nTop Acquires cloudfluid, Further Integrates CFD Simulation – 3DPrint.com

nTop has acquired cloudfluid, a German company specializing in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, a move that further strengthens nTop’s position in computational design. By incorporating cloudfluid’s simulation capabilities, nTop aims to enhance its engineering design software by offering integrated CFD analysis for rapid iteration and performance validation.

nTop, known for its implicit modeling and computational design platform, focuses on automating and accelerating the engineering design process. The acquisition of cloudfluid allows for direct integration of fluid dynamics simulations into nTop’s software, reducing reliance on external CFD tools and streamlining workflows for industries such as aerospace, defense, and turbomachinery. This integration actually already began in 2024, when nTop released the fifth edition of its software.

Cloudfluid’s software employs the Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) for CFD simulations, enabling engineers to conduct large-scale analyses more efficiently. LBM is particularly effective for simulating turbulent flows, thermal management, and fluid-structure interactions, making it a suitable complement to nTop’s existing capabilities in topology optimization and generative design. With cloudfluid’s solver embedded in nTop’s platform, users can conduct thousands of CFD simulations overnight, generating high-fidelity performance data that can also be leveraged for AI-driven design automation.

“We are hyper-focused on building software that helps engineers go from requirements to design as fast as the latest computing processors allow—that’s the power of computational design,” said Brad Rothenberg, CEO of nTop. “One of the biggest bottlenecks has always been solving the physics—it takes time to mesh and converge on a solution. cloudfluid solves this by integrating directly with our implicit modeling core, bringing CFD into the iterative computational design loop.”

In addition to its high-speed LBM solver, cloudfluid’s technology is GPU-native, making it particularly well-suited for integration with nTop’s existing partnership with NVIDIA. This compatibility enhances nTop’s ability to leverage accelerated computing power, further reducing simulation times and improving real-time design exploration. The synergy between cloudfluid’s GPU-accelerated CFD and nTop’s AI-driven computational design approach could lead to substantial advancements in automated engineering workflows.

The combination of nTop’s implicit modeling and cloudfluid’s simulation engine is expected to improve workflow efficiency, particularly in applications where fluid dynamics play a critical role. This integration also aligns with nTop’s broader vision of accelerating engineering workflows by leveraging AI and high-performance computing.

The integration of cloudfluid’s technology into nTop’s platform reflects a growing trend toward convergence between design and simulation, where engineers increasingly require real-time feedback within a single software environment rather than relying on disconnected tools. The trend of software integration is one that Additive Manufacturing Research (AMR) has been describing since at least 2022, when the firm wrote in its “Opportunities in Additive Manufacturing Software Markets 2023” report:

“Through the integration of design for AM (including generative design and topology optimization), simulation of the AM build, and build preparation planning, a sort of ‘core platform’ concept has been derived. AMR believes that these three elements combine to form the basis of all additive manufacturing activity into the future, and through their integration together into singular software tools will solidify that these processes will become standard procedure for many additive applications in the near term.”

For industries such as aerospace, medical, and automotive, where both structural optimization and fluid dynamics are crucial, nTop’s expanded platform could provide a more comprehensive approach to engineering challenges. The ability to rapidly iterate on both geometry and performance characteristics within a single environment is expected to drive innovation and reduce time-to-market for complex, high-performance products.

While the immediate impact of the acquisition is centered on expanding simulation capabilities within nTop’s software, the long-term potential lies in further automation of engineering workflows. The integration of AI, generative design, and high-speed simulation will pave the way for more autonomous design processes, where engineers guide the design intent while computational tools handle complex optimization and validation tasks. As the company prepares for its second annual Computational Design Summit in Los Angeles this June, further details on how cloudfluid’s technology will be integrated into nTop’s ecosystem will surely become more clear.