SIMDA/TRASYS THERMAL MODEL DEVELOPMENT TOOL USING INTERACTIVE COLOR GRAPHICS

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A NON-PROPRIETARY, NON-LICENSED, THERMAL-MODEL DEVELOPMENT TOOL THAT IS INNOVATIVE IN ITS SIMPLICITY AND IN ITS ABILITY TO CREATE INTERACTIVELY SINDA AND TRASYS MODELS DIRECTLY. THE INNOVATION WILL ALLOWTHE USER TO GRAPHICALLY CONSTRUCT GEOMETRY MODELS FOR BOTH CODES IN AN INTERACTIVE MODE, THEN THESE MODELS FOR COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, THROUGH ROTATION AND TUMBLING ANIMATION. WHEN SATISFIED THAT THE MODEL IS CORRECT, THE USER WILL PRESS A COMMAND KEY THAT INSTRUCTS THE GRAPHICS SOFTWARE TO OUTPUT AUTOMATICALLY A FILE THAT WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT A COMPUTATIONAL GRID NETWORK OF THE MODEL. THE GRID NETWORK WILL BE DISPLAYED VISUALLY ON THE SCREEN. GRID POINT PACKING AND CLUSTERING CAN BE PERFORMED AND THE RESULTS VIEWED IN REAL TIME USING GRID CLUSTER CONTROLS FROM PRE-PROGRAMMED KEYSTROKES OR "MOUSE-DRIVEN" GRAPHICAL SOFTWARE CONTROLS. WHEN SATISFIED WITH THE NODAL SPACING, THE USER GIVES ANOTHER KEYSTROKE COMMAND, WHICH INSTRUCTS THE PROGRAM TO COMPUTE THE INPUT DATA SET IN THE PROPER FORMAT FOR SINDA AND TRASYS APPLICATIONS. THESE DATA INCLUDE NODE VOLUMES, SURFACE AREA OF THE NODES, INTERNAL CONDUCTANCES, AND THERMAL MODEL. USING THE THERMAL-ENVIRONMENT DATA FILE, WHICH INCLUDES BOTH THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT FROM TRASYS AND THE CONVECTIVE ENVIRONMENT FROM MINIVER OR A COMPARABLE HEATING PROGRAM, THE INTERFACE ROUTINE COMPUTES THE EXTERNAL SURFACE CONVECTION COEFFICIENTS AND SURFACE RADIATION CONDUCTANCES THAT DRIVE THE SINDA THERMAL MODEL. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A NON-PROPRIETARY, NON-LICENSED, THERMAL-MODEL DEVELOPMENT TOOL THAT IS INNOVATIVE IN ITS SIMPLICITY AND IN ITS ABILITY TO CREATE INTERACTIVELY SINDA AND TRASYS MODELS DIRECTLY. THE INNOVATION WILL ALLOWTHE USER TO GRAPHICALLY CONSTRUCT GEOMETRY MODELS FOR BOTH CODES IN AN INTERACTIVE MODE, THEN THESE MODELS FOR COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, THROUGH ROTATION AND TUMBLING ANIMATION. WHEN SATISFIED THAT THE MODEL IS CORRECT, THE USER WILL PRESS A COMMAND KEY THAT INSTRUCTS THE GRAPHICS SOFTWARE TO OUTPUT AUTOMATICALLY A FILE THAT WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT A COMPUTATIONAL GRID NETWORK OF THE MODEL. THE GRID NETWORK WILL BE DISPLAYED VISUALLY ON THE SCREEN. GRID POINT PACKING AND CLUSTERING CAN BE PERFORMED AND THE RESULTS VIEWED IN REAL TIME USING GRID CLUSTER CONTROLS FROM PRE-PROGRAMMED KEYSTROKES OR "MOUSE-DRIVEN" GRAPHICAL SOFTWARE CONTROLS. WHEN SATISFIED WITH THE NODAL SPACING, THE USER GIVES ANOTHER KEYSTROKE COMMAND, WHICH INSTRUCTS THE PROGRAM TO COMPUTE THE INPUT DATA SET IN THE PROPER FORMAT FOR SINDA AND TRASYS APPLICATIONS. THESE DATA INCLUDE NODE VOLUMES, SURFACE AREA OF THE NODES, INTERNAL CONDUCTANCES, AND THERMAL MODEL. USING THE THERMAL-ENVIRONMENT DATA FILE, WHICH INCLUDES BOTH THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT FROM TRASYS AND THE CONVECTIVE ENVIRONMENT FROM MINIVER OR A COMPARABLE HEATING PROGRAM, THE INTERFACE ROUTINE COMPUTES THE EXTERNAL SURFACE CONVECTION COEFFICIENTS AND SURFACE RADIATION CONDUCTANCES THAT DRIVE THE SINDA THERMAL MODEL.