Icemcfd Tips&Tricks2010

ICEM CFD
Tips and Tricks

2010
Simon
Pereira
2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.
11
ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary
Guiding principles of Workbench
CAD Model
Workbench
Model
Parametric; update in the

CAD, DM or Spaceclaim
This image cannot currently be display ed.
Persistent; meshing
keeps up with model
changes

Highly-automated
Physics aware
intelligent defaults
Context sensitive
meshing (prism,
contact, etc.)
Automatic Contact
(FEA),
Non-conformal
interfaces (CFD), etc.
Automated Meshing
Apply loads on geometry

Go straight to solution!

Hex-Dominant
Flexibility:
Breadth of mesh
methods/controls
Depth of
basic/advanced tools
Tet
Swept
Free Mesh Type = Tetra
Free Mesh Type = Hexa Dominant
Free Mesh Type = Hexa Core

ANSYS Meshing
Workbench Integrated
Meshing
Supports instances
Sold
ANSYS MAPDL
CFX-Mesh
as part of integrated solver

solution
Can Add additional dedicated
seats
Combine
mesh
methods
CFD with
program
controlled
inflation
The Future of Meshing

Combination
GAMBIT
of best in class
technologies and concepts
Integrated in a user friendly
simulation environment
For all Physics (CFD, FEA, etc.)
ICEM CFD
Workbench Guiding Principles

Parametric
TGrid
and Persistent
Highly Automated, Physics Aware
Flexible Controls
Adaptive Architecture
FEA
ANSYS TGrid Extends ANSYS Meshing

Capabilities With Power To:
Mesh from
Advanced
Cartesian Hexa
Core and Inflation
and/or Mesh
Poor or complex data
Extended Functionality
Facets
Efficiently Mesh large/

complex models
Complex
Geometry
Greater
than 20 million cells

Extended mesh controls
Advanced Mesh options
Wrap any
Complex
Geometry
Intelligent
automated Prism
HexCore to far-field planes
Wrapper technology
GoCart technology
Extended mesh diagnostics

Interactive Mesh Editing
Remeshing,
etc.
Cavity
Re-meshing
6
Test
drive
GoCart
now!
ANSYS ICEM CFD Extends ANSYS

Meshing Capabilities With Power To:
Efficiently Mesh large/complex models

Greater than 20 million cells
Extended mesh controls
Structured
Hexa mesh
Hexa mesh
Structured or Unstructured
Advanced blocking control
Extended mesh diagnostics
Advanced Interactive Mesh Editing
Interactive
Mesh
Editing
Output to a wide variety of solver formats

CFD, FEA, neutral formats
7
Extended Functionality
>250
Million
Cells
Mesh from
Dirty CAD, Third Party Geometry, etc.
Faceted Data, Scan Data, STL
Combinations of CAD, Facets & Mesh
ICEM CFD Tips and

Tricks 12.1
Simon Pereira
88
Agenda
Tips and Tricks
General, Tetra/Prism
Hexa
Workbench Readers
Workbench readers are available for
use in ICEM CFD
Use the same license keys as the ICEM
CFD CAD interfaces
Available for CATIA, SolidWorks, UG,
Pro/E, Inventor, OneSpace, SolidEdge,
Bladegen, SpaceClaim, JTOpen, etc.
*.sat, *.x_t, *.dsdb, *.stp, *.step, *.igs,
*.CATPart, *.ps, *.prt, *.dwg, *.sldprt, *.asm,
*.agdb, *.model, *.par, *.scdoc, etc.)
Also read Workbench formats such as

Design Modeler, Simulation, etc.
*.dsdb, *.agdb
Read in Mesh and/or Geometry!

10
Import geometry using

Workbench Readers
You can import Geometry from Workbench Design
Modeler
Only active bodies are imported (Bone Marrow was not
active)
Named selections are imported
Create Subset from Named Selection

2
Named Selections can be setup in DM, Simulation or

CAD packages such as UG, Pro/E or SolidWorks
SpaceClaim too!
Option to filter by Named Selection Prefixes
Accept the Defaults and apply
3
11
Often easier to do CAD creation,

simplification or repair in Workbench
Design modeler and transfer the
data to ICEM CFD
Named Selections as Subsets
Each Body comes in as a Part

The named Selections can appear as Geometry Subsets
These can be used to control display or selection
1 These can be turned into Parts
Make sure all the Subsets are active

Right Click on Subsets and choose Create Part
The new parts can be displayed
12
Repair Geometry
Build Topology establishes connectivity
Hole detection
helpful for flood fill
But not required for patch independent methods
MultiZone
Patch Dependent Meshing
Etc.
Can cause trouble, use carefully
Single curve cleanup allows you to use two
different tolerances,
Small size for the majority so you dont
collapse good features
Larger size for stubborn gaps
13
Repair Geometry
Once Diagnostic Topology is built options such as Flood
fill and feature detection become available
14
Repair Geometry
Detection tools have obvious use
for extracting, selecting and even
removing features
Hole tool has advanced options to
remove holes or set sizes for patch
based surface meshing
Fillet tool is usefull for putting fillets in
a different subset or part so you can
apply a different meshing method
But what about nasty models where Build topology cant

help or causes more trouble then it is worth?
15
Repair Geometry (w/o Build Topo)

The Check Geometry option does *surface based* feature
detection (not topology based)
If you have a scary model, such as a large complex cast
engine block,
dont build topology, it may take too long or cause trouble.
delete all the curves and points
extract all the flat items to a new part
Low curvature
Extract points and curves from the flat parts

Complete parameter setup and proceed to Octree tetra
Area and
Normal can
help filter
precisely
16
Hotkeys
Hotkeys can make you much more efficient
Search the Help to get hotkey maps
There is consistency to
the hotkeys
For instance s is for
split.
On the geometry
panel, it is split
curve.
Hotkeys are Tab specific
On the Mesh Edit

Panel, it is for Split
Edge
Control-hotkey is a
special ability, such as
control-s for split
w/propagate
Shift-hokey is an alternate
? to list hotkeys
17
Reminder about Octree Sizes

With Octree, it is important to understand mesh size
Many long time users waste time setting wrong sizes
Sizes carefully set to 0.75, 0.5 and some 0.3
Max deviation set to 0.05 and Min size set to 0.45
The 0.75 and 0.5 both round down

to 0.5.
The smaller 0.3 would round down to
0.25, but since it is sill much larger
than the small detail it is placed on,
why no just set the entire part to 0.5
The Min Size rounds down to 0.25
Since this is the smallest size set, all
other sizes are related to this size
Local Size = (Smallest Size)*2n for
n=0 to
18
Density regions
A density region sets the Max local size within the volume
Use with Geometry Translation tool to copy/translate/rotate
Use line and point densities when advantageous
Use Width on surfaces to refine near the wall
19
Working with Density regions

More here about various density types, show
how to create a cone and a torus.
20
Edge Criterion & Thin Cuts

Edge Criterion
Determines if a node projects to surface or the edge is
split
Range from 0 to 1
0.2 ok for most cases.
To increase nodes moving to fit to geometry, increase

this criterion
Ideal for planned tet to hex conversion
To increase refinement near entities, reduce this
Reduces non manifold verts in trailing edges
Edge Criterion = 0.2
Handy when thin cuts fail

or are difficult to setup
21
Edge Criterion = 0.01
Edge Criterion & Thin Cuts

Define Thin cuts
Tool for resolving gaps based on pairs
of parts.
It is made necessary by the octree
process
One way to avoid the problem is to use
patch based meshing
Thin cuts have limits

If two surfaces approach asymptotically,
this may eventually break down
If the separation rule of thin cuts is
violated at any point, all thin cuts are
deactivated
If the face of a tetra element
has a surface/line node on
part A then it may not
have a surface/line node in
part B
22
A
c
B
Note; If the surfaces of the

two parts, A and B, meet,
then the contact curve
must be in a third part, c, or
the thin cut will fail.
Ignore Wall Thickness

You dont always want thin gaps refined
FEA higher Aspect Ratio
CFD ignore wall thickness
FEA
CFD
Off
On
23
Accuracy
The mesh projection module in
ICEM CFD facets b-spline
surfaces and curves
Tri tolerance determines the
degree of facetization, accuracy
Facetized
behind the
scenes
Tri tolerance = 0.1

24
Accuracy
Lower tri tolerance = more precise curvature
Greater accuracy
Slower Rendering
Increase tri tolerance to work on large models, but put it
back at the default when computing the mesh
Tri tolerance =0.1
Tri tolerance =0.01
Tri tolerance =0.001
(default)
25
Accuracy
Important for High
resolution NavierStokes grids with very
fine near wall spacing
(1e-6)
For greater accuracy without

increasing tri-tolerance, there
is a hexa option to project
directly to B-Splines (no
facetization)
26
Surface Mesh Type
Surface based meshing controls:

Mesh Type
Mesh Method
Transitions between mesh methods and
types are handled automatically
Set different mesh methods

or types for each surface?
Mapped/paved bosses,
patch independent tetra
everywhere else?
27
ANSYS ICEM CFD Development
Surface based meshing controls:

Use Patch Independent on surfaces with poor connectivity.
Common edges are meshed with Octree method.
This method can be used

to pave fillets, thin
regions, etc.
Note; For High aspect ratio
elements along wings, etc.
We recommend the Hexa
merge method
Paved with quads or tris on

more important regions,
fillets, bosses, etc.
28
Patch Independent Surface Meshing

Need a surface mesh for rough geometry?
Patch Independent uses Octree approach for all
the Octree advantages
Huge time saver
29
Hexa for Surface meshing

It is a little more work, but for stamped parts, Hexa
may be well worth while.
Controlled wrapping
Just use Remesh to
fix any difficult
areas
30
Complex Geometry
Often we have complex geometry, but the details
are not critical to our analysis.
Try shrinkwrap.
Essentially it is a Cartesian based surface mesher
ICEM CFD
Shrinkwrap is
good for
capturing rough
blockage quickly
TGrid
Shrinkwrap is
good for
capturing details
more precisely
(more like ICEM
Octree Tetra)
31
Bottom Up Tetra methods

Use these methods in conjunction with the other ICEM
CFD methods
top down or patch independent tetra
Patch based surface meshing
Each method has its own specific requirements/Benefits
All require a closed outer volume (no single edges).
Run all the checks on the surface mesh
Internal single edges are ok (baffles)
No sudden changes either along a surface or across a

gap
use Laplace smooth to prep the surface
Advancing Front mesher only works with all Tris
32
Bottom up Tetra methods

Advancing Front Mesh ignores Volume density control, but is
affected by surface density
Delaunay respects Volume control, but not Surface Width control
Advancing front
Delaunay
is
grows
more slowly
generally
coarser,
from the walls,
but
but
it does
does
not respect
density
densityregions
regions
33
ICEM Tetra Meshing

Delaunay
Octree
Expansion Ratio=1.2
Mix and Match

with Hexa Core or
Prism
Advancing Front
34
TGrid Tetra
TGrid Tetra was also added to
ICEM CFD at V11.
At R12, we also include the
new TGrid AF algorithm which
is advancing front based
(instead of skewness based)
It actually generates more
quickly that the previous
scheme
Greater memory requirements
than Standard Delaunay
35
Tet2Hex
Tet2Hex (12 to 1) works with Octree tetra mesh and
converts it back to cartesian
Transitions and smoothed mesh are not easily converted
Turn off smoothing
Increasing Edge Criterion can help somewhat
36
R12 Improvement
Orient Octree by LCS
Tet to Hex by LCS
Oriented Octree Tetra more

easily converts to oriented
ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa
hybrid mesh
37
Mesh Editing with Subsets

Subsets are non exclusive groups that you
can use to work with geometry and Mesh
Experts use Subsets for mesh editing
Display mesh Quality
Use Histogram to create subsets of the worst elements

Add layers to subsets to get a better view
Repair a few of the worst elements and stuck elements
Run smoother
Check Mesh
For many of the checks a Subset is the best option
Add layers to the subset
Repair issues
Right click on subsets to add a layer or

remove elements or choose modify for more
options, such as adding volume elements.
38
Hexa FarField
Hybridize your models
tunnel is usually simple and doesnt change from run to run
Use hexa for max efficiency
Detailed region may be complex in shape

Use Tetra/Prism for max ease of mesh generation
Merge together
Convert Tetra
to Hexa
Run Prism thru Both
39
Hexa Far Field
Some Models have

regions of complexity
and regions where Hexa
would be more
appropriate and
relatively easy to apply
40
Putting it all togther
41
Hexa Wings/Airfoils
Here it is in reverse
Hexa mesh inside the airfoils, Tetra mesh outside.
Then merge mesh together
Delete Hexas, Pyramids and Tetras, grow prisms
from quads and tris, then generate tetras again.
42
Underhood
In this case, a hexa region around the cooling
system has been merged into the rest of this
under hood model (done with octree tetra)
43
Key Rules for a successful Merge

Perimeter must match
Merged surface parts must share a perimeter 100%
Both meshes must be projected to this perimeter
Curves in tetra, curves plus edge associations in hexa
Can not simply merge the bottom of the cylinder with the
top of the box. They do not share a perimeter.
Must first intersect them to subdivide the top of the box.
Then mesh. Then merge the circle on the top of the box
with the bottom of the cylinder
Check for green nodes/edges around perimeter
Size diff between Hexa/tetras will reduce quality.

Try to stay within 3 to 1 either way;
0.7 (hexa) to 1 (tetra) is best.
44
1 to 1 or
Slide about Merging

More to come
45
Hexa Tunnels
For External Aero,
tunnel is usually simple geometrically and doesnt change from run to
run
Use hexa for max efficeincy
Vehicle changes frequently and can be complex in shape

Use Tetra for max ease of mesh generation
Merge together
Tetra Vehicle
Hexa Tunnel
46
Hexa Tunnels
For External Aero,
Merge together
Also hybridize the Tetra
portion with Tet to hex
Merge Hexa and Tetra
47
Flexible Hybrid Mesh

MultiZone Meshing
Automatic hybrid blocking
consisting of Unstructured, Swept
and Structured Blocks to handle
anisotropic meshing of wings etc.
Unstructured blocks can be filled
with tetra, hexa core or hex dominant
mesh
O-grid boundary layers
control mesh at the block level
Flexible blocking structure makes it
the ultimate flexible hybrid mesh
48
Flexible Hybrid Mesh

MultiZone Meshing
49
MultiZone Process
Geometry Import & Repair
Mesh Params
Bottom Up
(automatic patch
based)
Top Down (Manual

patch Independent)
Interactively modify
surface blocking and
adjust edge params
More
interactive
adjustment
2D to 3D Fill w
Boundary layers
Generate Mesh
Output to
Solver
Adjust
Geometry
Check Mesh
50
Sometimes a Simple shape is

complicated by unnecessary
patches.
Use Top Down blocking instead
It will save time in the long run
Patchwork wing
Manual
component
approach may be
much cleaner,
then sew into
rest of blocking
Automatic
Bottom up
approach may
give a very
complex blocking
51
MultiZone Sweep Demo

Sweep with multiple sources and targets
52
MultiZone Demo
Tidal Turbine
53
Prism Preparation
Start with good tetra or tri-surface mesh
It may be difficult to smooth prism after it is generated, it is relatively easy to improve the
surface mesh before hand
Check aspect ratios / quality
Check and fix all diagnostics
Single/multiple edges, Non-manifold vertices, Duplicate elements
Laplace smooth
often better without tetra, then fill w/ Delaunay after smooth
Delaunay mesh will have fewer nodes and smoother transitions; easier
for prism
Visually scan the surface mesh
Look for kinks or sharp tent-like structures in the mesh
Diagnostics may not reveal all surface discrepancies
Make sure part associations are correct
Look for a few elements in one part scattered among another part
Extruding from a few isolated elements and none of their neighbors will likely crash
Modify part assignments of offending elements
54
Mesh Smoothing
Use the Laplacian Smoother
Laplacian smoother
p
rp= Avg (ri)

2
1
Moves the point towards an ideal location defined as
the average of the surrounding nodes
Has the effect of averaging the surface mesh transitions and
triangles become more equilateral
Better for bottom up fill and prism
55
Prism Settings
Leave initial height as 0
This causes the initial height to float in order to
reduce the volume change between the last prism
and adjacent tetra.
56
Pyramids due to intersection

If the height is floating, you can
refine the mesh to control the prism
height and prevent intersection
from being resolved with pyramids
Before refinement, prism

layers intersected and
pyramids were used
after refinement there is lots
of clearance (no pyramids)
Auto reduction (discussed

later) can also prevent
collision without pyramids
57
Prism Settings
Min Prism quality = 0.000001
Default is 0.01; If you set this closer
to zero, prism will permit lower
quality prisms without resorting to
pyramids.
Solver preference
If Min Prism Quality is too high, it

may adjust Max Prism angle down to
keep quality up, this will result in
pyramids near sharp trailing edges.
Common mistake
58
Prism Settings
Max Prism Angle keeps the prism layers connected
around tight bends.
Set this at 180 to prevent pyramids
Max Prism Angle = 140
59
Max Prism Angle = 180
Prism Settings
Advanced prism params, Auto Reduction
Proximity can cause prism to stop and give pyramids
instead.
This option causes the prisms to squeeze down
This is fixed with redistribute prisms
Pyramids
Redistributed
Reduced
(Squished) and
prisms
No Pyramids
60
Redistribute Prism
Redistribute prism improvements at R12
Mesh more quickly with fewer layers, then split and
redistribute prisms for a fixed initial height or ratio.
The new distribution is calculated column by column
Works on partial layers, etc.
61
Smooth Prism
Prism is difficult to smooth which is why we try to
start with as good a surface mesh as possible.
Once the mesh is done, we recommend smoothing
without the prisms (Penta_6). Set them to frozen.
This will only improve the tetra mesh. Do this until
you dont see any further improvements.
Turning on the allow refinement option may help also, but
use judiciously or you may add many new elements.
If you want to smooth some more turn on the

smooth for the Penta_6 elements, set the up to
Value very low (< 0.05) so that most of the prism
mesh is left alone.
I also recommend saving before smoothing prisms in
case you dont like the result.
In ICEM CFD prism quality is judged more harshly

than TGrid and other meshers.
0.01 or even 0.0001 is ok depending on your solver
62
Inflation from Quads
You can Inflate from quads.

Prism will not move pyramids (yet) so you
must delete the volume mesh first, or just start
with a surface mesh.
Grow Prism without
a volume mesh
Tetra mesh using
the Delaunay
mesher
It will fill the void
without damaging
the inflation layers
63
Use Existing Quad Layers

You can grow Prism along quads.
Need to turn on Prism advanced
option for Use Existing Quad
Layers
Tricky to set up
64
Use Existing Quad Layers

Generate Hexa portion and tetra portion, Merge
This is to connect the surface tris with the quads
Delete all the hexas, keep only the envelope around the
tetra region, also delete the tetras
It will not align if there are Hexas behind the quads
It will not inflate along Pyramids
Be careful not to smooth QUAD faces so we can merge with Hexas
again later
We hope to remove these tricky requirements at R13
Setup prism params to ~match quad layers.

Run Prism without volume mesh
Fill remaining volume with Delaunay tetra
Load previous Hexa portion and Merge nodes with a
small tolerance.
65
Setting Prism Parameters on

Curves
Mesh > Curve Mesh Setup
You can get Prism to transition linearly across
a surface by not setting a height on the
surface, but instead set a different height on
each curve on the opposite sides of the prism
surface
Height ratio and Num. of layers have no affect
on prism for curve settings
Height =
0.01
Height = 0 on
surface
66
Height = 0.003
Prism Transition
You can get Prism to transition linearly by not
setting a height on the wall, but instead set a
different height on each curve on the
opposite edges of the prism surface
Height =
0.01
Height = 0 on
surface
Height = 0.003
67
High Aspect Ratio mesh

Several ways
Stretch and squish works if the high aspect ratio is
in one direction only
Squish geometry, mesh with uniform mesh and then
stretch (scale in one direction) the mesh to get high
aspect ratio.
Surface mesh with high aspect ratio quads, grow

prisms and bottom up tetra Good for some
external aero applications
MultiZone, use hexa edge params to adjust mesh
aspect ratio. Works on certain cases if the
geometry is good quality.
68
Squish and Stretch

Stretch and squish
works if the high
aspect ratio is in one
direction only
Octree generates
Uniform tetras
Squish geometry (in

one or two directions)
mesh with uniform
mesh
then stretch (scale
back) the mesh to get
high aspect ratio.
Which can then

be stretched out
69
High Aspect ratio Tris

Best made by subdividing mapped quads
Start with the Hexa merge method (discussed later)
tri algorithms do not produce these well
OCTREE Tetra produces uniform Tris (not high aspect ratio)
On convex features,
Aspect ratio is less
severe as Prism
radiates tris outward
Fill volume with

bottom up tetra
method
70
Volume Change
With bottom up tetra methods, high
aspect ratio tris, quads or prisms
result in adjacent high aspect ratio
tetras or pyramids.
However the Elements between and
adjacent to those high aspect ratio
elements may have a lower aspect
ratio and therefore much more
volume.
TGrid Pyramids may be better
(hope to improve for R12)
71
Prism
Prism can run from Quads or Tris
But not from pyramids (yet), so run prism before tetra if starting with a quad mesh
You can see that as the prism radiates outward, the element length stays the
same, but the width increases, which reduces the aspect ratio on convex surfaces
72
MultiZone
Semi-automatic blocking (discussed later)
Easy control of distribution, shape, etc. of the zones
Zones can be structured, swept or unstructured
73
MultiZone
Change the shape of mesh by simply contouring
the ZONE edges.
74
Smoothing
Smoothing can adjust the angle or volume ratio of
elements
75
Hexa Blocking in simple steps

Once you decide on the blocking topology you want (the hardest part),
generating the Hexa blocking is just a series of the same steps
Split blocks (could be an Ogrid split) to get the topology you want.
Delete blocks that are not part of your topology
Associate the blocks with the geometry
Move the vertices into place so they fit to the geometry and blocks are good
quality
Adjust edge params for quality and transition
There is a lot of iteration, but generally, it pays to go as far as you can with
each split before things go to complicated
Delete unneded blocks as soon as you can to reduce complexity
Associated the blocking as soon as an edge can be matched with a curve (or
chain of curves) so you will have less work to do after you make further splits.
Move the verts into place while you only have a few splits so future splits will
already be aligned.
Get as much done before you add a boundary OGrid so you wont have to
move OGrid verts later.
76
OGrids
2 main uses for OGRID
Capture Topology:
OGrid can be used to get the basic blocking shape laid out. Is
your basic topology an OGrid or a Cgrid? Do you have
features within your model (such as drilled holes) that would
best be captured with an Ogrid?
Use these as early in the blocking process as possible
Boundary layer:
OGrid used to aling mesh with the walls. Solves problem of
Hexas mapped to a curve and helps align the besh for
boundary layer analysis.
Best if used late in the blocking process after all other steps
are complete.
77
O-Grid Definition
An O-grid is a series of blocks created in one step which arranges grid lines
into an O shape or a wrapping nature
3 basic types created through the same operation all referred to as O-grids
O-grid
C-grid (half O-grid)
O-grid
C-grid
L-grid
L-grid (quarter O-grid)
Reduce skew where a block corner must lie on a continuous curve/surface

Cylinders
Complex geometries
Improves efficiency of node clustering near walls for CFD applications
No O-grid
(H-grid)
O-grid
78
Creating an O-Grid
Select blocks for O-grid
Can select by visible, part, around face, around
edge, around vertex, 2 corner method, or individual
selection
5 blocks in 2D
7 blocks in 3D
Select specific blocks

or around face, edge,
or vertex
Note: Internal block has all internal (blue) edges and vertices
79
O-Grid-Adding Faces
Adding faces during O-grid creation
O-grid passes through the selected block faces
In general, add faces on the flat parts
Adding a face actually adds blocks on both sides of the face
O-grid passes
through this face
Half O-grid
(C-grid)
Examples of uses
Pipe ends
Symmetry planes
Complex
geometries
O-grid passes
through this face
80
Adding Multiple Faces

Any number of faces can be added around a selected block
If all the faces are added around a block, the result is no change
since the O-grid passes through all the faces
Quarter O-grid
(L-grid)
Quarter O-grids
can be used to
block triangular
shapes
Seen as a Cgrid in one
direction and
an L-grid in
another
direction
81
O-Grid-Around Blocks
Select Around block(s) to create the O-grid around the
selected blocks
Useful for creating wrap-around grid around a solid object
Examples
Opposite order of creation from block around/O-grid inside
Flow over a cylinder
Boundary layer resolution around an airplane or car body
82
Scaling an O-Grid
O-grids can be re-sized after or during creation
By default the O-grid size is set to minimize block
distortion
You are actually scaling all parallel O-grid (radial) edges
to the selected edge
The selected edge is given a factor of 1
Numbers < 1 will shrink the edge and thus create a
larger inner block
Selected edge
factor = 1
83
Factor = 0.3
Why O-Grid?
Before O-grid
This mesh can be improved by using an O-grid

An example of bad mesh in the block corners
84
Right mouse click on the histogram to

access options like show, replot, or
done
Multiple Ways of Blocking the

Same Geometry
Creating a fork by Merge vertices
Splits
#1
#2
Delete
block
#3
#4
85
Merge
vertices
#5
Or
Collapse
Block
Multiple Ways of Blocking the Same

Geometry
Creating a fork by Extrude faces
#3
#2
#1
Extrude 1
Extrude 2
#5
#4
86
Associate
Multiple Ways of Blocking the Same

Geometry
Creating a fork with Top-down methods
split
Two
quarter
O-grids
Delete
blocks
Move
vertices
One
quarter
O-grid
One
quarter
O-grid
87
Topology
What is common in
these?
Their block topology
88
Topology
All these parts have the same
basic topology
This helical blocking

is quickly created
with extrude along
curve
Blocking strategy for all pipes are

similar.
Single block with o-grid
The only difference is the number of
splits added to help control the
blocking
Create the one block, then split, and
add O-grid last
splits
Single block
with o-grid
Single block with 5

splits and o-grid
89
Single block with

multiple splits and ogrid
Basic Block Structures
Bad
quality
Bad
quality
Bad
quality
Mesh
inside
fillet
O-grid necessary
O-grid necessary
O-grid
necessary
O-grid is
required unless
approximating
a corner using
large mesh size
Acceptable
quality
90
O-grid

However, an
O-grid makes
normal grid
lines for
boundary
layer
resolution
Quality is
good without
an O-grid
Mesh
outside
fillet
Mesh
inside and
outside
fillet.
Combine
previous
examples
This method needs large mesh size
This is not
preferable
because
quality is
lower
Vertex at
end of fillet
Delete
center
block
Mesh only
in ring
There should be
one vertex at the
center of every
approximate 90
degree bend
Mesh in
both
Split any
radial
edge
91
Split
Split
Mesh
inside
tube
Tubes are
one-block
topologies
Splits can
be added
for more
control
O-grids can
make this work
although it is not
the preferred
topology
Mesh
inside
and
outside
tube
Many
students
mistakenly
just split at
geometry
features
Delete
blocks
Bad
quality
Bad
angle
92

We must use the
straight-through split
strategy as in the
previous example for
grid lines to flow with
the inner tube
Bad
angle
Add O-grid for

meshing inside
curvature
Delete
block
Blocks
selected
for
creating
O-grid
2 splits
Method 1
Quarter O-grid
Split for
better
blocking
control
These may also be called wedge blocks.

They can be used to effectively terminate mesh
from continuing through the geometry
Move
vertices
There are multiple methods

of producing the Y-block
structure
93

Move
vertices
split
Create
block
Method 2
Method 3
Inside
H-grid
( bottomup)
Collapse
block
Move
vertices
Delete blocks
permanently
Method 4
Inside
H-grid (topdown)
Method 5
Create
block
function
(quarter Ogrid)
2 splits
Create
block
1st
quarter
O-grid
2nd
quarter
O-grid
Move
vertices
5
2
4
6
94

Add
quarter
O-grid
Move
vertices
Add O-grid
for round
Since the round is

closer to 180
degrees than 90
degrees, having two
block corners may
be better
Add O-grid
for round
Add O-grid
A Y-block
structure
can also be
used for a
circle
Move
vertices
Useful for filling

the center of
geometry that is
periodic in
multiples of 3
95

split
Delete blocks
permanently
Merge
vertices
Move
vertices
Create
blocks
Add more
splits for
control
Method 1
Method 2
Splits for
more
control
Move
vertices
O-grid
Delete
block
96

First
block the
outside
Thin
thicknesses
are easily done
with an O-grid
Then put an
O-grid inside
all blocks
(add
appropriate
faces)
Delete
the inside
blocks
Resulting blocks
Scan
plane
Vertex moved slightly off

intersection for better angles
Method 1
Method 2
97

Method 3
Using Yblocks
Half O-grid
O-grid
Delete
blocks
In 3D model, interpolate
face association
Method 4
Leaving
small
ledge
Delete edge
association
Merge
vertices
Method 5
Degenerate
blocks
Method 6
Convert
block
Start from
method 4
above
Face
interpolation
not necessary
when merging
vertices
Convert
block to free
for 2D or
swept for 3D
Start from
method 5
above
98
Quad
dominant
All
tri

O-grid
Filleted wings are easily

done with a simple
block.
The block can be made
larger than the wing and
an O-grid made inside,
or the block can be on
the wing and the O-grid
made around.
Edge splits to shape edges

Filleted wings are easily done with
a block on the wing then add an
O-grid around
Mesh region beyond the

blade-tip is bad quality
Knife-edge wings pose a problem if you collapse.

The collapse behind the wing must propagate through the
blocking, or invalid elements result in a corner.
This means mesh beyond the blade tip will have the same mesh pattern as on
the blade tip, as if the blade were meshed inside.
99
Very low angles and unnecessary mesh density

result from a simple collapse
O-grid
with
split
Collapse
block
Collapse
blocks
3 splits
Delete blocks
permanently
Move
vertices
Create 4 blocks
100

A knife-edge blade can also be handled
by collapsing all around the blade if the
complicated strategy of the previous
example is not wanted.
101
Variety of Airfoils
How To
High or low curvature, etc.
May require different blocking strategy (Topology)
Requires some robust scripting
102
Variety of Airfoils
How To
Trailing edge?
Blunt
Deal
with size transitions
Sharp
Collapse
trailing edge block
103
Variety of FarFields
How To
Far Fields
Square, round, half circle, Wedge etc.
HGrid, OGrid, CGrid, YGrid, etc.
Periodic?
Note: the FF scale has

be dramatically
reduced for illustration
104
How To
Periodic?
Setup
in Global Params
apply under Edit Block =>
Make Verts Periodic
105
How To
Periodic?
Around
Blades or Between Blades

Between Blades if NO Tip Gap
Channel between blades?

Multi-Block
with OGrid
HGrid converted to a single output block
106
Shifted Periodic
Periodic
High curvature or blade angle?
Try Shifted periodic
No Tip Gap makes it much easier

Edges
dont need to cross the airfoil

More careful with a tip gap
107
Orthogonality Smoother
Improves volume transition
Equalizes angles between elements
Can affect just the mesh or adjust
blocking
Saves time otherwise spent on

adjusting edge parameters
Can be used to set orthogonal initial
height
Works on many mesh types
Structured Multi-block Hexa

Unstructured Hexa
hexa dominant
BF-Cart
Hybrid mesh
Equalizes angles, smoothes

volume transitions, makes the
mesh orthogonal
108
Orthogonality Smoother
Users run into trouble because not
all the mesh is supposed to be
orthogonal
Release orthogonality
Also can use this to set initial
height off the wall
Note: this may reduce min quality
Its goal is to improve transitions
and the overall quality of the mesh
109
Extended Meshing:
ICEM CFD Interactive
Using ICEM CFD Interactive w/replay control, user can block

out a mesh and commit it back to Meshing
Options under
MultiZone Method
Change model parameters, and run ICEM CFD in
batch to update parameter change
Yes: Writes ICEM CFD Files for use

in ICEM CFD
Interactive: Runs interactive
ICEM CFD
Batch: Runs ICEM CFD in Batch
110
BF-Cart
Works well for models without
sharp edges
111
BF-Cart Improvements
Stretched Cartesian
Aspect ratio or Hexa Blocking file based
Biasing
Automatic Material Flood-fill
Focus the mesh

refinement and
smoothly transition
Mesh multiple
regions at once with
connected mesh
Material
Flood fill
112
Cartesian Mesh
Do you have complex aerospace geometry, early
design phase
Consider Cart3D
Inviscid flow Analysis package
Cartesian Mesh based
Developed at NASA Ames
Research center
Integrated into ANSYS ICEM
CFD (6dof)
Extensively validated in
subsonic and low supersonic
regimes
After you narrow down your design, finalize
with more labor intensive /accurate body fitting
mesh and solve in ANSYS CFD.
113
Self Training
Resources
114
114
Self Training Resources
ICEM CFD has many options.

Flexibility, Power
Harder to learn on your
own
Ideally, you can get training
from an instructor, but not
everyone has this option.
Self training resources include
Built in tutorials and Help
Programmers Guide
115
Self Training Resources

Web resources include
The Demo Room
www.ansys.com/demoroom
The Customer Portal
Tech Support
1 800 937 3321
Website
www.youtube/ansysinc/
www.cfd-online.com
116
Thankyou
Thank you
Dont forget to contact support for assistance
or advanced suggestions
117

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ICEM CFD

Tips and Tricks

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Guiding principles of Workbench

Parametric; update in the

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Guiding principles of Workbench

Apply loads on geometry

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Guiding principles of Workbench

Free Mesh Type = Tetra

Free Mesh Type = Hexa Dominant

Free Mesh Type = Hexa Core

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

as part of integrated solver

The Future of Meshing

Workbench Guiding Principles

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

ANSYS TGrid Extends ANSYS Meshing

Efficiently Mesh large/

than 20 million cells

Advanced Mesh options

Extended mesh diagnostics

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS ICEM CFD Extends ANSYS

Efficiently Mesh large/complex models

Output to a wide variety of solver formats

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

ICEM CFD Tips and

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Also read Workbench formats such as

Read in Mesh and/or Geometry!

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Import geometry using

Create Subset from Named Selection

Named Selections can be setup in DM, Simulation or

Accept the Defaults and apply

Often easier to do CAD creation,

Named Selections as Subsets

Each Body comes in as a Part

Make sure all the Subsets are active

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

But what about nasty models where Build topology cant

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Repair Geometry (w/o Build Topo)

Extract points and curves from the flat parts

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Hotkeys are Tab specific

On the Mesh Edit

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Reminder about Octree Sizes

The 0.75 and 0.5 both round down

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ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

Icemcfd Tips&Tricks2010

Icemcfd Tips&Tricks2010