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| The largest European center of satellite testing in a simulated spatial environment will use Open CASCADE components to enhance its CIGAL software, designed for CAD modeling, meshing and visualization of calculation results. |
Paris, October 16, 2001 – Open CASCADE will be responsible for creating the new version of CIGAL (i.e., CIGAL 2), an application developed in-house at Alcatel Space for visualizing the results of thermal calculations and for constructing radiative models. The first phase of the project represents around 300 developer days of work.
The selection of Open CASCADE by this major aerospace company, world leader in orders for geostationary communications satellites (27% of the market in 2000), demonstrates the growing confidence of industrial companies in the advanced capabilities and reliability of this open-source software development platform. (Open CASCADE is available for downloading free of charge at http://www.opencascade.com/getoc/.)
According to Thierry Basset, project manager for developments around thermal exchange, "Open CASCADE was the only software with enough flexibility to allow improving our CAD modeling tools and, at the same time, smoothly integrate the model with CORATHERM, our in-house solver. In addition, working with the Open CASCADE team will enable us to optimize software production by combining their CAD-to-analysis development experience with our thermal solver expertise."
CIGAL 2 uses Open CASCADE to dramatically reduce model preparation time
The CIGAL 2 application combines a virtual CAD model with the CORATHERM solver to perform thermal analysis of spatial radiation on a future satellite. CIGAL 2 models the satellite under study, prepares entry data files for the CORATHERM solver, then displays the results after calculation. CIGAL 2 will also enable establishing a link with outside CAD applications. The creation of radiative and conductive variants allows analyzing both types of thermal flow on the model.
Use of Open CASCADE will enable the creation of viewing modes for controlling the model before analysis and displaying results, as well as the possibility of including a comprehensive description of geometry organization and properties. Analysis model preparation time will be dramatically reduced thanks to a greatly improved meshing function.
Since the Open CASCADE solution is highly modular, it will allow meeting future Alcatel Space needs for the treatment of 3D volumes, satellite missions, etc.
Open CASCADE is being used successfully in a number of projects linking CAD to analysis, most notably for: BMW in Germany, EADS CCR in France, Samtech in Belgium (SAMCEF Field software for pre- and postprocessing), and for the SALOME project, which brings together eight industrial users, research organizations and software editors around a common platform that will link CAD and analysis applications and allow integration of existing solvers. Open CASCADE is project leader for SALOME and provides development services for the project members. |
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