Planned for release in mid-1998, POLYFLOW 3.6 will provide several new capabilities that expand its modeling power for polymer processing applications and reduce turnaround time on large models. POLYFLOW 3.6 also interfaces with GAMBIT for preprocessing and with FLUENT/Post for postprocessing, important steps toward commonality with the FLUENT and FIDAP software packages.

Simulations on larger meshes are now significantly faster, using a new multifrontal solver with decoupling of the temperature and momentum equations. The KBKZ viscoelasticity model is now available with membrane elements, helping to model the extensional behavior encountered in blow molding and thermoforming applications. Furthermore, new remeshing techniques, combining Lagrangian and Optimesh methods, have extended the range of modeling for 2D blow molding. Finally, user-defined functions allow implementation of your material laws without compiling.

The new release also introduces the mesh superposition technique (MST), which allows individual parts of a model to be meshed separately and individual meshes to overlap between moving parts. This approach is being explored for applications such as twin screw extruders.

POLYFLOW's unique capabilities for blow molding are extended in Version 3.6.

FluentNEWS