How PacMar Technologies innovates with STAR-CCM+
PacMar Technologies develops cutting-edge products and solutions for the defense and maritime industries. Discover how PacMar Technologies’ use of CFD reduces time to market.
Overview
PacMar Technologies excels in creating advanced products and solutions tailored for the defense and maritime sectors. It supports customers in transforming concepts into sea-ready physical prototypes, employing modeling, simulation, and construction expertise to develop innovative systems for the Department of Defense and other partners.
- PacMar Technologies
- Simcenter STAR-CCM+
- Maritime Defense
The company’s use of STAR-CCM+ allows it to increase production speed while reducing costs and the time products take to reach the market.
The challenge
Sea states are challenging to replicate at scale, and physical prototypes are cost-prohibitive.
The solution
Implemented Simcenter STAR-CCM+ with top-tier support and guidance from Applied CAx.
The impact
Created a sea state for simulations based on real wave data for testing before investing in physical prototypes.
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Discover how PacMar Technologies leverages STAR-CCM+ to design and build progressive, leading-edge prototype vessels for its customers.
Challenge
The ocean is an unforgiving environment. The sea itself is the main challenge for maritime design. Waves, the surf zone, currents, and wind all come together in an incompressible fluid, whether it’s on the surface or below.
Because we do everything virtually or digitally at PacMar Technologies, when we use tools that we get from Applied CAx, as fast as we can imagine it and model it, we can run a simulation and get a result that would normally take weeks or months if we had to do it through more traditional methods.
Products designed and prototypes taken to the sea must be ready for those challenges and be able to overcome the dynamics of a harsh, deep ocean environment. Traditionally, a scaled-down model would be built based on basic maritime calculations and then tested in a tow tank to validate designs before constructing a full-size prototype. However, the size of water molecules doesn’t change, which means the interactions observed in a tow tank don’t match behaviors with full-size designs in the real world.
Solutions
Simcenter STAR-CCM+
Simcenter STAR-CCM+ is multiphysics CFD software for CFD engineers, enabling simulation and exploration of product behavior under real-world conditions.
Applied CAx Partnership
Leverage Applied CAx to effectively navigate your engineering journey.
Simulating real-world sea conditions with advanced CFD tools
To combat the challenges of the sea, PacMar Technologies uses Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to create high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of its products in different sea states prior to developing a full-size prototype. PacMar Technologies is an early adopter of every STAR-CCM+ release and often pushes its code to the limits. Applied CAx support is able to fill in the gaps when documentation is lagging to help PacMar Technologies take full advantage of its investment in its software tools.
High fidelity simulations
PacMar Technologies uses STAR-CCM+ to simulate product performance across varying sea states before building physical prototypes.
Early technology adoption
As early adopters, PacMar Technologies leverages the latest STAR-CCM+ release to push simulation capabilities to their limits.
Pre-prototype validation
CFD simulations enable validation of designs in realistic conditions, which reduces PacMar Technologies' reliance on costly physical testing.
Expert support guidance
Applied CAx provides support when documentation lags, helping PacMar Technologies fully utilize advanced simulation capabilities.
Results
Reducing time and costs with STAR-CCM+
By leveraging STAR-CCM+ for virtual product design, PacMar Technologies creates precise prototypes for its customers. These advanced simulations decrease costs by reducing the need for multiple physical prototypes before final manufacturing. Additionally, PacMar Technologies has reduced the time needed in traditional tow tanks compared to the typical maritime industry because of the accuracy of the designs.
Even with its success with STAR-CCM+, PacMar Technologies faces challenges with this software because it is constantly pushing the code to its limits. PacMar Technologies leveraged Applied CAx’s experience with STAR CCM+ code to navigate these challenges and find solutions. “By using tools like STAR-CCM+ we’ve been able to innovate in the marine industry,” Yamashita said. “Applied CAx provides different kinds of applications and engineering tools as they’ve gotten to know our needs, which has enabled us even further.”
Expanded innovation capability
Advanced simulation tools enabled PacMar Technologies to pursue high-risk designs and innovate beyond traditional marine development constraints.
Accelerated design iteration
PacMar Technologies tested dozens of design iterations virtually, reducing reliance on costly and time-consuming physical prototypes.
Overcoming technical limits
Applied CAx expertise helped PacMar Technologies navigate STAR-CCM+ limitations and solve complex simulation challenges effectively.
Tailored engineering support
Applied CAx provided customized tools and guidance, enabling PacMar Technologies to extend capabilities and innovate more confidently.