However, before diving into the software development it was necessary to answer some important questions. The Navier-Stokes equations need to be discretized before they can be solved. The task of developing a numerical flow simulation solution brought us to a decision point. Introduction SolidWorks Flow Simulation’s meshing technology has been in use for about 20 years, since the end of the 1980s. Φcurvature Threshold value of φ in Curvature Refinement CriterionĪdvanced Boundary Cartesian Meshing Technology in SolidWorks Flow Simulationġ. Εmerge Unrefinement threshold value in Refinement Criterion X, y, z x, y, and z directions respectively Δtolerance Threshold value of δ in Tolerance Refinement Criterion Εsplit Refinement threshold value in Refinement Criterion
SSF Small Solid Features Refinement Criterion Δ }istance between the interpolated surface and the most distant point of the surface Test cases given in this paper represent a small selection of our validation examples that illustrate the precision of the IB approach and the flexibility of SolidWorks Flow Simulation meshing technology in the wide range of industrial examples of geometry and physical formulations.Ĭmerge Unrefinement indicator value in Refinement CriterionĬsplit Refinement indicator value in Refinement Criterion Implementing the IB approach efficiently in SolidWorks Flow Simulation requires resolving a number of issues: approximation of the governing equations in cut-cells that contain the solid-fluid interface, capture of boundary layers effects irrespective of boundary layer thickness using a Two-Scale Wall Functions (2SWF) approach automatic mesh generation with automatic detection of initial mesh settings (octree-based mesh structure), and Solution Adaptive Refinement (SAR).
The body-fitted grid generation used is time-consuming, often requiring manual intervention to modify and clean-up of the CAD geometry as a prerequisite. Many other CFD methods require a mesh that fits the boundaries of the computational domain and often complex internal geometries. Use of Cartesian meshes together with the Immersed Boundary approach makes it possible to efficiently minimize approximation errors, build operators with good spectral properties so that robustness of method is guaranteed, speed up the process of grid generation, and make grid generation robust and flexible. For the boundary representation, the Immersed Boundary (IB) approach, which does not require a boundary-conforming mesh, is used. Comparative calculations on different mesh types illustrates that the best simulation precision, characterized by minimum Local Truncation Error (LTE), is obtained on Cartesian meshes. Detailed explanation and examples will support how this choice of mesh generation algorithm enables SolidWorks Flow Simulation to offer a best-in-class CFD solution centered upon simplicity, speed, and robustness.ĪBSTRACT For the numerical simulation of Navier-Stokes equations, the choice of the mesh type plays a significant role. This paper details the approach and theory behind the Cartesian mesh generation used in SolidWorks Flow Simulation. ADVANCED BOUNDARY CARTESIAN MESHING TECHNOLOGY IN SOLIDWORKS FLOW SIMULATION Overview SolidWorks® Flow Simulation is an intelligent, easy-to-use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program that facilitates the work of design engineers who use SolidWorks 3D CAD software for design creation.