Alcatel Space Entrusts the Development of the New Version of Its Thermal Analysis Application to Open CASCADE

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.

About Open CASCADE Services

Open CASCADE is the leading open-source tool for 3D modeling worldwide and is used for the development of trade-specific technical and scientific applications ranging from mechanical CAD/CAM/CAE to AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems).

The Open CASCADE business model is based on providing specific developments for industrial customers and services to software editors and on commercializing a broad range of services around the certified Open CASCADE version. These value-added services aim to bring about the optimal implementation of the user's development project and include on-site and online training, technical assistance and support packages that provide 12 months of coverage for different types of customer needs. Customers can also order personalized project follow-up and expert consulting.

The Open CASCADE Company is an independent subsidiary of EADS Matra Datavision. Open CASCADE is a registered trademark of the Open CASCADE company.

www.opencascade.com 

About Open CASCADE Certified Version 3.1

Certified Version 3.1 of Open CASCADE includes C++ components for the modeling data structure, modeling algorithms, visualization, data exchange, an application framework, and foundation classes, as well as the automatically configured WOK development environment. WOK allows groups of developers to work simultaneously on different products and optimizes utilization of the Open CASCADE components.

This version of Open CASCADE also includes Visual C++ projects that enable Windows users to compile Open CASCADE code for their platforms. In addition, export file formats are now available for STL, VRML and HPGL2, and the Open CASCADE Application Framework for rapid development of domain-specific design applications offers increased reliability.

Open CASCADE version 3.1 runs on Linux Mandrake and Red Hat, Windows and Sun Solaris platforms.

 

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