GAMBIT, the new unified preprocessor for FLUENT, RAMPANT, FIDAP, POLYFLOW, and NEKTON, was released to selected users for beta testing in January. As Fluent's software development group now works to polish GAMBIT for full release, the beta testing continues to provide important field experience for both users and developers.

Fast Learning Curve

Beta testing was initiated during trainings in late January, held in Lebanon, NH and Evanston, IL for North American clients, in Sheffield, UK for European clients, and in Tokyo, Japan for users in Asia. Evaluations collected at the trainings were very positive, pointing to ease-of-use as an important advantage of the new preprocessor. Jeff Rogers of McDermott Technology concurs. "The learning curve is pretty fast," says Rogers, who is participating in the beta release. "I liked the overall interface design and found it pretty easy to figure out how the various commands work."

Easier Geometry Construction

Beta users had lots of praise for GAMBIT's "top-down" geometry construction. "I was amazed at how fast the top-down strategy worked on my fairly complex geometries," notes Jack McInerney of Novellus. "I was able to include a level of detail that we hadn't succeeded with in the past. GAMBIT has a simpler set of geometry tools than full-fledged CAD packages, and I prefer that simplicity."

Simpler geometry tools were an important design goal, according to Fluent's GAMBIT Development Project Manager, Ted Blacker. "Our belief is that for very sophisticated geometry modeling, users will be turning to one of the leading CAD packages," says Blacker. "Hence, our focus is on providing easy geometry creation tools that meet the needs of most CFD users. For more complex models, we're focusing on import and cleanup of geometries from other CAD packages."

Unified Meshing Environment

Many beta testers commented on the convenience of having a single environment for both geometry creation and generation of multiple mesh types. "The unified environment for hybrid meshing is very welcome," notes Rogers. Rogers constructed a zonal hybrid mesh in GAMBIT, taking advantage of tools for triangular surface meshing, tetrahedral volume meshing, hexahedral volume meshing, and creation of pyramid transition elements. "I liked the domain decomposition tools for hex meshing. They were generally easier to use than those in GeoMesh," added Rogers.

Field Confirmation

Beta testers were warned to expect some degree of problems with the pre-release and to avoid applying it to urgent projects where potential problems might cause delays. Scott Gilmore, GAMBIT Product Manager at Fluent elaborates, "As expected, we did get bug reports, and these were very useful to us. However, the beta test has also helped confirm the strengths and the areas for improvement in this initial release." In fact, many of the beta testers reported that the release was more stable than expected. Several users put the code to work on production-level projects. Electronic bug logging and distribution of updates via the Internet helped speed up the response to problems.

In recent phone interviews, beta users confirmed that the GAMBIT beta testing provided value to their organizations. Beta testing gave both individuals and their companies a head start on the new product, helping them integrate it into the design and analysis process and helping focus the Fluent development efforts toward that goal.

Transitioning to GAMBIT

Fluent places a high priority on making your transition to GAMBIT as smooth as possible. All users of FLUENT, FIDAP, RAMPANT, POLYFLOW, and NEKTON will receive GAMBIT along with the preprocessors you currently use ­ at no additional cost ­ as part of upcoming software updates. You can get started with GAMBIT at your own pace, by attending one of the special two-day trainings at Fluent's global offices. Fluent will continue to supply and support the current preprocessors (FI-GEN, POLYCEM, and GeoMesh) with the upcoming releases, so you'll maintain access to the tools you currently rely on while making the transition.

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