Who said that CFD simulation was only for “hard” problems like jet engines and race cars? It is easy to dismiss CFD as overkill for something as familiar as a showerhead — weren’t they optimized long ago? After all, millions are made and sold annually. But Nebia’s founders had a better idea. According to Innovation by Design Magazine, Philip Winter, co-founder and CEO of Nebia says, “Showers are something that people really care about but people have no freaking clue that they can do anything to change [the experience.] You move into an apartment and you get whatever you get.”
That’s why they are launching a totally new shower head called Nebia, which keeps you warmer and gets the conditioner out of your hair all while using 70% less water! According to their Kickstarter page, a typical household of four can save twenty-one thousand gallons of water per year which translates into a $397 reduction in in water and heating bills. They seem to be on to something big – as I’m writing, their Kickstarter campaign has raised nearly $1.4 million towards a goal of $100,000 with 28 days to go!
Nebia’s innovations were not obvious and would have been extremely expensive and time-consuming to develop using just trial and error with physical prototypes. So they turned to ANSYS CFX and made it real though simulation. Simulation allowed them “to validate engineering breakthroughs and optimize the Nebia showering experience for temperature and rinse-ability.”
For a fascinating look at this new shower head, check out the write up in Innovation by Design.
Other innovators are using ANSYS CFD simulation to transform seemingly mundane products. Here are some nice examples:
A toilet discharge valve is optimized to reduce household water consumption and maintain performance.
This acclaimed new fan design was advanced by fluid flow simulation.
What can you transform? I’d love to see your comments.
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