SINDA/FLUINT (Ref 1, 2) is a computer program used to analyze thermal/Fluid systems that can be represented in finite difference, finite element, or lumped parameter form. In addition to conduction and radiation heat transfer, the program is capable of modeling steady or unsteady single- and two-phase flow networks, their associated hardware, and their heat transfer processes. Because it is generalized, versatile, and user-extensible, SINDA/FLUINT is a standard in the aerospace industry for modeling thermal control systems. It is also used in the automotive, aircraft, electronics, petrochemical, HVACR (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration), and process industries.
C&R's SinapsPlus™ (Ref 3), a replacement for SINAPS, is a complete graphical user interface to SINDA/FLUINT. SinapsPlus is a schematic-oriented pre- and postprocessor that brings modern visualization methods to a simulation code that lacks geometric constraints. SinapsPlus also introduces an interactive model debugging environment, and the ability to write user logic in the C language. Together, these unique tools are able to accommodate system-level modeling, indefinite or parametric geometries, and other problems inappropriate for geometry-based codes.
In this paper, overall SinapsPlus functionality is described, with an emphasis on features new to the current release, Version 3.2, which has been over three years in the making.