Increased use of CFD?

Flomerics has released the results of a recent survey investigating  the opinions of mechanical design engineers regarding Computational Fluid Dynamics  (CFD) analysis.

The survey was promoted through a global Internet forum for mechanical designers that is independent of any particular software vendor.

The survey shows that although the vast majority (75%) of mechanical designers  have heard of CFD, an even bigger majority (80%) do not use CFD today.

"This survey gives a clear message to CFD software vendors that we need to do more  to embed our software in the mainstream mechanical design environment, and make  it quick and easy to use," said Dr. Mike Reynell, Director of Marketing  for Flomerics.

The most common reason given why relatively few mechanical design engineers are using CFD was that "most mechanical design engineers don't have the  necessary expertise and knowledge to use a CFD code."

The second most common  reason was "most mechanical design engineers are not aware of what CFD  can do for them." When asked about the most important benefits that CFD  simulation brings (or could bring) to their company, 61% selected "improving product performance and functionality", 59% selected "reducing prototyping  and testing costs", and 57% selected "reducing the risk of design  mistakes". Surprisingly, only 43% identified "reducing design time"  as a key benefit.

When asked which CFD application areas were most relevant to their jobs, 37%  chose "Pumps, Valves  Hydraulic systems", 25% chose "Electronics  Cooling", 23% chose "Engine design", and 22% chose "External  airflow around cars, vehicles, and aircraft". Just 5% of respondents chose  "External airflow around buildings".

Of the 1,444 responses received, 53.6% were mechanical design engineers, 12.6%  were mechanical design managers or technical directors, 8.5% were project managers  or product managers, and 25.3% have other titles.