Opinion ID: 211242
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: LD's CFD Analysis

Text: 32 LD contends that 47 Vaughan installations infringe the '414 patent. Since some installations are duplicates, there are 34 unique tank designs. Of these, Vaughan argues that there is insufficient evidence to prove that two contested claim elements are present in the accused tanks, namely substantial helical flow and rotation of the entire body. In addition to Vaughan's business records and its own CFD analysis, LD relies heavily on Lueptow's expert opinion. His opinion concludes that each of the 47 installments infringe by recreating the substantially helical flow path. LD supports Lueptow's conclusions with the following evidence in the record: (1) Vaughan's two CFD studies for the generic 50-foot and Merced tanks; (2) LD's prelitigation CFD study modeling the Merced tank; (3) observation of a tank in Argos, Indiana; and (4) Lueptow's own CFD analysis of nine tank configurations representative of various Vaughan installations. 33 Lueptow performed his own CFD analysis of the Vaughan systems using the same software Vaughan had used in its own CFD studies; however, he did not recreate each of the 47 tanks at issue in this case because CFDs are very time intensive. Instead, he modeled the flows in nine representative tanks with various tank sizes and nozzle configurations depending on different Vaughan designs. Lueptow based these models on the Vaughan Engineering Manual and Gillette's testimony. Gillette had testified that there was information missing in the record detailing some tank characteristics but that he nonetheless had sufficient information to summarize the tank characteristics for flow modeling. 34 Lueptow's CFD work resulted in 116 different graphical plots consisting of path-line and vector plots. The vector plots detailed the overall flow path and magnitude in the horizontal and vertical planes. The path-line plots estimated the path an individual particle travels within the tank. Lueptow concluded that the Vaughan systems were very robust and would produce the helical flow despite small changes to each tank. He opined that his representative systems and tanks allowed him to render an opinion on all 47 tanks. This opinion, based on the nine CFD models Lueptow created, the Vaughan data from Merced and a generic 50-foot tank, and LD's Merced Model, was that infringing helical and volume-filling flow is present in all 47 models. 35 During trial, Vaughan challenged Lueptow's analysis maintaining that the plots simulated conditions just mere seconds after pump startup and that this could not be sufficient evidence of helical and rotational flow during steady-state flow. Lueptow, however, testified that his models were sufficient to determine that helical and rotational flow existed despite the fact that only 40 to 50 iterations were performed.