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MicroTunnel
®
a
Virtual Wind Tunnel for the PC
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- MicroTunnel analyzes 2-D
and axisymmetric
subsonic, transonic,
and supersonic
flow (Mach 0.1 to 10) over multi-element configurations on
an 800x600 Cartesian
cut-cell mesh. Flow visualization is provided through color
maps of local Mach number, density, pressure, and temperature, including
streamline plots. Shock waves are easily captured!
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- MicroTunnel runs out of Microsoft Windows through simple "point
and click" operations, which are outlined in an
easy-to-follow tutorial. While the program is computing, other applications can
still be run with minimal sacrifice in performance. Any screen output can be sent to a
color printer.
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- MicroTunnel is based on a finite volume description of the
unsteady Euler
equations using Van Leer type flux
vector splitting. A solution is marched in time from an instantaneous acceleration of
the flow and generally converges
to steady or
quasi-steady state
within six hours on a system with
minimum
requirements.
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- MicroTunnel
runs the world's fastest
unsteady inviscid flow solver,
integrating nearly half a million cells each time step in under two seconds on
a 1GHz Pentium PC. Its speed is derived from an assembly coded routine, which
minimizes memory access by using all eight floating-point registers of the
numeric coprocessor at 80-bit precision.
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- MicroTunnel can be downloaded in less than 15 minutes using a 28.8 kbs
modem. The 1.68 MB installation file is a
compressed, self-extracting executable, which will guide you through the setup of the
program and all supporting files. The software costs
$150
but can be run free for a trial period of three days. There is no obligation to buy!
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- MicroTunnel
is an excellent educational tool for anyone studying
aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, gas dynamics, or compressible
flow. Educational institutions can purchase licenses for their students at a
three-for-one discount rate, either as part of a site license or for
individual use.
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