AFT Blog

There are two good reasons you should care that Applied Flow Technology is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year. First is because 20 years in business means that AFT software is proven . Second is because of the prizes we are giving away this year. Twenty of them no less! Come along with me while I elaborate on what AFT has achieved in the last 20 years. And explain more about the two P's. A Vision for the Visual The last 20 years has been a long and exciting journey. When AFT Fathom was released in April 1994, it was the...

One of the many new features in AFT Impulse 5 is the ability to show junction locations in profile plots. This can be enormously helpful when analyzing large, complicated systems. When enabled, all junction locations are identified by a vertical bar with a junction ID flag at the top. To show junction locations, click on the button in the toolbar. Show Junction Locations will also work for animations.

AFT Impulse 5 was released today and offers a plethora of new features sure to keep waterhammer engineers more productive than ever - and help them build even safer piping systems. How did AFT Impulse get to where it is today? From the very beginning AFT Impulse was a world leader. AFT Impulse was first released in November, 1996 which  made it the first visual, drag-and-drop waterhammer modeling software for Microsoft Windows (see below). AFT Impulse 1 in 1996 - the First Graphical Waterhammer Software for Windows  Those of you who are familiar with AFT Impulse today are aware that it has...

Applied Flow Technology is proud to release a new version of AFT Impulse , now at version 5. AFT Impulse 5 encapsulates all of the new interface and navigational enhancements from AFT Fathom 8 , as well as a considerable breadth of new and improved technical features. One such feature is our newly enhanced Relief Valve Junction. A relief valve can still be modeled as Internal, Exit, or Inline Exit, but we now offer four unique opening/closing profiles as well. With these new profiles, you can now directly model many specialty valves which were previously difficult to model accurately! Another very...

Now in its 9th year, the AFT Platinum Pipe Award recognizes excellence in piping and ducting system modeling using AFT software. We are pleased to congratulate the winners of the 2013 AFT Platinum Pipe Award! For the first time this year, we have awarded an honorable mention. Use of Software Features and Model Creativity Winner: Jordan Grose, Beta Machinery Analysis, Canada AFT Impulse was used to solve significant waterhammer occurring after pump trip and check valve closure. Assigned flow junctions were manipulated to make the pressures match at the pump discharge check valves, showing a creative use of the software’s features....

The Los Angeles Aqueduct conveys water from the Owens River in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains to the city of Los Angeles. The system provides 80% of the water to Los Angeles. Part of the aqueduct system travels through the 5.5 mile (9 km) Elizabeth Tunnel. The San Andreas fault cuts across the tunnel and a major earthquake at this location has the potential to cut off this water supply to the city for over a year. Ray Hamilton of AMEC made a fascinating presentation of his work using AFT Fathom on the Elizabeth Tunnel at the AFT Denver User Group...

AFT Fathom can EASILY size valves AND orifice plates with a SINGLE Control Valve junction!  There is no need to perform strenuous hand calculations to determine a valve Cv or an orifice diameter.  Just specify the system boundary conditions, pipe input properties, and the desired flow rate (or pressure) and AFT Fathom will calculate the Cv, K factor, and equivalent orifice diameter/area for you all at once! Figure 1 illustrates a control valve junction at the location of a valve or an orifice plate.  For known flow, use a Flow Control Valve (FCV).  For known upstream pressure, use a Pressure Sustaining...