Jörg
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Everything posted by Jörg
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CAESES is used for the parametric design of axial fans and similar turbomachinery products, mostly in the context of simulation-driven shape optimization. In particular, CAESES is used if you need robust variable geometry models for automated studies. The comprehensive CAD modeling capabilities are geared towards simulation and give fan designers full flexibility (no black box, customization possibilities). More information about turbomachinery design software can be found here. I have also attached a few animations that were generated in CAESES. The design variables of the axial fan model were varied automatically using the integrated variation methods. Note that this is a rather simple model which is also shipped with the software. It can be used as a reference design to set up custom models. The hub and shroud modeling is demonstrated, as well as the 2D-3D mapping of the cylindrical sections and some Boolean Operations to cut the blade at the tip and merge it with the hub. The fillet size can also be controlled by a parameter. If needed, you could also automatically derive the periodic flow domain for automated meshing with grid generation tools or CFD packages.
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Please visit our blog on the CAESES website where I regularly post updates, news and other stories: GO TO CAESES BLOG
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Here is a recent article about turbine wheel optimization where the blades and the scallops can be optimized at the same time within a fully-automated process. Such a "complete" and variable model allows you to consider the aerodynamic performance (CFD) and the stress characteristics of each generated design. Comes with a set of nice animations.
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When you select code in a feature definition, you can choose to create a reusable code snippet . This snippet can then be edited and accessed for re-use through the menu of the definition editor .
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Hi, Please find attached a feature definition that you can use for exporting blades into the geomturbo file format. Note that this export will be included in one of the next CAESES releases (menu > feature definitions > tools). If you need it right now: Just put the definition into the feature user directory (e.g. C:\Users\name\AppData\Roaming\friendship\features) to directly access it through the menu in CAESES. Cheers Joerg PS: Check also this related post for importing geomturbo files, as well as our company blog post about this topic. GeomTurboExport.fdf
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Hi together, The software CAESES is a CAD and optimization platform. For students and PhD students there are free non-commercial licenses available. In addition, there are low-price offers for start-ups and smaller companies. CAESES can be used for 2D and 3D parametric modeling, see this link for some information about its CAD capabilities. Here are some screenshots: Compared to traditional CAD systems, CAESES is a bit different. It comes with a strict object-oriented approach, i.e. the user sets up dependencies between objects and these dependencies are then kept. This makes it easy to automate the geometry generation process. Here are some features of CAESES: Full 2D and 3D modeling capabilities (NURBS-based)Roughly 20 curve types and 15 surface typesStandard transformations (translation, rotation, scaling)Writing of custom features and functionsBoolean operationsTrimmingFillets between surfacesMorphing functionality for deformation of existing geometrySurface tessellation control through e.g. trimesh objects to create and fine-tune custom STL dataCommon import and export formats e.g. IGES, STEP, PARASOLID, STLIndustry-specific modules for blade and ship designBatch mode for non-GUI (hidden) geometry generation in the background Cheers Joerg LAST UPDATE: NOV 2017
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Hi together, If your projects gets opened veeery slowly, then one reason for this could be hidden result tables They have been closed, but they are not directly visible in the GUI, only through the menu. We've seen projects with huge sets of hidden result tables. In future CAESES versions, you will get asked whether you want to close or (this is new!) remove a result table. This will hopefully avoid that one simply closes and forget about a result table. We'll see... Hope this helps... Joerg
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Hi together, With version 3.1, you have the additional skinning option for meta surfaces. This allows you to have a low number of generating cross sections (curves in surface direction) while matching given boundary curves, also called rails. See the attachment for a simple example. In former versions, one solution to approximately match such boundaries has been to increase the number of cross sections - which is expensive and increases the data of the resulting NURBS surface. Here, this new skinning method is a good alternative to the existing auto-cubic point interpolation. Finally, when it comes to the new BRep type that also comes with version 3.1, it is even recommended to exactly match boundaries for further processing such as Boolean Operations and fillet modeling. Cheers Joerg metasurface_skinning.fdb
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Hi together, The pro edition of CAESES comes with a set of algorithms for design exploration and formal optimizations. However, people often already use an external optimization software in their company (such as HEEDS, Isight, modeFrontier, Optimus, optiSLang etc). In this case, one can make use of the batch mode of the CAESES pro edition, in order to automatically generate geometry design variants, using the given optimization tool. I attached a small setup (sweepbatch.zip) which demonstrates how simple this works: sweep.fdb Project file that contains the geometry model along with its design variables.sweep.fsc ASCII file that controls the batch run. It starts CAESES, sets the values of the design variables and exports an STL file. This fsc-file is the one that needs to be manipulated by the external optimization software, i.e. parameterize the values of the design variables (see the "setValue"-command).run.bat Run this file to execute the entire process. The run of sweep.fdb also writes out the number of open edges into a file called "openedges.dat". It is merely a simple check for a closed STL geometry, and this information can be used as well by the optimization tool (geometry validity check). Cheers Joerg PS: check out this related post as well. UPDATE AUGUST 2017: The call in the bat/script file needs to be "C:\Program Files (x86)\FRIENDSHIP-SYSTEMS\CAESES\bin\win64\CAESES_crt.exe" sweep.fsc with the newer versions of CAESES (and not CAESES-FFW). sweepbatch.zip
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Just a little but helpful thing: In order to get the type documentation of an object in your project (such as points, curves, surfaces), click on the icon in the object editor: This opens up the documentation browser and shows information about the type. Quick and easy... Cheers Joerg
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Hi together, With CAESES, we also focus on the design and optimization of volute geometries. There is a volute section on the CAESES website. Students and PhD students can get a free academic edition of the pro version - the product page gives more information about this. Basically, the software allows you to create robust parametric volute designs for manual/automated design explorations and shape optimization with CFD. In most cases, the volutes in CAESES are tailor-made models, i.e. you can fully customize the geometry design: Arbitrary parametric cross-section definitions, e.g. based on your area (A) and center of area (=>R) specificationsUse of point data for creating a volute surfaceUser-defined A/R functions (bsplines, mathematical functions)Individual tongue modeling with additional parameters for more detailed design studies and fine-tuningAnalysis and control of inlet/outlet area distributions. Usually, our CAESES support team helps you in setting up customized models, either through the helpdesk or, for more complex models and a quick solution, by means of a customer project. See the attachments for some pictures and animations (e.g. the A/R function gets varied as well as the tongue shape). Cheers Joerg LAST UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2017
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Hi together, If you want to find an object with a specific name or type in your project, then you can use the Quick Access in the upper right corner. In addition, you can directly create objects from within this editor or jump to global settings etc. Cheers Joerg
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Hi, This is a post in the context of project performance: If you use loops with feature definitions, take care where you declare ("create") your participating objects: Most of the times, objects can be declared outside of the loop since the dependency is kept within the loop by means of the expression mechanism! In the attached example, I create N curves in between of two given rail curves and store them in a list for surface creation. The two points on the corresponding rails are declared right before the loop starts. You could also declare them within the loop but - and here comes the message - they would be created again and again, i.e. at each iteration (N-times). In the end, this might slow down your feature execution when it comes to a higher number of objects that get declared within a loop. Hope this helps ... Cheers Joerg loop.fdb
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Hi together, There have been several questions about impeller and pump design with CAESES which is the reason for putting together the following brief summary: CAESES is used by several major pump makers (KSB, Ebara, Grundfos, DMW), mostly in the context of impeller and volute/casing optimization. In the context of turbocharger design, CAESES is used by e.g. MTU (large Diesel engines) for compressor and turbine optimization. There are free academic versions of the CAESES pro edition for students and PhD students as well as trial licenses, plus special editions for small companies, start-ups and freelancers. COMPARISON TO OTHER TOOLS Compared to other design tools on the market, CAESES focuses on automated design studies with your simulation tools. In most cases, there is already some sort of a baseline design that needs further optimization. Based on this design, a parametric CAESES model is created and automated. The possibilities for customization and shape fine-tuning are massive, so that specialized (company-specific) design processes can be completely defined in CAESES. No black box models etc. This is one important key issue, i.e., flexibility and full customization - besides the fact of having a 100% robust variable geometry for automated processes. IMPELLER BLADES There is functionality for creating parametric impeller blades (meridional contour definition, mapping from 2D onto 3D stream surfaces), which can also include analysis and optimization of the channel areas etc. See the turbomachinery section for more details. A water pump is described in this blog post. Any type of impeller can be parameterized, including complex shapes such as turbine scallops. VOLUTES Here is an overview with some animations. Basically, CAESES focuses on robust modeling of any volute type (in particular: turbochargers, pumps). Design constraints can also be built into the model, as well as typical controls (A/R distribution etc). The more complex your volute is, and the more problems you have to create new design candidates (automated), the more you should consider trying out CAESES. CFD AUTOMATION CAESES users also integrate their CFD and preliminary design tools. With this, a new design candidate can immediately be analyzed, directly within the CAESES GUI. Any open source, in-house or commercial tool can be coupled. You just need a batch mode for these tools. Excel sheets can also be accessed. For CFD analysis, the flow domain can be directly derived from the parametric impeller geometry. There is a CAESES ACT app available, to integrate CAESES into the ANSYS Workbench and to run optimizations with e.g. OptiSLang. MORE MATERIAL I recommend to browse through this page. Please find also attached a related presentation from the FRIENDSHIP SYSTEMS Users' Meeting 2013. I also added some related pics and animations. Unfortunately, it is not that easy to show more material since most data is confidential. Anyway, I hope this post helps a bit in terms of a quick overview. Cheers Joerg LAST UPDATE JULY 2019 UM2013-07-klemm-diffuser-design-for-multistage-pumps-with-FFW.pdf
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Hi together, Note that CAESES is a ship hull design software, in particular, in the context of hull form optimization with CFD (computational fluid dynamics). It mainly focuses on the underwater part. The software provides comprehensive CAD functionality for generating smooth and variable hull surfaces , a complete variant management, 2D section visualization, hydrostatic calculation, 2D drawing, Lackenby transformation, STL and CAD tools for creation of flow domains, plus integration mechanisms to plug-in simulation and other preliminary tools. Energy-saving devices and propellers can be modeled, too. Furthermore, sea-keeping tools (basically, any other external software) can also be added to the design process. Please find below more screenshots that are taken from CAESES. Cheers Joerg LAST UPDATE NOV 2018: Note that there are FREE pro editions for students and PhD students, plus special packages for start-ups, small companies and freelancers. nurbs_direct_modification.mp4
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Hi together, For general sweep surfaces, we provide the type FSweepSurface but also the transformation FSweepTransformation, which is more powerful: With this transformation, you can control the shape of the swept surface (=>meta surface) along the path with your own functions for each profile parameter. If you want to use this transformation and you need to match a start and end profile, then please find attached an example where two sweep transformations are merged in a single meta surface. We simply fade from one definition into the other one by using two curve engines in a single meta surface. The attached project still contains the intial setup, from which a feature definition was created (from selection) - in order to encapsulate the two sweeping profiles. Just set the scope "01_..." to visible if you like to have a look at it. Cheers Joerg SweepTransformation.fdb
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Dear CAESES-users, Here is an easy and essential introduction to Feature Definitions, just check out this video. Feature Definitions are encapsulated command sequences which greatly help to fully customize the software to your needs (e.g. define your own curve types, proprietary import & export routines or any other function with user-defined input and output). This video is also an excellent prerequisite for a better understanding of more complex CAESES geometry models, which usually make extensive use of Feature Definitions in the context of Meta Surfaces Cheers Joerg
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Hi together, CAESES can be used for designing a variety of turbomachinery and engine components (impellers, volutes, ducts, axial blades,...). I have attached some pictures and animations, just to give you an idea of the applications. There is also a page about the turbomachinery industry on the CAESES website. Check out the blog where turbomachinery design stories get posted on a regular basis (most of the attached pictures are taken from these blog posts). The focus of CAESES is: Fast and efficient design studies and CFD-driven shape optimization. The robust variation (manual/automated) of turbomachinery components is really the interesting part in CAESES. The geometry models are typically highly customized, i.e., company-specific know-how can be fully integrated. There is an internal scripting environment to define custom methods and processes. Complex parametric models can be wrapped into an easy-to-use interface (so that they can be readily used by non-experts of CAESES). Parametric support geometry such as segments for the flow and structural analysis can be part of the model, too. As a side note, you can optionally plug-in your CFD tool and run optimizations right away - from within the CAESES GUI. There are integrated optimization methods and some handy post-processing capabilities. Alternatively, you can use your own optimization tools and run CAESES in batch mode. There are free academic versions of the CAESES pro edition for students and PhD students, as well as trial licenses with flexible time frames. There are also special editions for small companies, start-ups and freelancers. Hope this helps, Joerg LAST UPDATE FEBRUARY 2018
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Hi together, If you want to change the rotational direction of a propeller blade (type FGenericBlade), then you can simply switch the orientation. See the attachment for more information. Cheers Joerg
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If you work on a heavy model which has long update times, you can easily switch off the automatic update functionality. See the attached screenshot. For instance, you can change a set of parameters and do the update only once in the end. Or, you can replace discrete values with parameters / design variables without triggering the update (again, only once in the end). Cheers Joerg
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Hi together, Here is a brief description if you would like to remove absolute paths from input files, e.g. because the path should change depending on the current design directory. Please have a look at the attached screenshots. Consider a simple input file which contains a path to another file, and I want this path to be the current design directory during an optimization. Add this file as input file at the software connector and make a double-click on it in order to edit it. Add a new entry for the absolute path. Change the entry type to FString . Use the command getDesignDir() in combination with your file name. Show a quick preview of your new entry. Here is the preview: That's it. Cheers Joerg
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CAESES / FRIENDSHIP-Framework (i.e. the pro-edition) can be used in batch mode where an ASCII file (.fsc) controls the process. Here is a post which shows how this works. If you want to put the design engine setup into such a fsc-file, then just select the design engine and type the following command into the console: .writeSetupIntoFile("c:/tmp/myfile.fsc") Of course, you can use any other file name for this purpose. See the attached screenshots for an example. Just as a remark: In this project, CAESES was controlled by an external optimization software and CAESES was employed as the CAD engine. I configured and ran a design engine for checking the ranges of my design variables. The final setup was then written into the batch control file. Cheers Joerg
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Hi together, Please find attached a parametric model of a centrifugal impeller which was built in CAESES. The project file will probably also be included in version 3.0.11. Note that pretty much everything can be customized in this model and used for manual or automated blade design, such as: Merdional contour (i.e. hub and shroud contour)Profile shape by means of user-defined thickness distributions and beta-angle distributionsFillet shape at the hub region by using a constant factor (BTW: this can also be varied with a function along the blade)Ellipse factor of leading edgeSize of tip gapRotational directionNumber of bladesThickness of casing The splitter blade is completely decoupled from the main blade in terms of the beta-distribution (so this gives more freedom) - but can be linked to the main blade, too. In addition, the model comes with some support geometries for meshing/CFD ("periodic boundaries"). These are automatically adjusted to the blade shapes. The camber lines of the blades are generated from the trailing edge which makes it easier to vary the beta distributions (e.g. fix the TE ends of the blades). There is also a feature definition included which generates the camber line with the leading edge as starting point. When working with the model, switch off all scopes that are "downstream" of where you currently manipulate things. For instance, if you want to change the hub and shroud contour, then set the scopes 02_main, 03_splitter and 04_cake invisible. If you want to change the beta distributions, only visualize the sections that are given in 00_sections. This allows interactive changes to the model with a very short response time. You can also switch off the cake part since it is only there for visualization purposes and CFD pre-processing. Let me know what you think about the model (of course, I hope you'll like it....). Cheers Joerg UPDATE AUGUST 2015: There are new samples directly included in CAESES that you can use for impeller modeling. See my more recent post below. The project files in the attachment do not work correctly for CAESES 4.x versions, we now have much easier ways to design and control hub fillets. UPDATE FEBRUARY 2016: I removed the old project file and added an updated CAESES model to this post. Should work with versions >= 4.0.3. UPDATE FEBRUARY 2017: Note that there are now FULL FREE ACADEMIC versions of the pro edition CAESES for students and PhD students as well as trial licenses with variable time frames. There are also special editions for small companies, start-ups and freelancers. FS_CENTRIFUGAL_IMPELLER.pdf turbocharger_easyuse.fdb
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Just a little but often very useful thing: You can save camera positions with a user-defined name and restore them with a single mouse click. The corresponding toolbar is here: view > toolbars > camera positions. See also the attachment. Cheers Joerg
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These are the three things I use quite often from the context menu of the 3D view (click on the right mouse button in the 3D window, see the screenshot): The dynamic highlighting of objects (names, coloring etc) is sometimes too much information I don't want to see (e.g. flickering of information) so I deactivate it. When everything gets lost in the 3D view due to a rotational move etc and I don't get it back, I reset the camera back to the default settings. The settings of the 3D view allow you to change the point and curve sizes, the background color and other things (e.g. this nice camera feature: use the same camera for multiple 3D views).Cheers Joerg
