Integrated Meshing in STAR-CCM+

Aly Khawaja

Overview

• The STAR-CCM+ meshing suite – a pipelined processsuite a pipelined process

• Conformal meshing – a strength

• Specialized meshers for specialized applicationsOn the horizon• On the horizon

• Putting it all together

Integrated/automated process from geometry to post-processing

The STAR-CCM+ meshing suite

• Surface meshing options– Surface wrapperpp– Surface remesher– Interactive tools

Volume meshing options• Volume meshing options– Tetrahedral mesher– Polyhedral mesher– Trimmed mesher– Boundary layer mesher– Specialized meshersp

• User creates a meshing pipeline

Surface preparation is the k ikey to process automation

Surface preparation – the key to automation

• At the forefront in automating CAD to surface processData import and organization• Data import and organization

– Working upstream to import data directly from your CAD/PLM system

– Retain assembly hierarchy, meta-data– Provide efficient ways to tag, filter data

Import edit create and preserve CAD geometry• Import, edit, create and preserve CAD geometry• Automatic meshers – surface wrapper, surface remesher• Interactive tools – boolean inflation imprinting etc• Interactive tools boolean, inflation, imprinting, etc.• Manual repair

State-of-the-art manual repair mode

• Dynamically updated diagnostics panel• Ability to browse problem areasy p• Atomic operations (swap/split/collapse

edges, etc.)• Mid-level operations (smooth fill holes• Mid level operations (smooth, fill holes,

inflate, imprint, etc.)• Repair feature edge errors

Undo/redo capability• Undo/redo capability• Elaborate selection/display controllers• Continually enhanced based on user

f db kfeedback

Intuitive, concise, functional

STAR-CCM+ Meshing pipeline example

Automation without sacrificing mesh control…

• Size per boundary• Size per feature curve• Size per feature curve• Curvature control• Proximity control• Volume source• Prism mesh control

Initial wall thickness– Initial wall thickness– Stretching– Total prism thickness

N b f l– Number of layers• Same sizing information can be used across all meshers• Ease of use has been a focusEase of use has been a focus

Conformal meshing – a strength

• Has been a strong point of STAR-CCM+ for several yearsCreate connected meshes with a one to one matching• Create connected meshes with a one-to-one matching between regions/domains – leads to higher solution accuracy

• Accept variety of input data– Data comes in prepped (connected parts, shared surfaces) –

use split-by-topologyuse split-by-topology– Disconnected parts – automatic interfacing via close part

browser, imprinting• Taking it a step further – conformal periodic meshing

Highly complex geometry – prepped CAD data

Automatic interfacing of disconnected parts

Automatic interfacing of disconnected parts

Close part browser

Imprint one/allp

Automatic interfacing of disconnected parts

• Allows convenient close part browsingclose part browsing through complex hierarchy

• Automatically imprints touching components and creates interfaces

• Potential to pipeline –one click operation f di t dfrom disconnected parts to conformal volume mesh

Automatic interfacing application

Automatic interfacing application

Conformal periodic meshes

Volume control – Finer surfaceSubsurface proximity based retractionFace mismatches cause solution inaccuraciesConformal mesh with no additional user specification

Specialized meshers for specialized applications

• Already have fully functional general purpose meshersSpecialized geometries need customized meshes for• Specialized geometries need customized meshes for

– Optimal cell count– Cell qualityq y– Solution accuracy

• Pushing the envelope for seamless integration of these h i t th STAR CCM+ hi itmeshers into the STAR-CCM+ meshing suite

Specialized meshers – 2.5D Extrusion

Specialized meshers – generalized cylinders

Detects cylindrical boundaries and produces swept meshes

Specialized meshers – Thin Mesher

• Automatic detection• High quality orthogonal cells in

thin regions• General polyhedra elsewhere• General polyhedra elsewhere

On the horizon…

SolidWorks assembly with SolidWorks assembly with

• Parallel meshingDistributed meshing using client server architecturey

multi-level hierarchy

ymulti-level hierarchy

– Distributed meshing using client-server architecture• Conformal meshing in conjunction with thin mesher

– Conformal conjugate heat transfer analysisj g y• 3D-CAD solid modeler

– Create and edit geometry from within STAR-CCM+• Intuitive, efficient, parts based meshing

– Preserving hierarchy, structure from within your PLM systemAnd much more

Assembly structure and all part names

Assembly structure and all part names

Assembly structure and all part names

Assembly structure and all part names

• And much more…

part names preservedpart names preservedpart names preservedpart names preserved

Putting it all together

A multi-pronged development philosophy…

• Continue to enhance existing main-stream meshers/tools for ease of use automation and accuracyfor ease of use, automation and accuracy

• Particular emphasis on your biggest bottle-necks of data-import, organization and surface preparationp g p p

• Forward thinking ideas and introduction of new meshers for optimal cell count/placement

… to provide a state-of-the-art CAE tool

Putting it all together

• Import data from CAD/PLM system, retaining part/assembly hierarchy, meta-data, etc.p y y, ,

• Edit, create geometry, intuitive surface preparation tools• Automatic, conformal meshing using application-specific

mesh typesmesh types• Complete control on distribution• Flow/thermal/stress, multi-physics simulationsp y• Parallel environment from start to finish• STAR-CCM+: a black-box simulation tool

i th d i i tin the design environment• Rapid turnaround for design

modificationsmodifications