An analysis of a tokamak nuclear-fusion reactor, which confines plasma at very high temperatures using superconducting magnets. The engineering challenge lies in withstanding the huge electromagnetic loads acting on the coils. A stress reduction of 36% can be achieved by reshaping the TF coils, using Ansys Mechanical, Ansys RBF Morph Structures, and optiSLang. The new design is shown in red.

Mesh Morphing Technology Now Available in Ansys Software

July 25, 2023

RBF Morph mesh morphing technology is now built into Ansys software to allow automated shape optimization studies, helping to reduce design time.

Source RBF Morph

Sara Jensen

Simulation software provider Ansys has partnered with RBF Morph, a developer of mesh morphing technology, to offer two new simulation tools — Ansys RBF Morph Fluids and Ansys RBF Morph Structures.

Both tools utilize RBF Morph's technology based on radial basis functions (RBF), considered to be the best mathematical tool for mesh morphing in the scientific community. Mesh morphing is a technique used to modify or deform a geometric mesh while maintaining its overall structure and characteristics explains RBF Morph in its press release announcing the inclusion of its technology in Ansys' portfolio. It can aid with development of safety-critical complex applications and can help to reduce computational time while performing highly automated design optimization analysis the company explains.

According to the company, key advantages of RBF mesh morphing include:

ability to handle any mesh, making it very flexible and usable in any situation
fully integrated with Ansys CAE solvers, with a seamless user experience
elimination of need for re-meshing and highly parallelizable to significantly cut computational time
robust process capable of reducing costs and improving performance results, up to 5x.

Optimal performance of electric motors is required to ensure both maximum power efficiency and structural reliability in transportation applications. Here, Ansys Maxwell, Ansys Mechanical, and Ansys RBF Morph Structures are being applied to optimize performance and durability. The parameter-free shape optimizer of RBF Morph allows for the reshaping of the most stressed pocket, resulting in a 27% reduction in stress.

Both Ansys RBF Morph Fluids and Ansys RBF Morph Structures allow users to automate shape optimization within Ansys software while using existing mesh.

"Thanks to our partnership with RBF Morph, Ansys can offer users an advanced solution for mesh morphing that integrates seamlessly into the Ansys platform," said Prith Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer at Ansys. "These state-of-the-art tools are able to address the most challenging applications in any industry using the predictive power of simulation."

"Today we have two solutions fully integrated with Ansys Fluids and Ansys Structures to enable the best multi-physics optimization and digital twin creation," said Marco Evangelos Biancolini, RBF Morph's Founder and CTO.

About the Author

Sara Jensen | Technical Editor, Power & Motion

Sara Jensen is technical editor of Power & Motion, directing expanded coverage into the modern fluid power space, as well as mechatronic and smart technologies. She has over 15 years of publishing experience. Prior to Power & Motion she spent 11 years with a trade publication for engineers of heavy-duty equipment, the last 3 of which were as the editor and brand lead. Over the course of her time in the B2B industry, Sara has gained an extensive knowledge of various heavy-duty equipment industries — including construction, agriculture, mining and on-road trucks —along with the systems and market trends which impact them such as fluid power and electronic motion control technologies.

You can follow Sara and Power & Motion via the following social media handles:

X (formerly Twitter): @TechnlgyEditor and @PowerMotionTech

LinkedIn: @SaraJensen and @Power&Motion

Facebook: @PowerMotionTech