IN TRO D U C TO RY

Preparing the Surface Geometry

Introduction to CONVERGE
Session 3/16
Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Begin a Project
• Open a new project or an
existing *.cvg project
- Welcome dialog box
- File menu

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View Docks
• Geometry dock: Manipulate geometry
• Diagnosis dock: Identify problems with the geometry
• Case Setup dock: Configure physical models, initial
conditions, and other parameters
• Coordinate Cache dock: Store coordinates and vectors
from the geometry
• View Options dock: Change the view of the geometry

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View Logs
• Message log: Displays information
regarding the status of each operation
• Import log: Displays information
regarding the imported *.in and *.dat
files except surface.dat
• Case setup issues: Displays warnings and
errors, each accompanied by a link,
regarding case setup

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Practice
• Begin a project
• View docks
• View logs

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Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Surface Geometry File
• CONVERGE Studio requires a triangulated
surface with triangles defined by a unit
normal and three vertices
• CONVERGE uses this file to automatically
create the mesh at runtime
• CONVERGE stores the surface geometry
on each compute node, which reduces
the memory requirement compared to
core-based storage

Rendering of surface geometry in CONVERGE Studio

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Import the Surface Geometry File (1/2)
1. Go to File > Import to import the surface
geometry file
- Several file formats are allowed
 An *.stl file (exported from a CAD program)
 A properly formatted *.dat file that contains the
surface geometry data
 A CAD file (from one of the supported formats)
 A Nastran FEA file

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Import the Surface Geometry File (2/2)
2. Convert the unit system from CAD units to CONVERGE units (meters)
3. Choose the tolerance for combining closely spaced vertices after conversion

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Changing the Surface Geometry File
• If you make only small changes
to the surface geometry (e.g.,
shifting the location of a line or a
plane), you may not need to edit
the input or data files before
running a new simulation

Rendering of surface geometry in CONVERGE Studio

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Spatial Tools for CAD Import (1/3)
• Tools from Spatial Corp enhance
CONVERGE Studio’s ability to import
geometries from CAD software
• Go to File > Import > Import CAD file to
browse and import a CAD geometry file
- Click Supported formats for information
about supported CAD file formats

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Spatial Tools for CAD Import (2/3)
• The CAD model import dialog box includes
several Spatial operations that will be
applied to the geometry upon import
• In Mesh, you can choose the shape of the
fundamental elements
- Triangle will mesh the surface with triangles
- For applications such as boundary layer
extrusion, Quadrangle dominant will give
more well-shaped elements with triangles
oriented pairwise into quadrangles
Triangle mesh Quadrangle dominant mesh

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Spatial Tools for CAD Import (3/3)
• Under Quality, you can control the overall
scale and total triangle count
• Under Operation, you can choose the
Boolean operations to be applied on the
imported CAD model
- None will apply no Boolean operations
- Regularized unite will unite all parts into one
body (i.e., it will ignore internal structures)
- Non-regularized unite will unite all parts into
one body but preserve all interfaces and
internal structures

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Mouse Controls
• Rotate, zoom, and pan the geometry with the
mouse buttons
- Set mouse controls in Geometry > Options > Mouse
• You can choose to require the Ctrl key to activate
the mouse controls
• Use the drop-down menus to set the action
associated with each mouse button (left, middle,
and right)

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Select an Entity with the Objects Toolbar Vertex

• Select an entity type (Vertex, Edge, or Triangle)

• Select a criterion Edge

- By Arc: All edges that lie within a tolerance of the calculated arc
- By Angle: All triangles with a normal vector deviation within a
defined angular value or all edges with a directional deviation
within a defined angular value Triangle
- By Fence Neighbor: All triangles that share a vertex on the
same boundary fence
- By Manifold: All adjacent triangles not separated by a
nonmanifold edge

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Useful Viewing Options
View
toolbar
• In the Graphical Window, select one or
more entities and right-click for various
viewing options
- View at…: Center the window on the
selected entity
 To return a standard view, click on an
option in the View toolbar
- Hide selection…: Hide all selected entities
- Isolate…: Hide all entities that are not
currently selected

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 User view options in
the View toolbar

User Views
• CONVERGE Studio gives the option to save up to three
user-defined views
• To save a view, right-click in the Graphical Window, go
to Save user view, and select User view 1/2/3
- CONVERGE Studio stores the current camera
location and the zoom level
• Click , , or in the View toolbar to go to the
respective user-defined view in the Graphical Window

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Practice
• Import *.stl file
CONVERGE_Training/Intro_to_CONVERGE/Example_Cases/03-SurfPrep/surface_files/wind_tunnel.stl

• Set up mouse controls

• Select entities
• Explore viewing options
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Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Introduction to Boundaries
• To easily manipulate the geometry and to set up boundary conditions and other
features, assign (“flag”) surface triangles to groups (“boundaries”)
• Once you have flagged triangles to boundaries, you can
- Hide selected boundaries to
make it easier to see and repair
surface defects
- Set up boundary conditions
- Specify grid refinement per boundary
- Define volumetric regions to set
initial conditions

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Boundary Fences (1/3)
• Boundary fences are virtual borders on
the surface geometry
• You can create boundary fences to help
with flagging boundaries
• There are two ways to place boundary
fences in the Geometry dock
- Automatically with the Find/Clean tab
 Specify an Upper bound or a Lower
bound (in degrees)
- Manually with the Fence tab (next slide)

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Boundary Fences (2/3)
• You may need to manually mark or
unmark boundary fences, especially
in a complex surface
• Go to Boundary > Fence and select
By selected edges

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Boundary Fences (3/3)

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Practice
• Create and delete boundary fences

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Not Assigned Boundary
• Initially all triangles are in the
Not Assigned boundary
- Unless you import a geometry
in which the triangles were
already flagged
• You cannot run a simulation if
there are triangles in the Not
Assigned boundary

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Create Boundaries
1. After placing boundary fences, go to Boundary > Flag and click to create new
boundaries

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Flag Triangles to Boundaries

2. Select triangles between fences 3. Assign selected triangles to

using By Boundary Fence filter the outflow boundary
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Unflag or Reflag Triangles to Boundaries
• Go to Boundary > Flag, select a boundary, and
click to unflag the triangles from the
selected boundary
- CONVERGE Studio deletes the boundary name
and moves the triangles to the Not Assigned
boundary
• To flag triangles to a different boundary, select
and drag one boundary to another boundary

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Hide/Show Boundaries
• Go to the View Options dock
- Uncheck a box to hide that boundary
- Check a box to show that boundary

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Practice
• Create and delete boundaries
• Flag and unflag triangles to boundaries

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Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Translate, Rotate, and Scale Geometry
• CONVERGE Studio can translate,
rotate, or scale a surface, triangle,
vertex, or boundary
- Translate: Move the entire surface
or portion of the surface
- Rotate: Rotate the entire surface or
portion of the surface a specified
angle about a specified point
- Scale: Shrink or expand the entire
surface or portion of the surface
by a specified factor about a
specified point

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Demonstration
• Translate geometry
• Rotate geometry
• Scale geometry

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Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Find Defects
• Go to the Diagnosis dock, select the defects of interest in the the
Find options section, and click Find
- Intersections* - Overlapping triangles
- Nonmanifold edges* (user-specified)
- Normal orientation* - Isolated triangles
- Open edges* - Aspect ratio (user-specified)
- Small area (user-specified)
*These defects will prevent
CONVERGE from running - Small angle (user-specified)

• CONVERGE will list the numbers of each defect type in the Problem Triangles section of
the Diagnosis dock
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Practice
• Diagnose surface defects

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Defect: Intersections
• Triangles that pass through
one another
• Indicated by inconsistent
surface coloration
• Intersecting triangles will be
magenta-highlighted
• This defect will prevent
CONVERGE from running

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Defect: Nonmanifold Edges
• Edges that border more than two triangles
(also known as T-junctions)
• Nonmanifold edges are purple-highlighted
• Triangles with at least one nonmanifold
edge will be magenta-highlighted
• This defect will prevent CONVERGE from
running unless the nonmanifold edge
exists on an INTERFACE boundary

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Defect: Normal Orientation
• Triangles whose normal vectors are
inconsistent with the normal vectors of
adjacent triangles per the right-hand rule
• The normal vector for each triangle must
point toward the computational domain
• Triangles with inconsistent normal
vectors and adjacent triangles are
magenta-highlighted
• This defect will prevent CONVERGE
from running
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Defect: Open Edges
• Edges that each border only one triangle
• Triangles with at least one open edge
are magenta-highlighted
• Open edges are orange-highlighted
• This defect will prevent CONVERGE
from running

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Defect: Overlapping Triangles
• Triangles that meet other triangles at an angle
less than the user-specified tolerance (e.g., 5°)
• Overlapping triangles are magenta-highlighted
• CONVERGE can run a simulation with this
defect, but it will lead to small cut-cells

<5°

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Defect: Isolated Triangles
• One or more triangles surrounded by
neighboring triangles flagged to a
different boundary
- In the Diagnosis dock, set the maximum number
of triangles in the isolated group
• Isolated triangles are magenta-highlighted
• Isolated triangles may cause problems with
boundary conditions
• CONVERGE can run with this defect

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Defect: Aspect Ratio
• A triangle that satisfies the following inequality

c

bh
2 


a 
2 
h 
2

2 2
< user-specified value
a +b +c
b

• Aspect ratio triangles are magenta-highlighted

• CONVERGE can run with this defect

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Defect: Small Area
• A triangle whose area is less than the user-
specified tolerance
• These triangles will be magenta-highlighted
• CONVERGE can run with this defect

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Defect: Small Angle
• A triangle that contains at least
one angle that is less than the
user-specified tolerance
• These triangles will be
magenta-highlighted
• CONVERGE can run with
this defect

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Practice
• Identify different types of surface defects
CONVERGE_Training/Intro_to_CONVERGE/Example_Cases/03-SurfPrep/surface_files/surface_defected.dat

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Geometry > Repair > Stitch
• Merges two vertices to fix
defects such as open edges
or intersecting triangles
• CONVERGE Studio will
merge the first vertex that
you select to the second
vertex that you select

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Geometry > Repair > Patch
• Creates triangles to
eliminate open edges
• Use entity selection
criterion of Edge or Vertex
to highlight the open edge

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Geometry > Repair > Compress
• Merges vertices that are within a user-
specified tolerance to fix defects such
as intersecting triangles

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Geometry > Repair > Delete
• Removes selected triangle(s)
• Can be used to fix defects such as small angle or small area

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Geometry > Create > Triangle
• Adds new triangle(s)
• Can be used to
repair defects such
as open edges
• Remember to assign the
new triangles to the
correct boundary

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Geometry > Transform > Normal
• Reverses the
normal vectors of
the selected
triangle and all
adjacent triangles
with similar
normal vectors to
fix normal
orientation defects

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Practice
• Repair surface defects
CONVERGE_Training/Intro_to_CONVERGE/Example_Cases/03-SurfPrep/surface_defected.dat

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Advanced Geometry Cleanup Tools
• Repairing defects in a large or complex CAD geometry may be time-consuming and
computationally intensive
• CONVERGE Studio offers advanced geometry manipulation tools
- Polygonica: Healing, Boolean, and Coarsen (separate license required)
- Coarsen
- Surface Wrapper
- Periodic Boundaries
• These tools are described in detail in another training course (Advanced Surface
Preparation Tools in CONVERGE Studio)
• CONVERGE Studio also includes an interface with Sculptor for surface deformation
and morphing (separate license required)

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Best Practices for CAD Surface Preparation
• You can minimize surface cleanup in CONVERGE Studio by following best practices while
working in your CAD program
- When creating the surface, increase resolution in areas of sharp curvature
- Ensure that each circle is represented by a sufficient number of vertices to avoid cylindrical
shapes that look like prisms
- Verify that the solid is watertight to avoid open edge errors
- Optimize the total number of triangles (excess triangles increase simulation time while too
few triangles may not capture important surface features)

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Example Valve Geometry Surfaces

• Good triangulation • Poor triangulation

- Curvature is well resolved - Valve top (gray) is irregular and not smooth
- Just enough triangles to resolve shape - Valve angle (blue) is overly refined

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Inlaid Mesh (1/3)
• Alternative grid type in CONVERGE
• Allows CONVERGE to leverage
flow gradient directionality to
- Reduce the numerical dissipation
- Achieve accurate solution with
significantly fewer cells
• Entirely optional
- Does not need to be a part of
your workflow!

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Inlaid Mesh (2/3)
• Go to Geometry > Inlaid Mesh > Shaped Mesh
- Euclidean mesh
- Cylindrical mesh
- Conical injector mesh
- Import a PLOT3D mesh Inlaid mesh on nozzles of
a multi-hole injector

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Inlaid Mesh (3/3) Inlaid mesh extrusion
on a NACA 0012 airfoil

• Go to Geometry
> Inlaid Mesh >
Extrusion to
extrude a mesh
from existing
surface triangles

Closeup view of
the inlaid mesh

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Importing a Plot3D Mesh
• CONVERGE can load arbitrary
Plot3D meshes
• This feature is optional
1. Select Load File and specify the file
name
2. Select Auto-generate boundaries to
automatically generate and assign
the flow through INTERFACE
boundaries
3. Click Apply
• Depending on the grid, further
cleanup may be needed NASA Langley Turbulence Modeling Resource

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Demonstration
• View an inlaid mesh example
File > Load example case > Internal Combustion Engines > Heavy duty diesel > Engine sector diesel SAGE inlaid transient RANS

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Workflow: CAD Import and Clean
• Begin a project
• Import the surface geometry
• Prepare the surface
- Flag triangles to boundaries
- Translate, rotate, and scale geometry
- Repair defects
• Save project (*.cvg)

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Save Project File
• Go to File > Save As… to save your project as
a CONVERGE case setup file (*.cvg)
- This format saves the geometry as well as
case setup details

• Typically you export the surface geometry,

input, and data files after case setup
• If you want to export only the surface
geometry file, go to File > Export > Export
surface file to export the surface file as *.dat
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Review Questions
• What are boundary fences and how to create them?
• What types of geometry defects are fatal to CONVERGE?
• How can you fix geometry defects?

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Review Questions and Answers
• What are boundary fences and how to create them?
- They are virtual borders that support the geometry into different parts. They can be defined
and deleted in Geometry > Boundary > Fence.
• What types of geometry defects are fatal to CONVERGE ?
- Intersections, nonmanifold, open edges, and normal orientation.
• How can you fix geometry defects?
- First diagnose errors in the Diagnosis dock. Then you can fix defects manually (in Geometry >
Repair and Geometry > Transform) or automatically (in Geometry > Repair > Surface and
Geometry > Repair > Polygonica).

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