CFturbo 2026 R2: Thermal FEA and BLADERUNNER Upgrades

CFturbo has released version 2026 R2 of its turbomachinery design software, introducing steady-state thermal analysis in CFturbo FEA, enhanced BLADERUNNER post-processing capabilities, and new export interfaces for automated meshing workflows. The update extends the platform's integrated design-to-simulation pipeline for pumps, fans, blowers, compressors, and turbines.

Thermal Analysis Enters the FEA Module

The headline addition in CFturbo 2026 R2 is steady-state heat conduction support within CFturbo FEA. Engineers can now perform thermal assessments directly inside the CFturbo environment and use the resulting temperature distributions as pre-stress inputs for subsequent structural analyses. This closes a gap in the integrated workflow: previously, thermal loads had to be imported from external FEA packages before structural checks could proceed. With the new capability, the full thermo-structural chain — from blade geometry to thermal loading to stress evaluation — can be executed without leaving the CFturbo environment.

CFturbo FEA is provided at no additional cost to all active CFturbo license holders, making the thermal analysis feature immediately accessible across the user base.

BLADERUNNER Post-Processing Upgrades

BLADERUNNER, CFturbo's integrated GUI for CFD preparation and results evaluation, received several usability improvements in R2:

CFD field visualization: Users can now generate post-processing images of pressure and velocity fields directly within BLADERUNNER, reducing the need to switch to a separate post-processor for routine result inspection.
Comparative analysis: CFD results can be overlaid against imported curves — such as experimental measurements or results from alternative simulations — enabling direct validation and design iteration within a single interface.
Flexible performance maps: Axis configuration for cavitation curves and performance maps is now fully customizable, and the residuals diagram supports flexible layout settings.
Interactive 3D controls: Six pre-defined 3D views and interactive axis controls have been added, improving navigation during geometry review and result interpretation.

Hydro Turbine and Design Enhancements

The 2026 R2 release also adds a cavitation risk diagram for hydro turbines, displaying the Thoma number (σ) to help engineers verify correct installation height and avoid cavitation-induced damage. A complementary feature allows the design of balance holes in the hub to reduce axial thrust — a common concern in high-head pump and turbine applications.

For blade loading, a new swirl-based variable load option lets designers specify the target swirl distribution (cᵤ·r) as an alternative to the conventional cᵤ specification, providing finer control over spanwise load distribution in axial and mixed-flow machines.

CFturbo 2026 R2 — Meridional Solid Design View

Meshing and Solver Interfaces

On the interoperability side, CFturbo 2026 R2 adds a new export interface to ADS (supporting the WAND mesher and LEO solver), broadening the range of CFD toolchains that can be driven directly from CFturbo geometry. GridPro export has also been improved to better support automated meshing pipelines, which is particularly relevant for design-of-experiments and optimization loops where hundreds of geometry variants must be meshed and solved without manual intervention.

Context and Availability

CFturbo is developed by CFturbo GmbH (Dresden, Germany) and is used across the turbomachinery industry for the conceptual and detailed design of rotating machinery. The software supports direct interfaces to major CAD systems (CATIA, NX, SOLIDWORKS, Creo) and CFD/FEA solvers (Ansys Fluent, STAR-CCM+, OpenFOAM, Simerics). Version 2026 R2 is available now for existing license holders. Full release notes are published at cfturbo.com/support/whats-new.