Excel
Model Control Interface
Microsoft
Excel and thermal software such as SINDA/FLUINT®
have enjoyed a long history together. For many years,
especially before the advent of modern GUIs, creative
users have employed Excel and other spreadsheet software
to generate parts of thermal models.
CRTech
provides an Excel template for launching, controlling,
and communicating with both SINDA/FLUINT and Thermal
Desktop®
(which may in turn invoke SINDA/FLUINT). The template
is easily modifiable by advanced users to create a
custom GUI for controlling arbitrarily complex thermal/fluid
solutions. The user prepares a Thermal Desktop drawing
or SINDA/FLUINT input file with suitable parameters
(symbols and/or registers), and with appropriate calls
to initiate the COM connection and data exchange.
The Excel sheet can then be rearranged and expanded
as needed.
As
an example, a loop heat pipe (LHP) model has been
generated using the SINDA/FLUINT Excel interface as
shown below and is available for download.

- A simple Excel SINDA sample is available in the SINDA/FLUINT installation directory under samples, look for the file sinbarXL.xlsm
The
Excel SINDA/FLUINT Controller is integrated with the
standard SINDA/FLUINT installation and requires version
4.6 or higher of SINDA/FLUINT.
- Download
the latest version of SINDA/FLUINT
For
more information about this Excel interface, please
contact C&R Technologies.
Additional
Resources
- A
free online training presentation is available
for the
Excel SINDA Controller
- An
Excel User Interface for Modeling LHPs in SINDA/FLUINT,
ICES 2004 PDF
- Customizable
Multidiscipline Environments for Heat Transfer and
Fluid Flow Modeling, ICES 2004 PDF
- Integrating
Thermal And Structural Analysis using Thermal Desktop
ICES 1999 PDF
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