The first PDE product release from the new business unit is Fastflo (External), a flexible finite element package for the numerical solution of PDE systems in two or three dimensions. Originally developed by CSIRO in Australia, it can be used to solve problems ranging from the simple classical PDEs (Poisson, Helmholtz, heat equation) to three-dimensional turbulent flow simulations in complex geometries.
In
Fastflo the problem to be solved and the algorithm used are defined in
terms of a high-level language called Fasttalk. This language is capable
of expressing a vast range of PDE problems while releasing users from the
drudgery of programming low-level finite element approximations. Fasttalk
programs have been developed for complex simulations such as natural convection,
non-Newtonian flows and free surface problems.
An important component of work in this area is, of course, the visualisation of the problem geometry and the output from the PDE solver. IRIS Explorer is an ideal choice for this task, with its wide range of visualisation techniques which are made available in an easy-to-use visual programming environment. New modules have been written to read Fastflo solution files, and a variety of applications have been developed, one of which is illustrated in the accompanying figure. Solutions on unstructured finite element meshes are ideally represented by the pyramid data type, which has been extensively used within the new modules.
Fastflo is only the first in a series of PDE products from NAG; other packages covering areas such as mesh generation, preprocessing and post-processing tools are in the pipeline and will be announced in due course. Many of these will also require an interface to a visualisation system - and what better choice than IRIS Explorer?
For more details about Fastflo, please contact the NAG Response Centre, details of which can be found overleaf, or see the simulation page (External) on the NAG web site (External).