Applied Math Modeling Inc. has announced the availability of CoolSim 4.1 — the next revision of the company’s popular modeling software. As the industry’s only cloud-based implementation, CoolSim 4.1 continues to add important ease of use and modeling features.
“CoolSim 4.1 adds a number of new features to improve user productivity during the model creation process,” said Paul Bemis, CEO of Applied Math Modeling. “Using CoolSim 4.1, users can now model nearly any data center design configuration quickly and easily while using the power of Cloud Computing to drive down simulation time and improve user productivity.”
CoolSim 4.1 allows users to quickly and easily model raised floor designs, non-raised floor designs, and mixed environments that use ducted cold air supplies with or without containment. And because CoolSim is cloud-based, multiple design variations can be studied concurrently.
“Unlike other data center design tools that require users to wait for the results of one simulation prior to submitting another, CoolSim allows multiple simulations to be submitted concurrently, thereby speeding up design optimization by orders of magnitude,” said Bemis. “With CoolSim 4.1, users are free to consider many more design alternatives prior to selecting the optimal design for a given data center environment.”
Key features of CoolSim 4.1 include:
- User productivity improvements including a new “snap” feature that allows rapid alignment of geometry and objects in the model, making the creation of duct work and underfloor obstructions easy to create and model.
- Improvements in the CoolSim automated post processing module allowing for user directed control of output reports. Reports can be customized to provide users with temperature and pressure contours, airflow streamlines, and animated images.
- The integration of improved meshing technology resulting from the ANSYS partnership provides state-of-the-art automatic unstructured hex dominate meshing for true geometry representation, improving model accuracy while reducing overall model processing time. CoolSim’s mesh control allows users to refine the mesh and balance trade-offs between computational cost and solution accuracy.
- Additional objects for both the CoolSim object library allows users to quickly and easily find, drag and drop drag and drop objects from the advanced library storage system. Objects can be sorted not only by model number, but also other parameters including cooling capacity, flow rate, and/or type.
CoolSim 4.1 is based upon an all new model building environment, which improves user productivity by allowing models to be built in multiple concurrent views. Thus the data center model can be constructed using both 2D and 3D views at the same time. The option to use multiple display monitors is also supported, offering additional on-screen real estate for building more accurate representations of the data center.
Once built, the model is automatically submitted to a hosted high-performance computing (HPC) cluster for processing using ANSYS®/FLUENT (CFD) technology. After the simulation is complete, HTML output reports and 3D visual images are produced and sent to the user. This mechanism allows users to perform multiple “what-if” studies of their data centers to determine the optimal placement of existing equipment, evaluate new or alternative designs, or visualize the effect of adding new equipment to an existing room.
Industry’s Only SaaS Model
Applied Math Modeling continues to drive down total cost-of-ownership (TCO) for customers by delivering CoolSim using a hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) model that includes the software and the computational capacity to perform the complex CFD calculations.
“No longer do users have to pay the high annual license fees, or invest in expensive local computer servers to use a CFD based data center modeling tool,” Bemis said. “With CoolSim, users can leverage the same technology used in the aerospace and automotive markets at a fraction of the cost of ‘local processing only’ solutions.” By using the CoolSim 4 subscription model, occasional users can select a usage plan that meets their specific needs.
