Materialise, the world leader in software development for rapid prototyping and industrial design applications, is glad to announce the first release of 3Matic-for-Fluent, a custom-developed batch geometry preconditioning module. This software is the outcome of the successful collaboration between Materialise and Fluent , a wholly owned subsidiary of ANSYS, a world leader in engineering simulation software and services. When combined with the Fluent TGrid 4.0 wrapper technology, 3Matic-for-Fluent improves the CFD process of geometry to meshed model for a wide range of applications.

Materialise' 3Matic technology provides powerful geometry conditioning tools that have been used in rapid prototyping (RP) successfully for years.

Last year, Materialise and Fluent decided to team up to further develop this triangular meshing technology to meet the specific needs of Fluent CFD software users.

Materialise' specialised Software Development Services (SDS) team has worked closely together with Fluent on the automation process.

The 3Matic-for-Fluent software from Materialise is a supplementary conditioning module for converting hundreds of files from mixed geometry sources in native or standard CAD file formats (Catia, UG, Pro/E, STEP, IGES), or in faceted formats (STL, WRML), into an optimal triangular meshing format for TGrid 4.0 software's new Surface Wrapper.

This cleanup process ensures that each CAD part is fully connected, of minimal size, and with sufficient resolution to capture the underlying geometrical details.

3Matic-for-Fluent supplements TGrid 4.0 by allowing users to work more efficiently during the pre-wrapping phase of their preprocessing efforts.

'Teaming up with Fluent to develop 3Matic-for-Fluent has been an extremely satisfying experience' says Wim Michiels, Director Materialise Software.

'It has been one of those collaboration projects which was driven by the strong match between powerful technologies - for the good of the customer'.

'By combining 3Matic-for-Fluent with TGrid software, Fluent can now offer a new, complete preprocessing solution for Automotive Underhood Thermal Management (UTM) and similar complex analyses'.