Fast and Accurate Thermal Radiation Analysis

An ultra-fast, oct-tree accelerated Monte-Carlo ray tracing algorithm is used by RadCAD to compute radiation exchange factors and view factors. Innovations by C&R Technologies to the ray tracing process have resulted in an extremely efficient thermal radiation software tool.

Using finite difference "conics" (simple geometric objects) or curved finite elements from TD Direct®, RadCAD can accurately model diffuse or specular reflections and transmissive surfaces regardless of node density. The needs of the thermal solution dictate the number of nodes, not the accuracy requirements of the radiation.

RadCAD makes use of user-defined databases of optical properties. Each surface coating defines absorptivity, transmissivity, and reflectivity along with specularity in both the solar and infrared wavelength regimes. These properties can be defined versus incident angle or even with wavelength dependence. 

Articulated Geometry: Moving Parts

RadCAD is fully equipped to handle moving geometry. Fully user-definable Trackers allow part of the geometry to follow the sun, nadir, or any star. These Trackers can be nested to operate on multiple axes.

More generic movement can be accomplished using Assemblies, which allow any part of the geometry to rotate and/or translate in unlimited nested configurations. Because they are general purpose, Assemblies can be used to model anything from deploying a multi-jointed antenna to opening a door of a furnace.

Radiation Environments

The definition of the environment can be one of the most challenging parts of a thermal analysis, but RadCAD makes it easy. Because the sun plays such a critical part in most environments, even for stationary components on the Earth, the environments within RadCAD are called Orbits. These Orbits define the appropriate diffuse and direct solar, albedo, and ground IR heating for everything from objects located in a window to ships, aircraft, spacecraft, and even rovers on distant planets.