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.
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