part, pipe components, fan (flat, axial, blower), electronics (including chassis, thermal circuit model (two-resistor, DELPHI, multi-resistor), fin, slits, Peltier device, heat pipes), air-conditioning appliances (including 4 way cassette, 2 way cassette, wall type, floor type, outdoor unit, anemostat, linear diffuser)	Cuboid, hexagon, cylinder, cone, sphere, point, panel (orthogonal, quadrilateral), 2.5D solid part, pipe components, fan (flat, axial, blower), electronics (including chassis, thermal circuit model (two-resistor, DELPHI, multi-resistor), fin, slits, Peltier device, heat pipes)
	Geometry modification	Boolean operation (sum, subtract,multiply, divide), shape simplification (deformer, filling hole, projection deletion, R fillet deletion), copy, mirror copy, wrapping, solid edit	Boolean operation (sum, subtract, multiply, divide), shape simplification (deformer, filling hole, projection deletion, R fillet deletion), copy, mirror copy, wrapping. solid edit
	Registration of parts library	●	●
Mesh generation	Tetrahedron	● (finite element model)
	Hexahedron	● (cylindrical coordinate system)
	Cuboid	●	●
	Cut-cell	●
Conditions	Easy set-up through wizard	●	●
	Preset default conditions	●	●
	Unused dialogs hidden	●	●
	Collective settings to undefined regions	●	●
	Material property library (editable)	●	●
	Laminated materials	●	●
	Absorption-desorption property calculation	●
Operation and control environment	VB Interface	●	●
	Selectable mouse operation modes	●	●
	Mapping	●
	Viewer mode	●	●

Solver

		scSTREAM	HeatDesigner
Mesh	Structured mesh	● (Cartesian or cylindrical coordinate)	● (Cartesian coordinate)
	Unstructured mesh	● (finite element model)
	Multiblock	●	●
	Cut-cell	● (solid, panel, thin shape)
	Moving objects	●
	6-degree-of-freedom motion (6DOF)	●
Numerical scheme	Finite volume method	●	●
	Pressure correction	SIMPLEC, SIMPLE	SIMPLEC
	Convection term accuracy	1st/3rd (QUICK/WENO) upwind scheme	1st/3rd (QUICK/WENO) upwind scheme
	Matrix	MICCG, ILUCR, ILUCGS, FMGCG, FMGCGS	MICCG, ILUCR, ILUCGS, FMGCG, FMGCGS
	Non-linear coupled solver	● (JFNK method)
	Steady-state/transient calculation	●	●
Flow types	Incompressible fluid	●	●
	Compressible fluid	●
	Non-Newtonian fluid	●
	Buoyancy (Boussinesq approximation)	●	●
	Buoyancy (low-Mach-number approximation)	●
	Multiple fluids	●
	Foaming resin model	●
Turbulence models		Standard k-ε model, RNG k-ε model, MP k-ε model, AKN linear low-Reynolds-number model, MPAKN linear low-Reynolds-number model, Non-linear low-Reynolds-number model, Improved LK k-ε model, Two-equation heat transfer (NK) model (high Reynolds number), Two-equation heat transfer (AKN) model (linear low-Reynolds-number), LES (Smagorinsky, Dynamic Smagorinsky, WALE, mixed-time scale)	Standard k-ε model,AKN linear low-Reynolds-number model
Thermal analysis	Heat conduction (fluid/solid)	●	●
	Convective heat transfer	●	●
	Heat radiation (view factor method)	●	●
	Heat radiation (flux method)	●
	Heat conduction panel	●	●
	Solar radiation	● (direct / sky solar radiation / reflection）
	Lamp (graphic output of rays)	●
	Joule heat	●
	Mean radiation temperature calculation	●
	Global solar radiation calculation	●
Diffusion analysis	Diffusivity	●
	Sedimentation rate	●
	SORET effect	●
Index for ventilation effciency	Age of air, life expectancy of air, inlet contribution rate	●
Thermal comfort index	PMV / SET* / WBGT	●
Illumination analysis	Solar radiation / lamp (graphic output of rays)	●
Humidity/dew condensation analysis	Relative humidity / absolute humidity	●
	Dew condensation	●
	Humidity transfer in solid	●
Reaction analysis	Chemical reaction	●
Reaction analysis	Combustion	● Eddy-dissipation model, PDF (Probability Density Function) method
Particle analysis	Marker particles	●
	Mass particles	●
	Reactant particles	●
	Charged particles	●
	Spray model	●
	Transforming dew condensation	●
	Transforming fluid/volume rate	● (MARS method)
Discrete element method (DEM)	Contact model	Linear spring dashpot model, Hertz-Mindlin model, Walton-Braun model
	Cloth model	● (command input)
	Cohesion model	●
	Thermal	●
	Ad/desorption (Humidity)	●
Multiphase flow analysis	Free surface	● (VOF method, MARS method)
	Solidification / melting	● (VOF method, MARS method)
	Boiling / condensation	● (MARS method)
	Evaporation / condensation	● (MARS method)
Current analysis	Conductor current	●
	Conductor potential	●
	Braking effect of static magnetic field	●
Electric field analysis	Electrostatic field	●
Thermal circuit model	2-resistor / multi-resistor / DELPHI model	●	●
Thermo-regulation model	JOS-2	●
Optimization	Topology optimization	●
Flow conditions	Velocity	●	●
	Power-law velocity	●
	Volume flow rate	●	●
	Radial volume flow rate	●
	Pressure
	(static, total)	●	●
	Natural inflow / outflow	●	●
	Air-conditioner model	●
	Fan model	●	●
	Wave generation, wave dissipation	● (MARS method)
Thermal conditions	Fixed temperature	●	●
	Heat source	●	●
	Heat transfer coefficient	●	●
	Contact heat transfer coefficient	●	●
Wall conditions	No-slip (stationary wall)	●	●
	Free-slip (symmetry wall)	●	●
	Log-law condition	●	●
	Power-law condition	●
	Surface roughness	●	●
Pressure conditions	Fixed pressure	●	●
	Pressure loss	●	●
	Porous media	●
Source conditions	Volume force/pressure loss	●	●
	Heat source	●	●
	Smoke source (diffusing materials)	●
	Turbulence generation	●
	Humidification	●
	Plant canopy	●
User-defined conditions	Variables table / functions	●	●
	Scripts (JavaScript)	●	●
	User-defined function (compilation required)	●
Calculation control environment	Job management	●	●
	Monitoring the calculation status	●	●
	Email notification of the calculation	●	●
	VB interface	●	●
Output post files		Software Cradle post files (FLD, iFLD)	Software Cradle post files (FLD, iFLD)
Output for third party software		Abaqus, Nastran, Femtet, ADVENTURECluster, JMAG-Designer, EMSolution, Optimus, Isight, modeFRONTIER Autodesk Revit, ARCHICAD, ThermoRender, EnSight, FieldView, Adams, Marc	Abaqus, Nastran, Femtet, ADVENTURECluster, JMAG-Designer, EMSolution, Optimus, Isight, modeFRONTIER, EnSight, FieldView

Postprocessor

		scSTREAM
Drawing functions	Mesh, vector, contour plots	●
	Isosurface, streamline, pathline, volume rendering	●
	Geometry display	● (STL file, NFB file, Wavefront OBJ file)
	2D graph	●
	Mirror/Periodical copy	●
	Vortex center	●
Drawing position / orientation	Arbitrary plane, surface, entire volume, cylinder	●
	Streamlines, isosurface	●
	Pathlines	●
	Arbitrary scaling	●
	Arbitrary pick	● (scalar / vector value)
Special effects	Oil flow	● (on plane / surface)
	Texture mapping	● (on plane / surface, arbitrary geometry with texture)
	Lighting, luster, gradation	● (preset, arbitrary)
	Transparency, water-like expression, shadow	●
	Ray, Cloth, String, Surface of particles, Road line, Heat transfer, IPC-2581	●
	Photorealistic	●
Animation	Vector animation	●
	Flow line animation	●
	Cut-plane weeping	●
	Marker particle	● (turbulent diffusion effect)
	Automatic translation of view point	● (view / focus points can be set)
	Key-frame animation, Time line	●
	Animation interpolated between cycles	●
Analysis results	Variable registration (function registration)	●
	Integral (surface / volume)	● (scalar / vector integration)
	Comparison
	Projected area calculation	● (clipping function, image compare)
	Automatic search of the local max / min positions	●
	Import of CSV data	●
	Automatic change of colorbar	●
	Complex values data graphing	● (preset, arbitrary)
Data image output	Microsoft BMP, JPG, PNG	●
	CradleViewer	● (size, resolution adjustable)
	AVI, WMV, MP4	● (support steady-state / transient animation, attach to Office applications)
	VRML,FBX,STL	●
	Copy&paste 3D onto Powerpoint	●
Operation and control environment	Selectable help function	●
	OpenGL (Hardware acceleration, software rendering)	●
	VB interface	●
	Selectable mouse operation modes	●
	Stereoscopic view (side-by-side)	●
	Plug-in functionality	●
	Partial open field file by SSH	●

CFD Software – scFLOW i SC/Tetra – features