v2025.1

ARMD

AGILE Link from AxCent

With a click, users can now pass fluid properties, key aerodynamic analysis and geometrical details from the AxCent turbomachinery design platform via Aerodynamic Cross Coupling (AeroCC).

New labyrinth seal model

With the addition of this new feature, ARMD users can perform rotordynamic analyses that include a high-fidelity model of labyrinth seals. The labyrinth seal program can calculate stiffness, damping, and seal leakage flow rate. Seal tooth arrangements can include tooth-on-rotor, tooth-on-stator, or interlocking teeth.

AxCent

Advances in 3D Geometry Visualizations

3D VTK (Visual Toolkit) view is now available, offering greater visual detail. Advancements include overlays with previous designs and confirmation and the direction of rotating stages.

Throughflow Analysis mode enhancements

Default loss and deviation models have been updated to handle both turbine and compressor cases.

Throughflow Design mode improvements

The Throughflow solver is now available for Design mode, in which you can define the exit flow angle or the target average absolute total pressure. In this mode the blade angles are automatically adjusted to meet the flow angle and pressure targets. Further refinements are in place for editing the design target control points and blade angle boundaries.

Passage area calculation management

Now you can calculate the passage area based on the flow along geometric streamlines. This provides better throat area assessment, especially for twisted, bowed and leaned blades. For struts and guide vanes there is now built-in management for the passage area calculation of these geometries as well.

AGILE Link from AxCent to ARMD

The first integration for transferring fluid properties, key aerodynamic analysis and geometrical details to the Advanced Rotating Machinery Dynamics (ARMD) software is now available. ARMD has complete rotor/bearing analysis capabilities for evaluating practically any bearing, rotor/bearing system, or mechanical drive train. The integration works through the Aerodynamic Cross Coupling (AeroCC) tool with ARMD.

Improved seal control, with accommodations for stepped seals

Updates to our labyrinth seal editing in AxCent enable the automatic parametrization of stepped seals, alongside improvements to the control and behavior of manipulating seal objects. We’ve also included an additional feature, Automatic Tooth Height, to allow direct access to set tooth height, rounding out a suite of updates to give users more flexibility.

Additional updates

• Ability for user to define location of maximum thickness on a camberline-thickness axial blade parameterization type.

• Improvements to handling of ports and junction points. Closer integration between solid surfaces and flow paths.
• Expansion of options to use dialog box-driven numerical inputs and interactively edited inputs.

AXIAL

Addition of Craig & Cox correction for gaps

The Craig and Cox correlation has been implemented for use on the vaneless (duct) segments of the design. This loss model technique can be applied to implicit and explicit ducts and gives a more accurate prediction of the overall stage or machine performance.

Operation of Spanwise Splits

The operation of spanwise splits has changed from area to flow. The flow profiles upstream and within the split are preserved.

Overall Loss Management

Options for manual input of overall losses allows the specified exact loss value to persist in the subsonic, transonic and supersonic domains. The add-on loss correction is now excluded in the transonic domain.

Implemented UI Logic

Supporting logic in the UI to react to parameter options has been implemented. Options are enabled or disabled depending on the previous selection. For example, if the user converts to duct, volute or hood then no blades are counted. This logic also maintains the rules for the parameters and options available in design, redesign and analysis modes.

CFD

Advances in pbCFD capabilities (Beta)

New secondary flow capabilities have been added for both front and back cavities of the impeller to mesh and solve for leakage path geometries. This includes labyrinth seal geometries. However, no-step is available at this time. Included in this beta release is full 3D CFD and unsteady capability for the primary flow paths. We look forward to your feedback on these capabilities.

Integration of our first GPU Solver

The GPU solver ADS Code LEO is now available in AxCent CFD. Please see the video for more details and contact support to learn more.

Integration of Ansys CFX

Post processing is now available in AxCent for Ansys CFX solutions. This includes a set of parameters in the table views, line plots, and 2D and 3D visualization. Vectoring and contours are also included in these visualizations.

COMPAL

Corrected compressor maps in COMPAL

To enable the design and analysis of compressors experiencing a range of operating conditions, the Always Use Corrected option lets you view your performance maps corrected to standard conditions. When selected, this persistent setting will plot mass flow and rpm corrected to a standard day for all applicable performance maps. This setting can be turned on and off at any time.

Management of two-phase flow at the inlet in COMPAL

Gas and liquid domains are now defined by temperature and pressure. Two-phase flow is now available at the inlet of a compressor, allowing for more accurate fluid definition, which in turn provides more accurate performance prediction.

Improved visualizations for compressor maps in COMPAL (Beta)

Updates to our visuals and plots in COMPAL are now available. Selecting Use Updated Plots (Beta) lets users work with our updated map views. Subtle grid lines and line plot colors chosen for accessibility and for better differentiation are among the improvements. We welcome any and all feedback on this beta option as we prepare to roll out a set of changes to our plotting libraries across the product suite in the future.

Preview axes selections in COMPAL compressor maps

Available in COMPAL, updates to the shortcut menu for performance map plots let you preview and easily choose parameters of interest between the x and y axis.

See further updates shared by our radial meanline programs.

CYCAL

Alpha Release of Cycal

The stand-alone version of our cycle application is now available for early testing. This includes integration with our radial and axial meanline solvers, comprehensive fluid libraries as well as other key cycle components. These components include (but are not limited to) heat exchangers, condensers, evaporators, intercoolers and expansions valves. Please reach out to our Support for early access.

MAX-PAC

New box-parameter UI in MAX-SI

A simpler UI paired with a visualization of the box in the 3D view is now available. In the 3D view at each corner of the box, you will see the length, width, and depth parameters that correspond to that corner. To edit the values, click on the corner or the corner text and the values will appear in the dialog for editing. Once you click Apply, the preview will update, and you can see how your changes affect the box shape. You can also edit multiple corners at once by holding CTRL and clicking on the corners you want to edit. Any changes you apply with multiple corners selected will be applied to all the corners at once.

Cross-pocket blending for longitudinal passes in MAX-SI

Blending in the flow direction for shrouded parts is critical to minimize any steps or lines between the leading edge and the trailing edge side. Now you can blend in the cross-pocket direction as well, which is useful when working with multiple tools, especially for fillet reduction strategies. This can also be used on large blisks when there is better tool access from the leading and trailing edges than from the shroud and you are concerned with leaving witness marks between toolpaths.

Updated MAX-SI methods UI

The list of methods in MAX-SI has been simplified by adding additional radio buttons to select whether the tool should approach from the leading or the trailing edge. A drop-down menu for the D-Slot method to specify in which direction the slotting pass should move has been added.

Two new methods, “Box perimeter” and “Drill,” have also been added, methods which used to be a subset of the box passes method. The Box perimeter method is what you used to get when the step over was set to two passes on the Passes tab and the Drill method is what you would get when step over was set to one pass on the Passes tab. The new additions serve to clarify what the shape of the resulting toolpath will be. Box passes now always refer to the spiral roughing method, whereas these new methods have different applications, allowing for greater control of the behavior of submenus in the operation such as the blending dialog boxes.

New A-to-B and B-to-A feed rate options for MAX-SI

We expanded the current box feed options for MAX-SI so that you can define a feed ratio for the A-to-B and B-to-A directions. This can be found by clicking the Other feeds… button on the Cutter tab of an operation.

Preview point location for vectors through/from a point

When using vectors through a point or vectors from a point on the Orientation/General dialog box, the 3D view displays the location of the specified point. In addition, if you already have the point defined in a CAD layer, you can select it in the 3D view and then click the Select point button in the dialog box to collect the coordinates of that point to use for defining the tool orientation.

Group selection in tool library

The tool library now supports a group selection of tools, holders, and assemblies. This allows you to copy, delete, or save multiple tools, holders, and assemblies to the main library at the same time. Assemblies also let you expand or contract multiple assemblies at one time.

To do this either hold CTRL and select multiple tools or hold Shift and select a range of consecutive tools in the list by clicking on the first and last tools you’d like to select.

Surface milling collision detection to fixture bodies

When making surface milling operations without a configuration selected, MAX-PAC can now detect collisions between the tool assembly and the fixture. To enable this, first double-click on the Machining Setup node in the CAM window to open your machining set-up definition, click on the Fixture tab, and select a CAD layer containing your fixture geometry. Next, create a surface milling operation, uncheck the box next to the configuration, and on the Orientation tab select the Check option from the Collision Check drop down list.

We plan to slowly roll this feature to other supporting CAD geometry and toolpath types over time.

Specify custom folders for post processors, machine models, and config files

You can now define a custom folder for storing your post processors, machine simulation models, and configuration files. Previously these were all stored in the default folder. This gives you more flexibility as to where you want to store your files and even allows you and your coworkers to pull these files from a shared location. These settings can be found by navigating to the File locations tab in File/Preferences.

Radial Meanline Programs (COMPAL, PUMPAL, RITAL)

A new radial meanline seal model, accommodating stepped seals, and improving flexibility for fluid types (COMPAL, PUMPAL, RITAL)

We’ve developed a new labyrinth seal model available in our radial meanline products. This model improves upon our existing models by accounting for additional geometric parameters such as stepped seals, clearance-to-pitch ratio, and tooth width.

Functionally, the model uses an iterative approach to vary the mass flow until the pressure across the seal is matched, in contrast to the other models that use a more direct, closed form approach to calculate the mass flow.  The new iterative method allows for more flexibility for fluid types. 

New customization in radial meanline programs with new default layout (COMPAL and PUMPAL) 

With the introduction of additional consistency across our product suite, you’ll find a new default layout in your COMPAL and PUMPAL files to get you up and running faster. For additional customization, choose Create from the Standard Screens menu and save any screen view as your default by writing over the Default.LayoutTemplate file. 

Added flexibility with meanline table results to CSV (COMPAL, PUMPAL, RITAL)

For additional flexibility, save any table output to a standard csv file by right clicking an available run column within the output table and selecting CSV from the Save menu.

Preserving multi-stage secondary flow paths from COMPAL/PUMPAL to AxCent through the Agile Link    

For multi-stage machines, we’ve refined the transfer of front and rear leakage paths and seal geometry to AxCent through the Agile Link.

Additional highlights (COMPAL and PUMPAL) 

• Improved control over sidestream injections by adding dynamic pressure input.
• Upstream conditions dialog refactoring.

Additionally see COMPAL and RITAL for program-specific release highlights.

RITAL

Updated Agile Link with RITAL for seamless transition of secondary flow paths

Now you can transfer the front and rear leakage path and seal geometry to AxCent through the Agile Link. The leakage paths are matched to the impeller geometry using the existing leakage path controls.

Additional highlights:

• Consolidation and refactoring of rotor properties and options dialog box. Dynamic parameter availability based on model selection.
• Leakage outputs available in table view.

See further updates shared by our radial meanline programs.

TurboOPT II

Design of Experiments with Dakota

We’re excited to introduce Design of Experiments (DOE) with Dakota in our latest release of TurboOPT II. DOE is a powerful technique that helps designers explore their design spaces efficiently by systematically varying input parameters and analyzing their effects on performance. This means deeper insights, identifying optimal configurations faster, and making more informed decisions to enhance machine performance. DOE will employ TurboOPT II’s post-processing visualizations (correlation matrices, SOM plots, and more) with even more to come down the road.

DOE: Sample size minimums and recommendations

Sample size equations and recommendations provide improved guidance in running your optimization.

Updated wizard for streamlined case setup

We’ve re-thought our entry point to TurboOPT II by starting with a goal-first approach. Our offerings are grouped by scoping study, exploratory search, and automation of solvers for single run execution, to better highlight available workflows. 

Updated user interface

We’ve redesigned our user interface within TurboOPT II to help guide users through a streamlined setup.

History plots (Beta)

As a preliminary step to moving away from a dated tabbed interface, we’re bringing real-time progress plots to a separate window.  The more efficient implementation means a noticeably better user experience with History Plots over a remote desktop connection.  (Note that Beta does not replicate all Results tab features.) We welcome any and all feedback on this beta option.

Additional highlights:

• Progress bars for slower-to-load operations.
• Contextual icons and shortcut menu for better access and control of tasks and blocks within the preview pane.