17.

0 Release

Workbench Poly Meshing For Fluent 1.5

Erling.Eklund@ansys.com

2016 ANSYS, Inc.

August 2, 2016

Copyright and Trademark Information

Copyright and Trademark Information

2016 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use, distribution or duplication is prohibited.
ANSYS, ANSYS Workbench, Ansoft, AUTODYN, EKM, Engineering Knowledge Manager, CFX, FLUENT, HFSS,
AIM and any and all ANSYS, Inc. brand, product, service and feature names, logos and slogans are registered
trademarks or trademarks of ANSYS, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries. ICEM CFD is
a trademark used by ANSYS, Inc. under licens e. CFX is a trademark of Sony Corporation in Japan. All other
brand, product, service and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Disclaimer Notice
THIS ANSYS SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION INCLUDE TRADE SECRETS AND
ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PRODUCTS OF ANSYS, INC., ITS SUBSIDIARIES, OR
LICENSORS. The software products and documentation are furnished by ANSYS, Inc., its subsidiaries, or
affiliates under a software license agreement that contains provisions concerning non-disclosure, copying, length
and nature of use, compliance with exporting laws, warranties, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and remedies,
and other provisions. The software products and documentation may be used, disclosed, transferre d, or copied
only in accordance with the terms and conditions of that software license agreement.
Contains proprietary and confidential information of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates

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Workbench Poly Meshing for Fluent

Overview
Name of the app : Workbench Poly Meshing For Fluent
Version of the app : 1.5

Target application : Meshing

ANSYS compatible version: Compatible with ANSYS version R17.0
R17.1 and R17.2
Description : Enhanced ANSYS WB Meshing for Fluent via
Workbench integrated access to powerful Fluent Meshing
capabilities, including native Polyhedral meshing.
Copyright and Trademark Information
2016 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use, distribution or duplication is prohibited.

2016 ANSYS, Inc.

August 2, 2016

ACT App Store

https://support.ansys.com/AnsysCustomerPortal/en_us/Downloa
ds/Application+Library
Great place to get started

A library of helpful extensions available to any ANSYS customer

New extensions added regularly
Applications made available in either binary format (.wbex file) or binary
plus scripted format (Python and XML files)
Scripted extensions are great examples
Links to customization documentation and training material

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Information
Please pay attention to paragraph 9 of the CLICKWRAP SOFTWARE
LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR ACS EXTENSIONS regarding TECHNICAL
ENHANCEMENTS AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT (TECS): TECS is not
included with the Program(s)

Report any issue or provide feedback related to this app please

contact:
Contact email address: erling.eklund@ansys.com

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Binary App Installation (1)

Installing from the ACT Start Page:
1. From the project page, select the
ACT Start Page option
2. Click on Extension Manager
3. Press + symbol in the top right corner
4. It will open a file dialog to select the
appropriate *.wbex binary file
5. The extension is installed

Loading the extension:

1. From the Extension Manager,
click on your extension and choose
Load Extension
2. The extension is loaded

Notes:
The extension to be installed will be stored in the following location: %AppData%\Ansys\v170\ACT\extensions
The installation will create a folder in this location, in addition to the .wbex file
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Binary App Installation (2)

Installing from the Extensions menu:
1. From the Extensions menu, select the Install
Extension option
2. It will open a file dialog to select the appropriate
*.wbex binary file
3. Click Open to install the extension

Loading the extension:

1. From the Extension Manager,
click on your extension and choose Load Extension
2. The extension is loaded

Notes:
The extension to be installed will be stored in the following location: %AppData%\Ansys\v170\ACT\extensions
The installation will create a folder in this location, in addition to the .wbex file

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Binary App Installation (3)

Once the binary extension is installed at default location, one can move the *.wbex and the folder to any
other location
Default path: %AppData%\Ansys\v170\ACT\extensions
New path: Any location on your machine, shared drive etc.

All users interested in using the extension need to include that path in their Workbench Options
1.
2.
3.

In the Tools menu, select the Options

Select Extensions in the pop up panel
Add the path under Additional Extensions Folder

Define additional folders in which ACT

will search for extensions in order to
expose them in the Extension Manager

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Notes:
During the scan of the available extensions, the folders will be analyzed according to the following order:
1. The application data folder(e.g. %AppData%\Ansys\v170\ACT\extensions)
2. The additional folders defined in the Additional Extension Folders property
3. The installation folder
4. The extensions folder part of the current Workbench project (if the project was previously saved with the extension)
If an extension is available in more than one of these locations, the 1st one according to the scan order is used
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App Installation; Critical pre-requisites

Make sure to turn on the Beta flag in Workbench
Under Workbench menu (Tools Options)
In Appearance, invoke Beta Options flag

The ACT do not support numbers using comma (,) as a decimal symbol,
hence period (.) has to be used on Windows OS
To change Decimal Symbol ; Control Panel -> Region and Language -> Formats > Additional settings -> Numbers -> Decimal Symbol
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Overview
The purpose of this ACT is to provide an easy-to-use access of
Fluent Meshing volume meshing technology such as advanced
Inflation technology, native Polyhedral meshing, HexCore, etc.
while staying in the parametric and persistent environment of
WB and the familiar environment of Workbench meshing
The user will need to set up all Size function parameter and
surface meshing parameters within WB meshing. The ACT is
used to provide Named Selections and volume mesh
parameters. The volume mesh is created in batch in Fluent
Meshing and then directly transferred into the Fluent Solver

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Introduction
The mesh that is provided to Fluent Meshing is the CFD surface
mesh of a multi-body-part. Hence it is recommended that a
valid tet (only) mesh has been created on this multi-body part
inside WB meshing to ensure that the surface mesh is fully
connected and that there are no overlaps, etc.
Before activating the Fluent Meshing extension, clear any
previewed surface mesh or volume mesh inside WB meshing
using Clear Generated Data
It is recommended to invoke the (View -> Files )
option to make sure files that the ACT are
using are being created.
For example a SYS#.msh file should be created after
doing an update

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Introduction
Your starting point should
look something like this
Note: This ACT do not support
multiple Meshing-Fluent
schematics in one project

Activate the WBPolyMeshingForFluent ACT from

Extension Manage Extension menu

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Introduction
Connect the FluentMeshing Cell to the Mesh cell and the add
the Fluent cell to the schematics.

Open Workbench Meshing

A new option, FluentMeshing, will
appear in WB meshing ribbon
Clicking on it will add a new Item
Meshing Parameter in the Project
tree

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Named Selections rules for Fluent

Before we look into the Meshing Parameter panels, some
important pre-requisites
Fluent Meshing (and Solver) does not accept all types of
string formats, so to avoid errors, some rules prerequisites
are strictly enforced.
Named Selections and Paths cannot have spaces or special
characters, like ~!@#$%^&*()+=<>?. If present, please
rename the NS/directories and use underscore or hyphen
instead. Example :
Change %Pipe~inlet 1 to Pipe_inlet-1 or Pipe-inlet_1

By default Fluent Meshing will not grow inflation on any

non-wall Named selections
If these boundaries are tangent to the surrounding walls,
the inflation algorithm will stair step down to the boundary
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ACT Prerequisite Material settings

If you have a mix of Fluid and Solid
Bodies in your Geometry
Select All Fluid bodies in the Tree
Under Definition:
Change the Material to Fluid

Note that if you do not assign any body

to Fluid, the ACT will automatically , convert
all bodies to Fluid before volume meshing

Suppressed parts in the WB tree is supported

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ACT Prerequisite Unstructured meshing for CFD

Under Mesh
In Defaults:
Physics Preference: CFD
Solver Preference: Fluent
In Sizing
Size Function : Curvature and/or Proximity
Add a Patch Conforming Method
Make sure to insert the

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Patch Conforming mesh method

Select ALL bodies
Set the method to Tetrahedrons

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Fluent Meshing ACT panel - Overview

The Fluent Meshing panel controls all
the parameters that are passed from
WB meshing to Fluent Meshing
We will cover each of the options in
the following slides and at the same
time provide any prerequisites or
limitations

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Named Selections rules

Auto Zone Type Assignment
If this option is On

All Named Selections on faces that

meet the criteria will automatically
get the type assignment, and these
do not need to be added in the ACT
If this option is Off
All Named Selection related to non-wall boundary conditions must be
added into the ACT (the Fluent Meshing panel)
Periodic Named selections are the only ones that always needs to be added in
the ACT.
Make sure that the send to solver flag is on on all NS for symmetry,
periodics, inlets, outlets and internals

Note that Named Selections based on body selection will be

honored by the ACT, independent on the Send-to-Solver flag.
Bodies without Named Selections will retain the Body Name
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Fluent Meshing panel Symmetry/Periodic

Start by selecting if either symmetry or
periodic boundaries exists in the model;
If not, maintain the default none
Note translational periodicity is not supported
If symmetry or periodic is selected, a new option

appears, where the number of selections

(default = 2) can be chosen
A maximum of six fields can be created
Inflation will not grow from symmetry/periodic
planes

From the pull-down menu, select the

corresponding Named selections
NOTE: periodic planes MUST be assigned on
FLUID bodies only and the NS must start with the
prefix periodic (all lowercase)
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Fluent Meshing panel Inlets/Outlets/Internals

If more than one Inlet or Outlet named selection exists,
change the number accordingly;
The same number of fields will be available
A maximum of nine inlet NS can be assigned
A maximum of six outlet NS can be assigned
Inlets are assigned velocity-inlet and outlets, pressure outlets zone

type respectfully
Inflation will not grow from inlet/outlet boundaries

If you have multiple Fluid regions,

Named selections should be assigned to the internal faces between

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each fluid region, so that inflation goes across regions

Change the option from single to multiple
Change the number of Name Selections accordingly
and select appropriate Named Selections from the list

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Fluent Meshing panel Named Selections

Example of Named selections on a Combustor section

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Fluent Meshing panel Inflation settings

You have four Inflation settings
First Aspect Ratio
Recommended and default option
Aspect ratio = Characteristic length of base/height

Smooth Transition
First Height
Last Aspect Ratio

In all cases, post stair-stepping is applied

in areas of bad quality and proximity
collisions

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Volume meshing settings

Use Size Field?
Fluent Meshing will use the Size field created by the Size Function in WB
meshing to create the volume mesh, if this flag is set to yes.
This is needed if
1. A Body of Influence Scoped Size is being used
2. The WB global growth rate is different from the local surface growth rate

If this is set to NO
1. The WB global growth rate will be used for volume growth

Volume fill
Tet, Poly and HexCore can be used as

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volume meshing algorithms

The default fill method is Poly
HexCore cannot be used in combination
with Size Field
HexCore and Tet (without Size field) will honor the
Max Tet Size set in WB Meshing

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Volume meshing settings

Mesh the Solids
You can choose to not mesh the solids included in
the model
If the model contains no solids, the flag will be ignored

Quality Method and Volume quality limits

Orthogonal Quality is the default method (default limit = 0.05). It can be

used on all cell types. This method will always be used for poly
Setting an aggressive quality criteria might
drastically increase meshing time
Alternative methods are Skewness (default limit = 0.95) and ICEM CFD
(default limit = 0.98).

Debug Mode
If running in debug-mode, Fluent meshing will run with
full GUI, allowing the user to display and investigate the final volume mesh.
To continue to solver, just type exit yes and hit return
The norun mode will only create all the files needed
to run Fluent Meshing and create the volume mesh
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Update the mesh

When all Meshing parameters has been set
we can process towards mesh creation
Update the Mesh
Use Update to create the surface
mesh that will be used by the ACT
Note that Generate Mesh
can be used, but the progress bar is
not displayed, while the surface mesh
is being created.

Verify the size distribution on your

surface mesh before continuing

Changing Meshing Parameters

Note that, the surface mesh is independent of the ACT Meshing parameters.

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Hence a change in the ACT Meshing Parameters, does NOT require a new
Update in Workbench Meshing.
Just Reset, Refresh and Update the Fluent Meshing cell in the project page

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Return to Project page

At this point it could be advisable to save the project
The next step is to Update the Fluent Meshing Cell

Fluent Meshing is running in batch

Fluent Meshing will process the data
Reading the surface mesh and all parameters created in the
Fluent Meshing panel in WB meshing
Improving the surface mesh, assigning boundary types and
create the volumetric regions
Inflation generation and volume meshing
Saving the final mesh and exit
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Open Fluent Solver

Fluent solver will automatically read the volume mesh

Set up Fluent and solve.

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The ACT supports parametric studies

Parametric study where the number of inflation layers in the
ACT panel are changed

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Final volume meshes

Final mesh has expected boundary layers

DP0

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DP1

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DP2

Produced files
Several files are produced that provides additional information
In Workbench project page invoke the option to view files
The tmp.scm file includes all the commands that was executed in Fluent

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meshing. Hence opening a stand-alone session of Fluent Meshing and

reading in this file will exactly reproduce the operations executed in the ACT
The SYS#.trn file contains the transcript of the executed commands in Fluent
Meshing. At the end it also lists some statistical data regarding number of
cells created, quality and volume meshing time

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Source code
If you are familiarized with Fluent Meshing commands and the
Scheme language, you can create your own customized version of
this ACT
Using the default installation location, you will find the fluentmeshing.scm file at :

%AppData%\Ansys\v170 (or 171)\ACT\WBPolyMeshingForFluent

The fluentmeshing.scm file contains the actual commands ( minus all parameter
definitions) sent to Fluent Meshing
In this file you can modify some hard coded parameters or add other parameters
for the volume meshing operations.
For example, in HexCore meshing, these parameters are used
(ti-menu-load-string (format #f "/mesh/hexcore/controls/buffer-layers 2 "))

(ti-menu-load-string (format #f "/mesh/hexcore/controls/peel-layers 0 "))

(ti-menu-load-string (format #f "/mesh/hexcore/controls/skip-tet-refinement? no "))
You can directly modify these parameters to fit your needs

If you want the ACT to smooth acute angles to improve quality (see next slide):
Find the string ; Following marks, smooths
Un-Comment the next 5 lines
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and remesh faces at acute angles

Source code; Surface mesh modifications

Surface mesh improvements at acute angles

If the model includes acute internal angles of 20 degrees or below, a high
quality mesh including inflation is essentially impossible to produce
In those cases, the sharp face-face angle is automatically smoothed and remeshed, to improve the quality of the volume mesh

Worst skew > 0.95

Before

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Worst skew < 0.85

After

Thank you
If you have any questions, please contact
Erling Eklund
erling.eklund@ansys.com

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