Mentor Graphics Announces New FloEFD Product with Radiation Modeling and Multicore Meshing

WILSONVILLE, Ore. - Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced the latest release of its award-winning FloEFD™ concurrent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) product. This new release incorporates Monte-Carlo radiation modeling for thermo-optical performance, and advanced multicore meshing of complex geometries which allows simulation that is now orders of magnitude faster.

Monte-Carlo radiation modeling is important for precise analysis of geometric effects in optics, such as the refraction and reflection of radiation absorptive media; for example, lens focusing. The FloEFD product provides a unique boundary layer treatment and, when combined with robust meshing capable of capturing highly complex geometries automatically, it enables engineers to accurately predict complex thermo-optic behavior. This is ideal for applications such as automobile lighting, consumer luminaire design, and video/photography-related products.

“FloEFD from Mentor helps us to understand and optimize headlamps. Even very complex geometries and test conditions can be investigated with a minimum of effort,” stated Peter Jauernig, head of department, Automotive Lighting, Reutlingen, Germany. “New features such as Monte-Carlo radiation and the LED module are especially helpful in speeding the development of very complex products.”

The multicore architecture meshing feature provides reduced meshing time, up to 20x faster. This significant increase in speed allows the user to test various design approaches in a matter of minutes, compared to hours. The increased meshing speed provides significant productivity benefits such as conducting “what-if” testing on various models in less time. This can result in delivering competitive products with improved performance, in shorter time-to-market schedules.

The new FloEFD product also supports fluid-structure interaction through a mesh-based parallel code coupling interface (MpCCI®) bridge developed at the Fraunhofer Institute SCAI. The new functionality enables engineers to export CFD analysis data for finite element analysis (FEA) in a wide range of popular structural simulation programs, thereby enabling users to conduct multi-disciplinary analyses.

Additional usability enhancements in this release include:

* Support of Linux® solver launch directly from the FloEFD user interface to help users set a series of simulation runs effortlessly
* Inclusion of multiple parametric study results in the same project tree provides easy access to data while conducting multiple studies on the same model
* Multi-editing of input data on boundary conditions saves time and clicks for repetitive simulations such as LED arrays
* Support of local solution adaptive refinement enables users to specify high resolution only in areas of interest

“Our latest version of FloEFD for concurrent CFD addresses the complexities of today’s thermo-optic applications with greater ease of adoption and accuracy,” stated Dr. Erich Buergel, vice president of Mentor Graphics Focus Products Organization. “As an industry leader with a proven history in CFD technology excellence, we are continually investing in our FloEFD product line to deliver the best-in-class solutions that address our customers’ business challenges.”

Product Availability
The FloEFD product with Monte-Carlo modeling and multicore meshing enhancements is available for immediate shipment. With this release, the FloEFD product now supports the largest number of user interfaces in local languages including English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Chinese. For further information, go to the website: www.mentor.com/products/mechanical/products/floefd.

Concurrent CFD for Advanced Productivity and Reliability
The Mentor Graphics® concurrent CFD methodology can reduce simulation time by as much as 65 to 75 percent compared to traditional CFD tools. It enables users to optimize product performance and reliability while reducing physical prototyping and development costs without time or cost penalties. The FloEFD product is an established technology and supported by a dedicated CFD development team. Mentor Graphics is the world’s third largest general purpose CFD provider with the largest knowledge base in electronics cooling.

About Mechanical Analysis from Mentor Graphics
The Mentor Graphics thermal simulation and analysis products have led the market for 25 years, supporting the largest installed base by far of any thermal design tool supplier. In 1988 Dr. David Tatchell and Dr. Harvey Rosten founded Flomerics, Ltd. and launched what became the award-winning FloTHERM® product family. Mentor Graphics acquired Flomerics along with its MicReD® (Microelectronics Research & Development) development group in 2008. Today, Mentor Graphics continues this technology-leading tradition, providing a broad portfolio of best-in-class simulation, analysis, and test/measurement solutions. These include the FloTHERM family of IC, PCB and systems thermal simulation solutions, FloEFD concurrent CAD-embedded CFD for 3D fluid flow and heat transfer analysis, FloVENT® for HVAC analysis, Flowmaster™ 1D thermo-fluid simulation, and the T3Ster®, as well as TeraLED® transient temperature measurement systems for semiconductor and LED applications and DynTIM thermal interface material tester. For more information: www.mentor.com/mechanical.

(Mentor Graphics, FloTHERM, FloVENT, MicReD, T3Ster and TeraLED are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation and FloEFD, DynTIM and Flowmaster are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.)

(MpCCI is a registered trademark of Fraunhofer SCAI)

(Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.)

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues in the last fiscal year of nearly $1,090 million. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com.