Heating and Cooling Optimizer (HCO)
Overview
The Heating and Cooling Optimizer enables the user to perform optimization of the cooling process of profiles using fast simulations of the temperature field variations with time.
It has been automatized so that no prior knowledge of numerical simulation or methods is needed to perform simulations. The user must only provide process parameters.
It is based on the finite element method, which requires the generation of a mesh from a CAD file of the profile provided by the user.
Temperature variations at various profile locations with time with a four-stage cooling system.
Versions
The current version available for users is 1.0, which runs on windows 7 and 8 and on various linux distributions.
Available features in version 1.0
The heating and cooling optimizer enables one to simulate the cooling phase of the profile once it exits the press. The unsteady temperature field in a section of the profile is computed versus time as the profile goes through different cooling stations.
It is possible to take into account up to four cooling stations in the software. This number can be increased on demand by customers. Four types of cooling procedure can be also considered: free convection in air, forced convection with air stream from nozzles, "soft" cooling with water from nozzles and "strong" water cooling. The difference between "strong" and "soft" cooling is the achievable range for the heat transfer coefficient.
Three main phases must be performed by the user:
- A first phase dedicated to Input data and mesh generation when the input data like the profile geometry provided in a dxf file and the operation parameters are loaded or specified via the visual interface. The mesh is built in a subsequent step.
- A second phase dedicated to Solver data preparation and execution when specific data for the solver is prepared and the computations are done.
- A third phase dedicated to Result data post-processing and visualization when the results are post-processed and visualized.
A GUI is provided for the user in order to proceed in an easy way to the determination of the temperature variations in the profile.
