Tips & Tricks

Butterfly Faces Meshing Tool in CFD-GEOM

In CFD-GEOM, a convenient meshing tool called "Butterfly Faces" allows the user to quickly and automatically create a structured mesh for circular topologies. The resulting mesh consists of 5 structured faces (4 sides and 1 core) inside a circle. Parameters are available to set the size of the core and the mesh density.

CFD-VIEW: Save Smaller mdl Files

While working with CFD-VIEW, the user has the option of saving an mdl file. This file stores all the entities created in CFD-VIEW, from the point the DTF file (or other data file) was imported, to their current state at the time of saving. The user can thus reopen this file anytime later to resume work.

Exporting STL Files From CFD-GEOM

A CFD simulation process starts from an accurate representation of the boundaries that usually originates directly from CAD systems. STL and IGES are two of the most common output formats used as a starting point for mesh generation. STL (StereoLithography) files represent 3D surface geometries using a triangular mesh allowing unambiguous transfer of files from one system to another.

Plotter Operations with CFD-VIEW

The Plotter operator in CFD-VIEW supports signal processing for Time History data. A previous user tip – Digital Signal Processing using CFD-VIEW – shows how time history date can be made available and how to perform a PSD on a periodic signal. The aim of this new user tip is to list all options supported by the Plotter Operator.

Wireframe Display in CFD-VisCART

Rotation, zoom, pan and other graphical operations require re-drawing of the model in the new position within the graphics window. When dealing with large models, these operations can slow down considerably due to the huge amount of graphical data that needs to be processed and re-drawn.

Getting Average Quantities in CFD-VIEW

Many times, post-processing results requires computing average quantities of variables over a surface or volume. CFD-VIEW makes it easy with three calculator functions under the ‘Miscellaneous’ function category, as shown in Figure 1.

Using Levels in CFD-GEOM

Handling large models in CFD-GEOM is quite easy, but often there are thousands of entities, making it hard to sort out particular entities among them all. For cases like these, a visual grouping mechanism in CFD-GEOM makes viewing such models very efficient. Levels in CFD-GEOM are used as a visual grouping tool, allowing you to Show/Hide certain parts of your model easily and quickly

Hybrid Meshing in CFD-GEOM

Hybrid meshes can help in optimizing grids in complex geometries allowing for structured meshes in one part of a geometry, while using unstructured grids in more complex regions. This tip will show you how to create a simple hybrid (structured/tetrahedral) mesh system in CFD-GEOM, as shown in Figure 1.

Creating Multiple Blocks from a Single Mouse Click

Computational Fluid Dynamics initiated in structured grid context for smooth and orthogonal structured grid on relatively simple geometries. Today, CFD has evolved encompass multi block and overlapping structured grid techniques for complex geometries, along with other mesh types such as tetrahedrals, polyhedrals, and prisms.

Visual Display of Bad Cells in CFD-VisCART

Most models have certain parts or regions where the grid density needs to be higher than other areas to accommodate for steep curvatures, sharply changing topology, etc.