Phlex and Adapt. Mesh optimization is also at the heart of Phlex and Adapt, the first two CFD codes to be released by The Computation Mechanics Co. Inc. (Austin, Tex.).

Phlex uses h-p meshing, an optimization technique that begins the solution process by arbitrarily selecting an initial mesh size (h) and initial order of approximation (p). An initial solution is calculated so that an estimate of the error can be obtained. Next, an optimization algorithm determines the most efficient way (by changing grid size or the spectral order of that cell) to reduce the error. "It's a very complex data management problem in which you're dynamically changing all the mesh parameters so as to optimize the calculation," said J. Tinsley Oden, CEO and chief scientist at Computation Mechanics Co. and professor of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

Released last month, Phlex runs on workstations and is aimed at aerospace and manufacturing applications. The initial version of the program models 3-D incompressible viscous flows. A second release of Phlex that will also handle compressible flows is under development for shipment later this year.