NUMECA’s experience with Industry-Academia

Partnerships and Patways (IAPP) programs

Presentation given at the

Journée Marie Curie

Ecole Royale Militaire, Brussels

November 6th , 2009

J. E. Anker, Prof. Ch. Hirsch,

NUMECA Int., Av. Franklin D. Rooseveltlaan 5,
B-1050 Bruxelles/Brussel, Belgium
www.numeca.com
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Outline

 Brief presentation of NUMECA Int.

 Importance of innovation and support for R&D
 Experience from previous EU projects
 Marie Curie AdComb-CFD ToK-IAP project (FP6)
 Marie Curie COMBINA IAPP project (FP7)
 IAPP projects – Challenges and benefits
 Conclusions

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NUMECA – Activities and locations

 NUMECA International s. a. was created in 1992 as a spin-off of Vrije

Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
 Main activities:
 Development of software systems for the simulation of fluid flows
 Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software for
analysis and optimization of fluid machinery and aero-nautical systems
 NUMECA Int. is a globally acting high-tech company:
 Employs globally 70 CFD experts and highly qualified engineers
 NUMECA Int. has its headquarters in Brussels and subsidiaries in
Mons (B) and San Francisco (USA). Distributors located worldwide:
Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, China, …

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NUMECA - Products

 Preprocessing tools / Grid generation software:

 Task: Definition of geometry, boundary conditions,
subdivision of computational domain in finite volumes (grid)
 Hexpress™: Generates unstructured, hexahedral grids
 Autogrid/IGG: Automated generation of structured grids
 Flow solvers:
 Task: Numerical solution of the flow equations
 FINE™/Turbo Flow Solver: Leading flow solver for
turbomachinery applications using structured grids
 FINE™/Hexa Flow Solver: General, multi-purpose flow
solver using unstructured hexahedral meshes
 Post-processors / Visualisation:
 CFView™ for visualization and evaluation of the
simulated flow fields
 Unique features:
 Flow Integrated Environments: Complete software packages with flow solver and pre- and
postprocessor (FINE™/Turbo, FINE™/Marine, FINE™/Hexa)
 Turbomachinery modeling capabilities (Non-linear harmonics method)
 FINE™/Design3D: Software for design and automatic optimization of turbomachinery components

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NUMECA’s products – Some areas of application

 Aerospace:
 ARIANE propulsion; cryogenic engines
 Objectives: Predict and improve performances;
engine stabilization
 Aeronautics:
 Aero engines; civil and military aircrafts
 Objectives: Wing-fuselage interactions, optimize
guide vanes and blades, understand aerodynamics
 Power generation:
 Gas and steam turbines; axial and centrifugal
compressors
 Objectives: Blade design; minimization of
exergy losses
 Environment:
 Flow around buildings, ventilation (HVAC), pollution
 Objectives: Architectural impact on the wind flow,
emission prediction

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NUMECA – Some of our customers

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Importance of innovation and support for R&D

 Importance of innovation:
 CFD software systems need to employ
state-of-the-art methods in
 Numerical and applied mathematics
 Computational physics
 Computer and engineering science
to be as efficient and accurate as possible
⇒ Being innovative and up-to-date in the aforementioned disciplines
is a key element for the successful development of CFD software systems
 Importance of technological and financial support for R&D:
 Strong efforts in R&D are important for NUMECA to keep its technological
leadership, remain competitive and to develop next-generation products
 Since efforts in R&D are cost-intensive, it is essential for an SME to obtain
technological and financial support

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Experience from previous EU projects

 NUMECA has been involved in several EU projects either as a partner or as

a coordinator
 NUMECA has initiated and coordinated several projects:
 TROPHY (FP5) on hydroplaning simulation
 AdComb-CFD (ToK-IAP FP6) project (2005-2008)
 NODESIM (FP6) on non-deterministic simulations
 COMBINA (IAPP FP7) on combustion models for industrial applications
 Participation in EU funded research projects can be a difficult task:
 Certain level of recognition of the in-house technology is essential for the
ability to establish a network
 Research projects are generally led by large enterprises (although the EU
has specific programs to support the participation of SMEs)
 IAPP-program (FP6: ToK-IAP) is an excellent opportunity to establish
contact and exchange personnel between academia and industry

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AdComb-CFD project – Goal and Partners

 Goal of the Marie Curie AdComb-CFD ToK-IAP project (FP6) was:

 AdComb-CFD: “Advanced Combustion Models
for CFD Applications”
 University partners provide industry state-of-the-art
combustion models for non-premixed combustion
 Industry provides university partners with professional
software and expertise
 Partners in the project:
 TU Delft, TU Delft, Univ. of Heidelberg,
NUMECA (Coordinator)
 Knowledge transfer:
 RANS- and LES based combustion models
 Radiation modelling
 Software-engineering, professional
validation procedures
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AdComb-CFD project – Motivation

 Development of the FINE™/Hexa unstructured software package towards a

multiphysics-multipurpose CFD solver
Turbomachinery applications, conjugate heat transfer,
fluid-structure interaction, acoustics
Combustion (heat release, pollution)
Radiation modeling
 Long term goal:
 Software package for the simulation of a
complete aero engine including combustion chamber
 Situation before NUMECA obtained the AdComb-CFD IAPP project:
 NUMECA had profound expertise in CFD for fluid machinery
and aerodynamic devices
 No in-house expertise on combustion modeling
⇒ Acquisition of knowledge in combustion and radiation
modeling was therefore necessary

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AdComb-CFD project – Results (examples)

 Glass-furnace  Turbulent flame

 GUI
 Gas turbine combustor:

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COMBINA project

 COMBINA - Combustion Models for Industrial Applications (IAPP FP7)

 Development of combustion models for the simulation
of aero-engine and stationary gas turbine combustors
 Transfer of knowledge program with leading European
universities (The Netherlands, Germany, France, Turkey)
 Turkish SME will support the project by providing
experimental data from industry-like test cases
 NUMECA is coordinating the project
 The project is guided by an Industrial Observer
Group (IOG)
 Representatives from companies in the energy sector
(gas turbine) and in the aero-nautical field (aero-engines)

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IAPP projects – Challenges

 Planning phase
 Definition of a project with partners that contributes to the global objectives
of the European program
 Proposals require attention to both technical and non-technical issues
 Socio-economic impact
 Demand for novelties and innovative research in a ToK/IAPP project
 Start-up phase (after the proposal has been approved)
 Not all university partners are immediately able to find suitable post-docs
which they can assign to the project
⇒Change in planning necessary to accommodate for problems with
recruitment
 Reporting:
 Financial reporting can be difficult since the guidelines are open to
interpretation
 Technical reports are easy to write
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IAPP projects – Benefits

 Industry’s point of view – experience from the AdComb-CFD project

 NUMECA has obtained state-of-the-art technology in modeling of non-
premixed combustion
 Creation of a network of relations and potential partners within the
European research community in combustion
 Source of creativity – regular discussion with leading academic institutions
has provided NUMECA with new innovative ideas
 Academic partners:
 Establishment of additional contacts with industry
 Development of combustion models from a software engineering
and industrial point of view
 Platform for testing of new combustion models for complex applications

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Conclusions

 Strong efforts in R&D are important to remain competitive and to develop

next generation products
 Since efforts in R&D are cost-intensive, it is essential for an SME to
obtain technological and financial support
 EU programs offer unique possibilities to establish Inter-European co-
operations, pathways and networks
 IAPP-program is an excellent basis for
 establishing contact and exchanging personnel between
academia and industry
 increasing the technological expertise and know-how of
all partners involved
 supporting applied research
 providing industry with most recent results from
the research community

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