FloTHERM features a comprehensive set of intelligent model creation macros (SmartParts) to allow a broad range of electronics cooling applications to be built quickly and accurately.

Model sharing across the electronics supply chain is supported through hundreds of Smartparts-based objects and attributes available in an installed library including fans, components, heatsinks, materials, thermal interface materials, heat pipes, enclosures, PCB, Dies, racks, perforated plates and more. The CAD-style, mouse-driven, Drawing Board delivers simple draw, drag-and-drop and object snap operations to rapidly create and manipulate parametrically-defined models.

Meshing is instantaneous and reliable in FloTHERM, as compared to traditional tools that require significant time and expertise to master.

FloTHERM uses a locally-unstructured Cartesian-based mesh – the most stable and numerically efficient type of mesh available. The ability to localize is also included for finer resolution where it is needed, minimizing solution time.

Mesh in FloTHERM is associated with SmartParts and is generated as part of the model assembly process with refinement under user control. FloTHERM is the only analysis software with object-associated mesh that eliminates re-meshing for each model modification.

The conjugate nature of heat-transfer within electronic systems is concurrently solved using a preconditioned conjugate residual solver together with a flexible cycle multi-grid solution technique.

• Concurrent solution for convective, conductive and radiative heat transfer. 
• Solution termination optionally based on convergence of user defined monitor points.
• Multi-fluids capability.
• Ability to simulate either turbulent, laminar and transistional flow.
• Definition in transient variation in terms of linear ramping, power increase, exponential increase, sinusoidal, periodic or imported .csv pointwise variations.
• Fully automatic radiation exchange and view factor calculation.
• Automatic solar loading boundary conditions.
• Transient thermostatic control with offset heating and cooling setpoints.
• Joule Heating: solve for 3D electric potential, current density and calculate Joule Heating.
• Interfacing to FEA tools for thermo-mechanical simulation.
• Enhanced PCB modeling using the PowerMap SmartPart for detailed copper representations.

Comprehensive post-processing capabilities provide plane, surface and iso-sur-face plots, complemented by call-outs on plots to annotate simulation result values.

• Particle animation to visualize complex, 3D airflow.
• Contour animation to visualize heat transfer paths.
• Iso surfaces and surface temperatures.
• Airflow representation by vectors or ribbons colored by temperature or speed
• AVI output of flow animation.
• Dynamic particle tracking allowing the user to gain a better understanding of complex flows.
• Image texturing for realistic visualization
• Bottleneck & Shortcut Numbers.
• Capture Indices (datacenters).

FloTHERM’s Design of Experiments implementation efficiently explores the design space by building and solving variants of the initial model. SmartPart based modeling and structured Cartesian grid enable Design of Experiments technology to be applied to a FloTHERM model. Design of Experiments (DoE) is a structured method for determining the relationship between design parameters (e.g. number of heatsink fins, location of vents, etc.) and results (component temperatures, fan flow rate, etc.).

The Command Center module supplied with Simcenter Flotherm includes Design-of-Experiment (DoE) and Response Surface Optimization (RSO), with a correlation matrix to identify which input parameter combinations have the greatest effect on the selected output variables such as component temperatures. Simcenter Flotherm is also accessible through the HEEDS™ portal for multidisciplinary optimization using HEEDS.