SOUTHPOINTE, Pa. -- ANSYS Inc., a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, today announced the release of CFX-5.6 which provides increased accessibility to advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFX is used by companies around the world in a wide range of industries including aerospace, chemical processing, power generation, automotive, oil and gas, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and many others to improve processes, solve performance issues and vastly reduce product time to market. CFX-5 is the technology leader with its coupled multigrid solver that solves the full system of hydrodynamic equations simultaneously. This methodology, in addition to robustly providing highly accurate results, also is the basis for industry-leading parallel efficiency, thus allowing companies to solve these computationally intensive problems in far less time than ever before. Further, CFX-5 delivers near total interoperability between its wide range of models providing the realistic picture that leads to informed design decisions. "The parallel processing capabilities, as well as the unstructured solver capabilities of CFX-5 have allowed us to perform analyses in as little as three days on complex geometries that used to take as much as two weeks," said Jason Kopko, Aerodynamic/Thermodynamic Engineer, Dresser-Rand. "This substantial time savings allow us to perform more iterations, as well as more detailed analyses than would have been possible in the past." The latest release of CFX-5 includes CFX-Pre, an intuitive physics pre- processor that dramatically simplifies simulation set-up. Its interactive interface provides easy definition and quick navigation of all aspects of the CFD problem definition. Graphical and quantitative post-processing capabilities also have been extended through the addition of turbomachinery- specific post-processing to allow quick evaluation and improvement of rotating machinery applications. While presenting an intuitive interactive user interface, all components of the flexible CFX-5 system also offer advanced programmability and customization for automation and integration of CFD into the engineering design process. "CFX-5.6's new physics pre-processor has tons of useful features that make problem set-up very easy. I am particularly impressed with CFX-Pre's ability to import and assemble meshes very quickly," said Peter Bostwick, Engineer Specialist - CFD/Heat Transfer, Emerson Motor Company. In this release, CFX-5 expands its rich range of physical models with Lagrangian particle tracking, advanced combustion models, access to CFX's proven radiation solver, real gas thermodynamics and interphase mass transfer with phase change. Examples of expanded industrial applications include improved pump performance and wear through the prediction and suppression of cavitation, or occupant comfort and room ventilation in HVAC applications. "We continue to build CFX-5 on our foundation of advanced CFD technology to provide the superior speed, performance and usability that the industry requires to be competitive," said Dr. Michael Raw, vice president of product development for ANSYS' fluids business. "The addition of CFX-Pre provides a tool to allow both new and experienced users to quickly set up problem physics and obtain solutions that are both fast and accurate."