Simcenter Flomaster
1D Fluid-Network Simulation for Cooling Loops and Thermal Systems
1D simulation for cooling loops, HVAC, hydraulic circuits, and thermal-fluid systems — at the scale where 3D CFD is too slow to iterate.
What It Is
Flomaster models the whole system as a network of pipes, pumps, valves, and heat exchangers. It answers the sizing and topology questions that must be settled before anyone builds a 3D model.
Core Capabilities
System-level fluid networks
- Size pumps, pipes, and heat exchangers against transient duty cycles.
- Evaluate topology alternatives in minutes, not days.
- Balance flow across parallel branches and manifolds.
Transient and steady-state
- Resolve start-up, shutdown, and load-change transients.
- Model pressure-surge and water-hammer effects.
- Support hardware-in-the-loop and control-system co-simulation.
Best For
- Data-centre cooling loop design
- EV battery cooling circuits
- Aerospace fuel and hydraulic systems
- Ship and marine cooling systems
- Industrial process cooling
Six-stage workflow position
Why engineering teams choose Flomaster.
Representative engineering situations these tools are asked to resolve.
- 01
A liquid-cooled AI cluster needs a 3.4 MW facility-water loop sized before the CDU vendor is locked, and 3D CFD of the full loop would take weeks per topology. Flomaster returns pump curves, pipe schedule, and secondary-loop approach temperature for each candidate in hours, so the procurement decision rests on hydraulics rather than on the vendor's datasheet.
- 02
A 96-cell EV battery module shows an 8 °C spread between the hottest and coldest cell on a 2C fast charge, and the pack team suspects the cold plate. Flomaster resolves the parallel-channel flow maldistribution and shows the end channels carrying roughly 40% less coolant — a header taper change, identified before a manifold is machined.
- 03
An aerospace hydraulic bay exceeds its fluid temperature limit during a 4-minute transient mission segment that steady-state analysis never sees. Flomaster models the pump, valve, and heat-exchanger network through the full duty cycle and isolates the valve-closed recirculation window driving the excursion.
- ASHRAE facility-water design references
- Consumes AEC-Q100 mission-profile inputs for EV cooling
- Systems engineer
- Cooling-loop designer
- Facilities engineer
How this reaches your team.
Delivered by Electro Source with topology modelling training and co-simulation setup with Amesim or STAR-CCM+.
Discuss Your Fluid-Network Application
Tell us the loop, the duty cycle, and the sizing or diagnostic decision the model needs to support.