TRACE User Guide  TRACE Version 9.8.0
TRACE

The CFD code TRACE (Turbomachinery Research Aerodynamic Computational Environment) has been developed at DLR's Institute of Propulsion Technology since the early 1990s in order to study complex flows in turbomachinery. Within DLR, TRACE is the standard method for the simulation of internal flows. Outside DLR, universities and other research institutes use TRACE for the scientific analysis of turbomachinery flows. In addition, MTU Aero Engines and Siemens Energy employ TRACE in industrial design environments for the design and optimization of turbomachinery components.

Components

The simulation system TRACE consists of the modules PREP, TRACE, and POST.

  • PREP is a preprocessor for mapping blade eigenmodes of a FEM calculation on a CFD grid for flutter or forced response analysis.
  • TRACE is the hybrid (structured and unstructured) flow solver with nonlinear solvers in the time and in the frequency domain, a linearized module in the frequency domain and an adjoint flow solver.
  • POST is a comprehensive software tool for the global analysis of stationary and non-stationary multi-stage turbomachinery simulations.

Documentation

For a detailed description of theory, options, commands, and use cases see the user guide for

How to cite

The TRACE Suite is published with a dedicated DOI at Zenodo. You can cite TRACE, as a general software project, as follows:

Department of Numerical Methods. (2017). TRACE Suite. DLR-Institute of Propulsion Technology. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17749324

If you prefer to cite a specific release of TRACE, please use the respective DOI listed on the right-hand side of the Zenodo page (see "Versions"), resulting in a citation like e.g.:

Department of Numerical Methods. (2023). TRACE Suite (9.6). DLR-Institute of Propulsion Technology. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18184278

Note: Acknowledgements of papers on methods and modules from the TRACE team should continue to be made in an appropriate and reasonable manner, in addition to the citation of the TRACE Suite.

Contact

DLR AT-NUM