Platform & validation roadmap
cufemlab is backed by a 24-phase (A–X) scientific verification & validation program. Each phase drives a physics domain to numbers checked against an independent, published reference — never self-asserted. This is the honest map of what is done, what is maturing, and what you can run today.
The 24-phase V&V map
Live status from the platform integration runner. “Checks” = benchmarks passing; “deferred” = items honestly tagged NOT_IMPLEMENTED with a dated estimate — no silent gaps.
Complete (verdict PASS, 0 deferred)
| Phase | Domain | Status |
|---|---|---|
| A | Foundation — evidence engine, materials DB, unified API | DONE |
| B | Thermal — transient heat, expansion, sources & BCs | DONE |
| C | Solid mechanics — linear elasticity, stress | DONE |
| D | Rotation — centrifugal / G-force / rotor stress | DONE |
| F | Conjugate heat transfer — solid + fluid coupling | DONE |
| G | Compressible gas dynamics | DONE |
| H | Phase change — Stefan melting / freezing | DONE |
| K | Acoustic / vibration / NVH — Helmholtz, modal, harmonic | DONE |
| L | Multi-body dynamics — gears, bearings, contact | DONE |
| M | Magneto-mechanical coupling — magnetostriction, EM forces | DONE |
| Q | Optimization / inverse problems | DONE |
| R | Uncertainty quantification — Monte Carlo, polynomial chaos | DONE |
| S | ML surrogates / PINNs / neural operators (GPU) | DONE |
| T | Porous media + DEM — granular flow, packing | DONE |
| U | CAD / geometry import — STEP / IGES (gmsh + OpenCASCADE) | DONE |
| V | AMR + robust mesh generation | DONE |
Maturing (benchmarks PASS, items honestly deferred)
| Phase | Domain | Status |
|---|---|---|
| E | Incompressible CFD — Navier–Stokes, RANS, LES | MATURING |
| I | Boiling / multiphase — VOF & interface capture | MATURING |
| J | Electromagnetic extensions — nonlinear B-H, eddy, TEAM benchmarks | MATURING |
| N | Electrochemistry / batteries — DFN P2D Li-ion cell | MATURING |
| O | Plasma / arc — MHD, switchgear, EDM | MATURING |
| P | Chemistry / combustion — reaction-network kinetics | MATURING |
| W | Multi-GPU / HPC — distributed solves, cloud burst (hardware-gated) | MATURING |
| X | Certification / standards — IEC / ISO / IEEE / ASME audit trail | MATURING |
The V&V phase table above is produced by the integration runner, not hand-edited. Two totals for this programme were being published across two pages and they contradicted each other, and neither could be traced to a source, so both totals have been withdrawn: an unsourced number is not evidence. The product benchmark suite figure (290 / 290, from a dated run) is separate, is sourced, and is still published on the home page. The checkable fact is the one above: of the fifteen public analysis types, one is cross-checked against an external solver (FEMM / GetDP) and one against an analytic reference; every other type reports how far it has been checked, including when the answer is “not at all”.
Method coverage across the V&V program
Methods exercised in the internal 24-phase V&V program (method validation, not a product feature list). The shipped product today is the self-serve app: moving-band cogging (the cross-checked validated reference), plus operating-torque and iron-loss estimates. The research domains below are method validation / roadmap, not run-today product analyses. Every research result cites a reference, declares a tolerance, reports its measured error, and carries a SHA-256 provenance hash.
PMSM operating-point torque
Available in the app as an engineering estimate — not the cross-checked validated reference (which is moving-band cogging). Use it as an operating-point indication, not a certified figure.
Cogging torque
Moving-band angular sweep. Three-tool agreement: cufem = FEMM = GetDP ≈ 0.048 Nm.
Iron-loss estimate
Available in the app as an estimate — a Steinmetz/region-based iron-loss estimate for a given steel grade. Not a certified core-loss figure and not a hysteresis/eddy mechanism split; a full industrial core-loss package is roadmap.
Transient & conjugate heat
Roadmap / research — not a shipped product analysis. 1-D / 2-D thermal paths with solid–fluid coupling validated as methods (Phases B, F).
Rotor centrifugal stress
Roadmap / research — not a shipped product analysis. 2-D linear elasticity + rotation body force validated as a method (Phases C, D).
Nonlinear B-H / saturation
Roadmap — not validated. Saturated (nonlinear B-H) operating points are under development; the validated workflow is linear-μ magnetostatics.
Benchmark-as-truth — verified milestones
No PASS without an independent reference. Selected cross-checks behind the roadmap above.
TEAM-30a & TEAM-7
Real GetDP models reproduced for the TEAM-30a slip-frequency magnetodynamic and TEAM-7 3-D a–v eddy-current benchmarks, each cross-checked code-vs-code against the reproduced GetDP model (third-party benchmark data not bundled).
Three-tool cogging agreement
A 3-solver cross-check (cufem / FEMM / GetDP) converged the cogging amplitude to ≈ 0.048 Nm and surfaced — then fixed — two real engine bugs.
Magnetic dipole, axisymmetric Aφ
A dedicated GPU axisymmetric solver matched the closed-form Jackson dipole field — a clean analytical anchor for the magnetics stack.
Validation card on every run
Every run ships a validation card that states how far the number was checked. One workflow is cross-checked against an external reference: moving-band cogging, against the open-source FEMM and GetDP solvers, with the measured error against a declared tolerance. The rest report validation_card.status = not_validated, and say so.
Open-tool retirements
Deferred items retired vs public references with open tools — GRI-Mech 3.0 chemistry + Lindstedt PAH soot (Cantera, vs the Xu–Faeth 1997 ethylene flame), full DFN battery cells (PyBaMM vs LG M50), the MHD shock tube + 2-D Hall-MHD GEM reconnection (Birn 2001) + electron-swarm (two-term Boltzmann vs Phelps–Pitchford) + two-fluid plasma (two-stream growth rate), TEAM-24 magnetics (NGSolve order-3 HCurl), KaHIP graph-partition quality, dynamic-Smagorinsky LES (vs Comte-Bellot–Corrsin 1971), a resolved Stefan bubble (Scriven 1959), and MPI inter-rank communication correctness (a real MPICH/mpi4py distributed CG, partition-invariant across 1/2/4 ranks with a load-bearing negative control). These retirements narrowed the deferred set; the phases they touch remain listed as maturing above until every item in them is closed.
What is still maturing — stated plainly
The deferred items below are real and named. We do not claim them as working.
Free-burning arc
The MHD shock tube, 2-D Hall-MHD reconnection, electron-swarm and two-fluid plasma solvers are retired; only the free-burning arc — needing the full 2-D Navier–Stokes + self-magnetic-field MHD with radiation — remains deferred as research.
Measured-data EM (TEAM-32)
The vector-hysteresis B-H solver is verified code-vs-code; matching the TEAM-32 measured hysteresis loops awaits the reference dataset, which was lost with its original host.
Real customer CAD end-to-end
STEP/mesh infrastructure exists; a real customer STEP solved end-to-end is not yet demonstrated in the product path.
Resolved boiling curve
Interface capture, CHF correlations and a resolved Stefan vapor bubble (Scriven 1959 growth law) are validated; the full resolved Nukiyama boiling curve — a research-grade DNS traverse — remains deferred.
Multi-GPU / HPC
Graph-partition quality and MPI inter-rank communication correctness are validated on one node; NCCL multi-GPU scaling, bandwidth and cloud burst remain hardware-gated (this host has one GPU).
Standards audit trail
IEC / ISO / IEEE / ASME certification artifacts are partially built.