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ANSS, Turbotech Team Up to Fuel a Hydrogen-Powered Future in Aviation

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Key Takeaways

  • ANSS simulation tools helped validate Turbotech's hydrogen-fueled turboprop under the BeautHyFuel project.
  • Turbotech used Ansys Fluent for high-fidelity modeling, cutting prototyping time
  • ANSS reported Q1 gains in subscriptions, maintenance, and services, with $1.63B in backlog

ANSYS, Inc.’s (ANSS - Free Report) advanced simulation tools have been leveraged by Turbotech to demonstrate the world’s first viable hydrogen-fueled turboprop engine successfully as part of the BeautHyFuel project. From drones to small passenger planes and VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles, this initiative is poised for far-reaching implications powered by Ansys simulation technology.

The BeautHyFuel project is a collaborative effort led by Turbotech and Elixir Aircraft in partnership with Safran, Air Liquide and Daher, and supported by the French Civil Aviation Authority.  The initiative aims to explore and commercialize hydrogen propulsion for light aircraft, with an emphasis on safety, feasibility and environmental sustainability.

Exploratory turbine designs often encounter challenges in safely and reliably using hydrogen, particularly in balancing power output, fuel efficiency, thermal loads and component durability. Turbotech addresses these limitations with a scalable design approach, utilizing Ansys simulation tools to engineer and validate a fuel-agnostic gas turbine. This facilitates a smoother and more efficient transition to hydrogen propulsion.

How ANSS’ Simulation Tools Ensure Precision

Simulation is instrumental in Turbotech’s product development. By using Ansys Fluent, the company was able to carry out high-fidelity combustion modeling that delivered deep insights into flame dynamics, pressure distribution and material behavior. Simulation allowed Turbotech to quickly identify and test the two best nozzle designs without building dozens of physical prototypes, saving time and cost.

After 30 hours of continuous hydrogen combustion, the tested nozzles displayed nearly identical structural integrity, reinforcing the engine’s resilience. The turbine also maintained low emissions levels, confirming its environmental viability. Powered by Ansys’ efficient solvers, Turbotech could conduct computationally intensive simulations on enhanced workstations, eliminating the need for large computing clusters that combustion modeling usually requires.

Ansys and Turbotech have shared a long-standing partnership since the latter’s early R&D phase. As a member of the Ansys Startup Program, Turbotech gained access to premium simulation tools and support while developing its novel regenerative turbine. The initial effort laid the foundation for a digital thread that efficiently integrates and manages data, ultimately supporting the adaptation of existing systems for hydrogen use.

Ansys plays a key role that goes beyond software. Its technical support team worked closely with Turbotech throughout each phase of development — from early design to final validation.

ANSS Dominates the World of High-End Design Simulation

Ansys has a strong foothold in the high-end design simulation software market, with its tools widely adopted by top-tier manufacturing companies. By enabling virtual prototyping, it empowers these firms to drastically reduce costs compared to traditional physical prototyping. The company’s robust and diverse product lineup across multiple domains continues to attract and retain customers. 

Per a report from Fortune Business Insights, the global simulation market is slated to expand from $15 billion in 2025 to $33.62 billion in 2032 at a CAGR of 12.5%.

As of March 31, 2025, Ansys reported deferred revenues and backlog totaling $1.63 billion, marking an 18.9% increase year over year. In first-quarter 2025, the company achieved 4% growth in subscription lease revenues, a 13.9% rise in maintenance revenues and a 22.5% increase in service revenues at constant currency.

The company’s collaborations with advanced technology suppliers, hardware vendors, specialized application developers and CAD, ECAD and PLM providers further propel its growth prospects. In April 2025, Ansys expanded its collaboration with TSMC and unveiled AI-assisted workflows for RF design migration and PICs, alongside certifications for its semiconductor solutions. This partnership enhances 3D-IC design optimization and accelerates market readiness for AI and HPC chip applications.

ANSS’ Zacks Rank & Stock Price Performance

Ansys currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have gained 1.3% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Computer – Software industry's growth of 2.4%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR - Free Report) , Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) and Ubiquiti Inc. (UI - Free Report) . JNPR presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while ANET and UI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Juniper is leveraging the 400-gig cycle to capture hyperscale switching opportunities inside the data center. The company is set to capitalize on the increasing demand for data center virtualization, cloud computing and mobile traffic packet/optical convergence. Juniper also introduced new features within the AI-driven enterprise portfolio that enable customers to simplify the rollout of their campus wired and wireless networks while bringing greater insight to network operators. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 4.88%.

Arista delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 11.82% and has a long-term growth expectation of 14.81%. Arista currently serves five verticals, namely cloud titans (customers that deploy more than 1 million servers, cloud specialty providers, service providers, financial services and the rest of the enterprise. It supplies products to a prestigious set of customers, including Fortune 500 global companies in markets such as cloud titans, enterprises, financials and specialty cloud service providers.

Ubiquiti’s effective management of its strong global network of more than 100 distributors and master resellers improved its visibility for future demand and inventory management techniques. In the last reported quarter, Ubiquiti delivered an earnings surprise of 33.3%. Its highly flexible global business model remains well-suited to adapt to the changing market dynamics to overcome challenges while maximizing growth.

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