We are currently completing an upgrade of the two-dimensional finite-element programs in the TriComp series. This is the seventh version release since we created the original programs in 1989. Because our customers receive free updates, we issue new versions only when there are significant improvements. Although the technology development for TriComp 7.0 has been completed, we are still carrying out tests, revising instruction manuals and checking compatibility with OmniTrak and GamBet. The firm release date will be October 1, 2010. In this note I’ll review the changes,
? Post-processor features have been expanded and are consistent across the full TriComp suite of programs (Figure 1). A new filled-contour plot style has been added. Region names defined in Mesh are preserved through the solution and passed to the postprocessor. There is an extended set of vector tools (arrow plot, interactive field probe, field line calculation,…). Dialogs have been expanded, including one to set the inner and outer region sets for surface integrals of forces, flux, …, Finally, many plot settings are preserved in the registry and restored the next time the program runs.
Figure 1. TriComp 7.0 postprocessor screen
? Postprocessor capabilities may be configured by the user. This feature employs technology for fast function evaluation developed for FEBuilder and tested in the AMaze 3.0 programs. You can add new quantities for interpolations, slice and scan plots and surface and volume integrals. You can also eliminate quantities that may not be of interest for your application. Each program is supplied with one or more standard configurations that implement features of previous versions. It is no longer necessary to use a one-size-fits-all set of quantities. For example, EStat includes individual configurations for dielectric and conductive solutions.
? Computer power has changed dramatically since TriComp 1.0. The original programs were the antithesis of software bloat. We applied a broad spectrum of techniques to conserve memory and disk space. These techniques are irrelevant to computers with 4 GB of memory and 200 GB hard disks. Accordingly, we made a complete housecleaning of the program numerics. Changes include consistent double-precision arithmetic, expanded number of solution-volume regions (250) and increased precision in output files.
? With the release of Windows 7, 64-bit operating systems are now the norm. The 64-bit TriComp programs are compiled using the latest technology (Intel FORTRAN 11.0). The programs support multi-processor operation for solutions with huge meshes. The mesh size is determined solely by the installed memory. Note that users still have the option to download and install 32 bit programs for older machines.
? There is an option for an animated display of solution progess (Figure 2). In boundary-value programs like EStat, PerMag and RFE2, the display shows the state of the solution covergence with automatic time step adjustment. The feature is useful to estimate the number of interation steps and to identifty problem areas. In initial-value programs like TDiff, Pulse or EMP, the display is updated with each data dump, showing the time evolution of the solution.
Figure 2. TriComp 7.0, animated display of solutions