Meshless Thermal Analysis of Vehicles Using Distance Fields

Computational thermal analysis of vehicles is dominated by model preparation time, typically in the development of surface meshes for import into analysis software. This preparation requires time-consuming creation of new geometry (a mesh) that only approximates the original model. Despite the presence of automeshing capabilities, human intervention is often required to prevent poor quality meshes. We propose to solve thermal analysis problems using native CAD geometry in a system that employs distance-based parameterization of the temperatures. The supporting technology does not rely on a mesh discretization of the geometry and will work with virtually all mesh-based and meshless solution techniques while all boundary conditions are exactly satisfied. With successful commercialization of this technology, the product development process will be revolutionized by removing the meshing bottleneck and substantially automating a significant portion of the design-analysis cycle. The feasibility of the proposed approach has already been demonstrated for a variety of analysis problems; please visit the home page of Intact Solutions at www.meshfree.com to download prototype 2D thermal solver software and to experiment with fully automated Internet analysis service.