blueCAPE is proud to present blueCFD®-AIR 1.03, the official release of its new application that allows a more efficient application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to problems in buildings and structures. Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals thus gain access to an easy to use and highly precise tool for fluid flow problems.

The CFD capabilities in blueCFD-AIR are provided by blueCFD®-Core 2.1-2 (formerly known as blueCFD), which is a high quality cross-compiled build version of OpenFOAM®; the possibility to couple to other CFD software (such as STAR-CCM+®) is planned for future versions of blueCFD-AIR. The complete release notes for blueCFD-AIR 1.03 are provided here. Latest features:

• Add-on for SketchUp has been greatly improved, simplified and easier to use.

• Improve STL importing, by partially lifting the strictness in importing solids.

  • It now handles rooms/buildings as walls and mostly everything else as patches.

• Exterior building aerodynamics preview is now enabled.

  • Works only for STL files and requires that the buildings are the reference layer.

• Added capabilities to simulate and post-process heat-transfer and buoyant incompressible flow.

• Workflow steps for cloud computing have been introduced.

• Technology preview of the boundary condition that can introduce a pressure jump in a natural circulation boundary.

Demonstration of the latest features (click on the images to enlarge):

With the positive feedback we've received with the technology preview of blueCFD-AIR released in December, we've decided to extend the early adopters discount until we release blueCFD-AIR 2.00. Therefore, 400 USD secures a license (multi-core enabled) for one year and gets you access to support and updates. Academic users are also welcome and get access to the software free of charge. For more information please visit: http://bluecfd.com/AIR#How to Buy. If you do decide to financially support blueCFD-AIR you will be enabling a faster development of the app, as well as getting the chance to influence the definition and implementation of future features, as explained in the Features section. Either way, we appreciate any and all feedback!

Registered users on our website will automatically have access to the Limited Trial version of blueCFD®-AIR, which can be used for an unlimited time with a single model. 30 day trial licenses are also available through our contact form, for using any model imported from the following file formats:

• gbXML - only tested with Autodesk® Revit®, for which blueCFD-AIR already provides an easy export-and-open plug-in.

• STL - currently only supports in ASCII format and the solid names must follow blueCFD-AIR's specific naming criteria. For easier generation of these models, blueCFD-AIR provides an easy export-and-open plug-in for SketchUp.

Disclaimers:

• blueCFD® is a registered trade mark by blueCAPE Lda.

• This offering is not approved or endorsed by OpenCFD Limited, producer and distributor of the OpenFOAM software and owner of the OPENFOAM® and OpenCFD® trade marks.

• AUTODESK and REVIT are registered trademarks of AutoDesk, Inc.

• SketchUp is a registered trademark of Trimble Navigation Limited.