
BISTRA
Detailed simulation of transient thermal effects in building enclosures

Features
- Transient thermal simulation of all shapes in 2D
- Geometrical input via BISCO format (steady-state variant)
- Temperature dependent material properties
- Detailed solar processor
- Graphic animations (AVI files) of time varying temperatures
- Software operational in English, French, German and Dutch

Application fields
- Transient analysis of thermal bridges / construction elements
- Glass fracture caused by solar radiation
- Fire engineering (according to Eurocodes)
- Floor heating (EN ISO 11855-2)
- Ground heat losses (EN ISO 13370) and frost insulation (EN ISO 13793)
- Phase change materials (PCM)
- Dynamic thermal analysis of heating / cooling
- Calculation of solar heat gains

Input and geometric modelling
- Same as in BISCO (also drawing and fill tools for bitmap editing)
- Additional input of material densities and specific heat values
- Thermal conductivities and specific heat values may be temperature dependent (e.g. useful in fire simulations)

Dynamic boundary conditions
- Boundary conditions are time dependent functions: constant, steps, periodic, reference climate, fire curve, user defined
- Preview (with zoom) of time functions and temperature functions (material properties)
- Improved simulation of (non-linear) radiation and convection by use of RADCON module

RADCON feature for BISTRA
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Detailed simulation of radiation based on view factors
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Extremely fast and stable calculation of non-linear radiation problems
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Convection based on (calculated) convective heat transfer coefficient
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Transparent materials for small cavities: conduction + radiation
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Validated according to EN ISO 10077-2:2017 (radiosity method)

Output
- Graphic animations (AVI files) of time varying temperatures
- Snapshots at any time step
- Tables and graphs of time varying temperatures and heat flows

Compatibility with other Physibel tools
- BISTRA can read BISCO data
- VOLTRA can read BISTRA data
- Same function definitions as in CAPSOL

Licence options
- BISTRA is available with subscription licences (stand-alone or floating)
- A subscription licence gives you access to the latest version of BISTRA, technical support and Physibel Knowledge Base.
- More information on the difference licence options can be found here
what's new in version 5?
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Specular reflection of direct solar radiation implemented.
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External weather data files in EPW or TMY3 format can be read (for dry bulb temperature and solar radiation data).
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Integration of EN ISO 6946 and EN 673 for air/gas layers and cavities.
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Click here for presentation with a complete overview of all new developments