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Aerodynamic simulation of the Ferrari F1 car body with FLUENT, showing pressure contours and pathlines
Fluent and Ferrari recently extended their working
relationship by announcing that Fluent would be
recognized as Ferrari’s Strategic CFD Provider.
Since 1996, Fluent has worked closely with Ferrari’s
aerodynamics department, supplying software and
services for CFD analyses of Formula 1 racing cars.
In July, Ferrari installed a server cluster based on the
AMD Opteron™ processor with Direct Connect
Architecture. The cluster is the highest performing computing system ever to be implemented at Ferrari,
and one of the largest industrial systems in use today.
The system will be used primarily for simulations of
external aerodynamics using FLUENT. Installed at
Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy, the cluster
consists of several hundred computing nodes running
on the Linux operating system.
“We consider the use of CFD simulation and the
services offered by Fluent assets to our business, and
important elements in our racing success. We are
therefore happy to name the company our Strategic
CFD Provider,” says Mario Almondo, Head of the
Industrial Department of the Scuderia. “When we
decided to put in place an important HPC (high-performance
computing) system in order to run specific
software in connection with Ferrari’s aerodynamic
research, it seemed natural to ask Fluent to be among
our best partners.” He adds, “At this level, it will be a
mutual collaboration. Fluent will help the team
enhance its performance, and in exchange, it will use
this cutting-edge environment to drive its software
development and do testing on one of the most powerful
large-scale industrial computers of the day.”
Jean Todt, General Manager, Ferrari Spa (left) and Gerard de Neuville,
Corporate Vice President, Fluent (right)
“We are enthusiastic and proud to help the Ferrari
F1 team face competition challenges and regulation
changes,” says Marco Rossi, General Manager of Fluent
Italia. “In such a demanding environment, we must be
sure to give our client a top level of service based on
quality and reliability, with a focus on performance and
results.”
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