Scribd
Upload
112 views38 pages

Course 4 Intro To Unstructered Grid Generation

The document provides an introduction to grid generation for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. It discusses the purpose of meshing to decompose the solution domain into discrete locations for accurate results. Key considerations for mesh generation include geometric detail, refinement in complex flow/stress areas, and balancing fidelity with available computing resources. Common mesh element types like tetrahedrons and hexahedrons are described. The document outlines approaches for surface meshing, including patch-dependent and patch-independent methods, and volume meshing using Delaunay and octree algorithms. Quality metrics for assessing generated meshes are also introduced.

Uploaded by

Arya Hartawan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
112 views38 pages

Course 4 Intro To Unstructered Grid Generation

The document provides an introduction to grid generation for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. It discusses the purpose of meshing to decompose the solution domain into discrete locations for accurate results. Key considerations for mesh generation include geometric detail, refinement in complex flow/stress areas, and balancing fidelity with available computing resources. Common mesh element types like tetrahedrons and hexahedrons are described. The document outlines approaches for surface meshing, including patch-dependent and patch-independent methods, and volume meshing using Delaunay and octree algorithms. Quality metrics for assessing generated meshes are also introduced.

Uploaded by

Arya Hartawan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 38

INTRODUCTION TO

GRID GENERATION
Computational Aerodynamics
CFD SIMULATION

Geometry
creation

Pre Topology
Processing Generation

Mesh
Generation
Purpose
• For both CFD (fluid) and FEA (solid) modelling, the software
performs the computations at a range of discrete locations within
the domain.
• The purpose of meshing is to decompose the solution domain into
an appropriate number of locations for an accurate result.
Consideration
• Detail:
– How much geometric detail is relevant to the simulation physics.
– Including unnecessary detail can greatly increase the effort required for
the simulation.

• Refinement
– Where in the domain are the most complex stress/flow gradients? These
areas will require higher densities of mesh elements.
• Efficiency
– Greater numbers of elements require more compute resource (memory /
processing time). Balance the fidelity of the simulation with available
resources.
Consideration
• Example 1 (Internal Flow)

Coarse Mesh Near The


Wall
Very smooth mesh near the
wall to capture Boundary Layer

• Simple Geometry but complex flow (high gradient) need


very smooth mesh
Consideration
• Example 2 (Body Wing Blended Aircraft)

Flat Surface Complex Geometry at LE (high


TE ?? gradient on x direction
Consideration

Coarse Mesh at Upper


Surface

Smooth Mesh at
LE
Consideration

Smooth Mesh at TE to capture


separation

Smooth Mesh at Tip to


capture complex flow
(vortex)
Consideration
• Complex flow need very smooth mesh; Wing Tip, Trailing
Edge (Not necessary complex geometry)
• Complex Geometry need very smooth mesh; Leading
Edge Wing.
Mesh Type
• The basic building-blocks for a 3D mesh are:

Tetrahedrons Hexahedrons Pyramids (where tet. Prisms (formed when a


(unstructured) (usually structured) and hex. cells meet) tet mesh is extruded)
Mesh Type
• Tet Mesh
1) Can be generated quickly, automatically, and for
complicated geometry
2) Isotropic refinement – in order to capture gradients in one
direction, mesh is refined in all three directions – cell
counts rise rapidly
Mesh Type
• 3) Inflation layer helps with refinement normal to the wall,
Mesh Type
• Hex Mesh
– Fewer elements required to resolve physics for most CFD
applications
• This hexahedral mesh, which provides the same
resolution of flow physics, has LESS than half the
amount of nodes as the tet-mesh)
Mesh Quality
– In areas of high geometric complexity mesh elements can become distorted. Poor
quality elements can lead to poor quality results or, in some cases, no results at all!

– There are a number of methods for measuring mesh element quality (mesh
metrics*). For example, one important metric is the element ‘Skewness’. Skewness
is a measure of the relative distortion of an element compared to its ideal shape
and is scaled from
• 0 (Excellent) to 1 (Unacceptable).

0-0.25 0.25-0.50 0.50-0.80 0.80-0.95 0.95-0.98 0.98-1.00

Excellent very good good acceptable bad Unacceptable


Mesh Method
• Unstructured
• Generate Mesh (Grid) automatically using mesh algorithm (e.g
Octree, Delaunay, Advancing Front)
• Applicable for complex geometry
• Need more node and element compare to Structured.
• Need very large memory
• Quality Issue
• Mesh Type : Tet, Tri, Quad, Prism, Pyra
• Structured
• Mesh quality better than unstructured
• Very difficult for complex geometry
• Mesh Type : Hexa
INTRO TO
UNSTRUCTERED MESH
Bottom-Up Approach
• Create Geometry
• Repair Geometry if necessary
• Shell Mesh (Patch Dependent or Patch Independent)
• Volume Mesh (Delauney or Octree)
GEOMETRY
Patch
Independent

Patch
Dependent
Patch
Independent

Patch
Dependent
Building Topology – Determine Connectivity

• Geometry -> Repair Geometry -> Build Diagnostic Topology


• To diagnose potential geometry problems
• Shows potential leakage (tetra octree)
• Shows where surface mesh may not be connected
• Patch dependent surface mesher requires build topology
• Tolerance
• Specifies allowable gap between surfaces
• Size should be set reasonably to ignore small gaps, but not allow
leakage (tetra octree) or remove important features
• Connectivity is set up between surface edges that meet within the
tolerance
• Filtering should be off when using to determine connectivity

Edge 1

Edge 2
Tolerance
Building Topology – Determine
Connectivity
Color coding
Topology curves are color coded to indicate their surface
connection status
green = unconnected, yellow = single, red = double, blue = multiple,
Grey = dormant (filtered out)
Turn color coding off on in Model tree > Geometry > Curves > Color
by count
Red curves indicate two surfaces meet within the tolerance, This is
what you want for a solid model.
Yellow curves will usually indicate some repair is required

Before

After
SHELL MESH
Shell Meshing Method
• Patch Dependent
– Based on loops of curves surrounding patches
– Best for capturing surface details and creating quad dominant
mesh with good quality
– Repair Dirty geometry is necessary
– Fast
• Patch Independent
– Robust octree algorithm
– Good for dirty geometry, ignoring small features, gaps, holes
– Slow
Shell Meshing
• Create Geometry
• Global Mesh Set Up

Mesh Type Mesh Method


Shell Meshing
• Mesh Size Setup

OR
Shell Meshing
• Compute Mesh
VOLUME MESH
Volume Mesh Method
• Quick Delaunay
• The Quick (Delaunay) option will generate a tetra mesh using a
bottom-up meshing approach (Delaunay Tetra algorithm).
• Require an existing surface mesh.
• Volume mesh will then be generated from this surface mesh.
• Very Fast

• Robust (Octree)
• The Robust (Octree) option will generate a tetra mesh using a top-
down meshing approach
• An Octree mesher does not require an existing surface mesh
because one is created by the Octree process
• Slow
Delaunay

Octree
Volume Mesh
• Surface Mesh (For Delaunay Method)
• Global Mesh Set Up

Mesh
Mesh Type
Method
Volume Mesh
• Compute Volume Mesh

Volume Name
Type Here
Volume Mesh
• Use Cut Plane to See Volume Mesh

RIGHT CLICK
Volume Mesh
Volume Mesh
• Mesh Quality

Non Negative Quality


1: Good
0 : Bad

Good Distribution
Volume Mesh
• Volume Quality

Non Negative
Volume
Volume Mesh
• Mesh Output

File Name

You might also like