Encyclopaedia Index

What's New in PHOENICS

Document last revised: 09.12.12

Changes made between November 2011 and January 2013

1. The general trends

In respect of concentration, attention is now focussed on three classes of PHOENICS user, namely:

1. End users, who wish to have 'simulation engines' designed for their specific closely-defined applications. These are the diners in the 'PHOENICS Restaurant', who choose from the menu what suits their appetite; and who pay the bill at the end,
2. Creative users, who provide the specialised packages which the end users employ. They are the cooks who prepare the familiar dishes; and some of them are chefs who create never--before-tasted ones.
3. Do-it-yourself users, who are content to use the long-established VR-Editor so as to set up problems on their own.

Of the End-User class the following may be said:

• They are conceived to be specialists in their application area, and so able to recognise and reject simulations which are obviously incorrect; but they are in no way required to be CFD specialists. They rely on the package providers to supply all the guidance and protection which they need; and to ensure that using the package is easy.
• Students and teachers of fluid mechanics and heat transfer fall into this category, Their focus is on what is to be learned and taught about the various chapters of their subjects; not on how PHOENICS happens to express their implications.
• End Users should however know enough about computational fluid dynamics to understand that it deals in probabilities rather than certainties; and that its predictions become less and less reliable the more are the phenomena in question complicated by turbulence, multi-phase flow and chemical reaction.

For the do-it-yourself users, PHOENICS has been improved in various manners, of a similar character to those listed in the 2010 What's New report. For example a 'sun object' has been introduced.

However, no fundamental reduction has been made in the VR-Editor's limitations. It remains as a single-instance-run launcher; and it is still unable to assist its users to exploit the full powers of the PHOENICS Input Language, PIL.

It is for the Creative-User class that the greatest new benefits have been provided, Specifically:

• Special-application packages have now been given the formal status of Simulation Scenarios, or SimScenes for short. These are both easier to create and simpler to use than the PRELUDE-based Gateways which were emphasised in 2011.
• These can be supplied to customers either as specielly-ordered add-ons to standard PHOENICS or as stand-alone single-purpose packages.
• Each has an easy-to-use menu, which is designed to assist a specific End-User group.
• Each SimScene is defined by a PQ1, i.e. Parameterised Q1, written in PIL, which contains the new VREDIT=F entry, so enabling all the "protected-mode" saveXbegin and saveXend statements to be dispensed with.
• Writing of PQ1s is aided by a new PQ1 editor which is copiously supplied with 'macros' and 'line-completion' items which reduce the writer's labour and reduce his chance of making mistakes. Moreover this editor is customisable, in the sense that users can add the macros and line-completions which most suit them.
• Of great convenience is the 'multirun' facility which enables many runs to be performed, with systematically varied input parameters, and their results to be easily compared.
• Also created, but not yet greatly used, is the multi-language SimScene capability. When Japanese, Russian, Chinese and Arabic users recognise its existence, they will surely exploit it with enthusiasm.
• Two new PIL commands have been added, namely WRITE( , ) and EXEC( , ). The former enables PIL entries to instruct Satellite to write files with whatever content the PQ1-writer needs. For example it can write PHOTON_USE files; and what it writes can be parameterised, so that, for example, the 'use' file to which PHOTON responds already knows what are the values of NX, NY, etcetera.
• The ShapeMaker program has been modified to enable it to accept instructions from files as well as interactively. As a consequence, the creative-user PQ1 writer can now:
  • use WRITE to define the instruction to Shapemaker which cause it to create some never-existing-before object;
  • use EXEC to instruct ShapeMaker to read the file and create the object;
  • place in the PQ1 the lines which cause Satellite to display the object and to tell Earth how to react to it.
• In this manner a severe limitation of the past has been removed. Formerly, users were restricted (as DIY ones still are) to using such objects as they could find in the sub-folders beneath \phoenics\d_satell\d_object. Therefore, if they needed a hollow solid cyinder, they had to create one for themselves by introducing a not-hollow solid cylinder and a smaller-diameter concentric fluid-containing cylinder to represent its hollow inside. Such contortions are no longer necessary.

In summary, it would be no exaggeration to state that PHOENICS underwent a radical change in 2012; and prospective not-yet-users may find that that these changes have increased its attractiveness.

Other developments during 2012

• PARSOL improvements, especially in relation to cylindrical-polar grids.
• Wind-farm related improvements, especially in relation of use of un-structured grids, and of GCV rather than MIGAL for body-fitted-coordinate grids
• This section remains to be completed.

Work in progress, 2012-2013

• Replacement of PARSOL with SPARSOL (i.e. Structured PARSOL) which allows thin-plate objects to be simulated.
• Unificaton and speed-up of linear-equation solvers.
• Unification of treatment of VR (facet-described) and In-Form (parameterised) objects.
• Creation of heat-exchanger-related SimScenes.
• This section remains to be completed.

Changes made between July 2009 and September 2010

Pre-processing

• Grid tolerance now in 3 directions
• Allow 'Affects grid' in 3 directions.
• Add pre-set compass directions to WIND
• Allow multiple WINDs in transient case for change of wind direction / speed with time
• Allow multiple ROTOR objects
• Add initial guess and relaxation for deduced velocity at OUTLET
• Allow for >999 objects when naming source patches on faces of 198 blockage
• Allow user-set InForm for EMIS in Immersol
• Error in auto-mesh fixed - grid refinement process stopped too soon
• Allow MPI version to be set in cham.ini file
• Ensure that objects placed completely outside domain do not create any PATCH commands for Earth
• Number of CAD formats supported increased to include:
  • STL    -    Stereolithography file. This is available in many popular CAD programs as an export format.
  • DXF    -    Drawing Exchange Format File (AutoCAD)
  • 3DS    -    Autodesk 3ds Max
  • WRL    -    Virtual Reality Modelling Language file
  • DW    -    Files generated by DesignWorkshop from Artifice
  • AC    -     Files generated by AC3D from Invis
• Flair:
  • Allow FIRE heat and mass source to be read from table files
  • Set turbulence intensity for JETFAN
  • Enable inverse-linear density option
• Input File processing / PIL:
  • Faster processing of long Q1s with many InForms attached to objects
  • Faster processing of Q1 files with large number of time steps
  • Allow multiple ! in comment
  • Allow longer LABEL in PIL GOTO command
  • Fix loss of accuracy in PIL SORT function, and add tolerance for removal of duplicates
  • Allow PIL character variables to be up to 1024 characters long
• F1-in-Schools:
  • Add Bloodhound and Formula 1 classes
  • Allow for body STL which already includes wheels
• ESTER:
  • Correction to anode positioning when raising/lowering anode

Post-processing

• Store interpolated values in memory and reload when plotting same variable again to save time
• Improve time and profile plotting facility by allowing name of file saved to be specified
• Corrections to contour filling in PARSOL cut cells in polar coordinates
• Allow selection of first/last frame when saving streamline animation to control size of saved movie file
• Macro function:
  • Add continuous and inverse colour
  • Add recognition of photon mgrid/mvec commands
  • Save line plot to macro
  • Save line plot image from macro
  • Correction so that macro still functions after 'Cancel' has been pressed

Common

• When opening case:
  • Can change working directory to location of case files or copy case files to current working directory
  • Can preserve current view rather than switch to view saved in Q11
• Current working directory is displayed in status bar
• Better checking of license file location in registry to ensure that search path does not become too long
• Display 32/64 bit in window title and result file
• Editor / Viewer screen proportions fixed regardless of screen aspect ratio
• Default image type (gif, pcx, bmp or jpg) for saved images can be set in cham.ini

Earth Solver

• New PARSOL implementation for better detection and faster conjugate haet transfer solution
• Transient contribution to Nett Source printed to RESULT for Energy and scalars as well as mass
• Flow extracted by one ANGLED-IN can be used as source from another, e.g. for induction fan
• Parallel:
  • Nett source printout in RESULT brought into line with sequential
  • Error in source-sum calculation fixed
  • ANGLED-IN can lie across processor boundaries - previously would give wrong source
  • Linked ANGLED-INs do not need to be on same processor
  • STORE(IMB1) now works
  • Display of maximum absolute corrections in graphical monitor works
  • Reading of FACETDAT containing large number of facets fixed. Previously wrong format was used.
• InForm:
  • Allow longer and more complex formulae - up to 100 operands
  • Creation of tabular output written once per sweep or once per time step
  • Allow for modification of porosity by InForm
  • Add recognition of BFC geometry quantities
  • Allow file name in PWLF function to start with /
  • Correction to indexing of OLD() function
  • Correction to SUM function in parallel
  • Error in diffusion coefficients for scalars when any property set with InForm fixed
• Flair:
  • FIRE heat and smoke sources written to table files for easy comparison with input data
  • Additional convergence monitoring information written to table file
• GENTRA:
  • ANGLED-IN / ANGLED-OUT can act as GENTRA exits
  • Wall reflection for very small domains fixed
  • Flair SPRAY_HEAD can activate GENTRA tracks when link temperature exceeded
• Changes to relaxation made interactively during the run written to RESULT
• Monitor interrupt screen buttons do not disappear when window is moved or obscured and revealed
• Add missing inflow source contribution for TEM1 in cut cells
• Save friction force on blockages in case when PARSOL=F and no cut cells
• Correction to LVEL for GCV multi-block cases
• Correction to calculation of GENK in GCV multi-block cases
• 64-bit version can be compiled with long integers, allowing even larger cases to be run
• Updates to MFM
• Updates to USP and USP mesh generation

For more details about the above changes click here.

Changes made between PHOENICS April 2008 and July 2009

Pre- and Post-processing

• Ambient pressure and temperature can be set, and used for:
  • initialisation,
  • the external temperature at selected inlets, outlets/openings, and
  • to deduce the buoyancy reference density.

  This makes it much easier to change the external temperature/pressure at many openings in a consistent fashion. It also ensures that the buoyancy reference density is more likely to be set correctly.

• The new WIND object automates the setting of atmospheric boundary layer conditions at the domain edges. The wind direction is set by a single number representing the wind angle from North. The Editor then sets inflow-outflow conditions on the appropriate faces of the domain. The sky and ground boundaries can also be included.
• Clipping planes are made available in the Editor and Viewer. These enable the user to see inside complex shapes by clipping away the parts which are blocking the view.
• The number of sweeps per time step can be set from the Editor Main Menu Numerics panel (it was always possible with InForm). In many transient cases more sweeps are required for the first few steps, and possibly later on when a boundary condition changes - a jetfan switches on or off  for example.
• Patches attached to USER-DEFINED object are listed by name as part of the object attributes in The Q1 file. This makes hand-editing the Q1 much safer, as the patch-object link no longer depends on the object sequencing.
• In-form statements can be directly attached to an object. If the object is copied (or arrayed), the Inform commands are also copied.
• FLAIR:
  • Add list of fire speeds for t² fire as a pull-down menu.
  • Improve the linearisation of the fire heat source to aid convergence.
  • Automatically reduce the maximum increment for TEM1 when a FIRE object is active.
  • Allowance for heat lost by radiation when setting FIRE heat source. This allows
  • Calculate Beer-Lambert visibility reduction as post-processing option in Viewer. This is a means of determining if a position can be seen from other locations, or if it is obscured by smoke.
  • Add derivation of optical density. Another means of assessing the effect of smoke on visibility.
• SPINTO for interpolating solution files on to finer (or coarser) grids.
• An automatic unstructured-grid generator for Unstructured PHOENICS. This can automatically refine an initial structured starting grid to give better resolution near object surfaces.
• SHELLFLO, a Prelude gateway for shell and tube heat exchangers.
• Dot-patches introduced. This is a way of setting the patch limits in terms of physical location and size, not cell numbers.
• The View centre can be jumped to current probe position, or location of minimum or maximum value in Viewer. This makes it much easier to find the minimum and maximum value locations.
• The length of a Q1 line has been increased from 132 characters (68 characters and one continuation line) to 1024 characters split over as many continuation lines as needed. This makes the creation of complex Inform commands easier.
• The font size can be changed in Editor/Viewer. If a dialog is too tall to display on screen, reducing the font size will make it fit.
• Better attribution of units to plotted variables in Viewer. Where possible, the Viewer will display the units of the plotted variable.
• The Viewer display can be switched to FPS or cgs units instead of the default SI units.
• When the domain is scaled, vector heads retain their original scaling. Domain scaling is useful for long, thin domains such as tunnels. Not scaling the vector heads improves the appearance of the plot.

Earth Solver

• The 'Nett source' section of RESULT includes average scalar values at mass source patches. For pressure boundaries, the inflow and outflow is given as well as the nett flow.
• For transient cases, the transient contribution to the mass sources is printed, so the mass sources should balance.
• The number of sweeps can be changed at Earth runtime. This is particularly useful in transient cases. The number of sweeps can be increased if the step is not converging well, or decreased if it has converged.
• Thin inclined plates can be handled as InForm INFOB 'PLANE' objects.
• The format of PBCL.DAT file has been changed to make writing more efficient. When PHIDA=T in PREFIX, PBCL.DAT is also unformatted. Old-style PBCL.DAT files are still accepted by Earth and Viewer.
• PHIDA=T is now the default. This makes the saved files smaller, and also quicker to read and write.
• If the main F-array size is increased at the start of a run, the increased size is written to a local CHAM.INI file to remove need for expansion on next run.
• Earth can output data in VTK format for the ParaView post-processor.

For more details about the above changes click here. For a more general list of improvements and corrections, see the Release Notes, TR327.

Changes made between PHOENICS August 2007 and April 2008

• The protected mode of satellite operation, facilitating relational data input
• Unstructured PHOENICS, USP
• Solid-stress-simulation feature uses collocated displacements as alternative to staggered displacements.
• Objects can be tagged to always be at domain end, and to extend to domain end. Makes changing domain size easier as tagged objects will follow automatically.
• For WIND_PROFILE object, profile starts in first un-blocked cell in each column.
• FLAIR. Fire and smoke dialogs updated to use current standards terminology.
• FLAIR. Diffusers can be rotated about any axes.
• Objects can still be selected when grid mesh display is on by holding down Ctrl key.
• InForm editor and other utilities now executables, so no need to install TCL.
• Drawing of objects in wireframe enabled on per-object basis.
• Separate increment size for each direction.
• Snap-to-grid feature - objects must be multiples of increment.
• Added handling of PHOTON-style PLINE elements.
• Save image as jpg file.
• MOFOR enabled in parallel.
• CVD enabled in parallel.
• Allow use of {} to denote physical coordinates for variable location in InForm.
• Better initial guess at size of F array required, and use of scratch file if expansion fails. Should allow bigger cases to run on 32-bit systems.
• Use of material >= 299 for blockage treats cut cells as blocked and opens un-cut cells. Allows simple angled thin plate treatment.

For more details about the above changes click here

Changes made between PHOENICS October 2006 and August 2007

• Use of textures
• Improved control of lighting for objects
• Possibility to show thumbnails of geometry files
• Save as a case and Open existing case save and restore intermediate step/sweep files.
• In Flair/HOTBOX the file holding the fan characteristics curves can be edited directly from within the interface.
• In Flair/HOTBOX the list of fans present in the fan data file is presented as a selectable list.
• In Flair there are two sight-length variables, for weakly-reflective and light-emitting objects.
• Point_history object can select which variable(s) to create time history information for.
• When PARSOL and GENTRA are active together, the particles will bounce from the true faceted surface of the object.
• Parallel PHOENICS has been amended to enable it to work satisfactorily with moving objects,
• The calculation of forces and moments on blockages has been extended to non-faceted objects which use cube***.dat as a geometry file.
• The calculation of forces and moments is correct for cylindrical-polar coordinates.
• The time-history plots in RESULT can now extend to 99999 steps.
• Built-in interfaces to TECPLOT and FIELDVIEW extended to BFC multi-block.
• The tabs of the Options dialog have been updated to provide more control over the displayed image.
• The user can select any 1, 2 or 3 variables to use as vector components.
• The vector component normal to the plotting plane can be toggled on or off to assist in visualising secondary flows.
• A line graph of any variable can be drawn between two specified points.
• 'Show Results' scans through RESULT for the data relating to the time-step (or sweep) currently being plotted.

For more details about the above changes click here

Changes made between PHOENICS version 3.6.1 and 2006

• The location of the PHOENICS installation is now held in an environment variable.
• The handset buttons are now repeated on the tool bar.
• Text can be added to annotate the image.
• The domain axes can be positioned anywhere.
• A larger font size is used for dialogs to make them more legible.
• It is possible to turn the hardware acceleration of the graphics card off with a switch in the CHAM.INI file.
• An auto-meshing feature has been added.
• New ANGLED-IN and ANGLED-OUT object types have been created.
• The treatment of Polar geometries has been significantly updated.
• The treatment of INLET objects in Polar co-ordinates has been improved.
• The 'Slide velocity' can be set for blockages as well as for plates.
• The input for multiple STL import is now taken from a multiple-file-selection dialog not from a list-file as previously.
• For MOFOR, the MOF files controlling the motion can be created and edited directly from the Sources page of the Main menu.
• The Editor can output the entire geometry in TECPLOT format.
• When PARSOL is active, the cut cells are calculated properly for polar geometries.
• For buoyancy-driven flows, the effect of buoyancy on turbulence has been generalised
• The solution can be output in TECPLOT format.
• Domain partitioning has been introduced via transfer objects.
• When PARSOL is active in Polar co-ordinates, the contours and vectors in the cut cells are displayed correctly.
• When cyclic boundary conditions are active, an extra tab appears on the Viewer Options dialog, from which it is possible to repeat the image in X direction as many times as wanted.
• For selected objects, the surface contour values can be output to a file which can be read into Excel or Autoplot.
• For selected objects, a surface profile on the current plotting plane can be output to a file which can be read into Excel or Autoplot.
• The palette for contour plots can be reversed.
• The size of the saved image can be controlled from a macro file.
• Many internal efficiencies have been implemented to speed up the plotting of large cases.
• The vectors can be plotted in any user-selected single colour.

For more details about the above changes click here

Changes made between PHOENICS version 3.5.1 and 3.6.0 and 3.6.1

• The extension of the PHOENICS object concept so as to permit both geometric and non-geometric attributes to be stored together
• Provision of a 'guaranteed convergence' feature
• Further developments in respect of fluid-structure interactions
• Provision of numerous new features in the graphical user interface
• Many improvements to FLAIR , the special-purpose program for HVAC and fires in buildings
• Extensions to the PHOENICS Commander
• A re-working of Shapemaker which can now add and store non-geometric attributes of objects, as well as creating their shapes
• Easier remote access via 'PHOENICS-on-line'
• The use of Dynamic storage in all modules
• Major upgrades to PHOTON and AUTOPLOT
• Restoration and extension of Parallel PHOENICS .

For more details about the above changes click here

Changes made between PHOENICS version 3.5.0 and 3.6.0

• Fluid-structure interactions
  1. Curved surfaces in Cartesian grids, PARSOL
  2. Moving frames of reference, MOFOR
  3. Solid-fluid-thermal analysis, SFT
• Data-input and results-display improvements
  1. Data-input by way of formulae
     1. Prescribing the motion of moving objects
     2. Ascribing arbitrary sources to objects
  2. The Virtual-Reality interface, VR
• New and improved utilities
  1. The PHOENICS Commander
  2. FacetFix
  3. ShapeMaker
  4. Nu-PHOTON

For more details about the above changes click here

Changes made between PHOENICS version 3.4 and 3.5.0

• In-Form Extensions
• BFC Menu improvements
• GENTRA Menu improvements
• VR Editor improvements
• VR Viewer improvements
• COSP
• AC3D
• Parallel PHOENICS developments
• Property-selection treatment
• MFM developments
• SFT developments
• PARSOL improvements
• COFFUS-related extensions
• The library-search facility
• Conversion to Imperial and other units
• Coming soon
  1. A new PHOTON
  2. More about moving bodies
• Changes in settings and practices between 3.4 and 3.5
• New features of Phoenics version 3.3 .

For more details about the above changes click here