Chapter 1: ANSYS TurboGrid Overview ANSYS TurboGrid is a powerful tool that lets designers and analysts of rotating machinery

create highquality hexahedral meshes, while preserving the underlying geometry. These meshes are used in the ANSYS workflow to solve complex blade passage problems.

The ANSYS TurboGrid online product documentation is divided into five major areas: ANSYS TurboGrid Introduction A brief introduction, listing of new features, and detailed information about the CFX launcher ANSYS TurboGrid Tutorials ANSYS TurboGrid User's Guide Information about the user interface and workflow ANSYS TurboGrid Reference Guide Detailed information about menu items, command actions, syntax, and so on. Installation and Licensing

Chapter 2: Using the CFX Launcher

ANSYS TurboGrid can be run in two modes: ANSYS TurboGrid Standalone, which refers to ANSYS TurboGrid running as a standalone application independent of the ANSYS Workbench software. ANSYS TurboGrid Workbench, which refers to ANSYS TurboGrid running as a component inside of the ANSYS Workbench software. This is described in ANSYS TurboGrid in ANSYS Workbench. ANSYS TurboGrid Standalone has the CFX Launcher, which makes it easy to run all the modules of CFX without having to use a command line. The launcher enables you to: Set the working directory for your project Start CFX and ANSYS products Access various other tools, including a command window that enables you to run other utilities

Access the online help and other useful information Customize the behavior of the launcher to start your own applications. The CFX Launcher automatically searches for installations of CFX and ANSYS products including the license manager. Depending on the application, the search includes common installation directories, directories pointed to by environment variables associated with CFX and ANSYS products, and the Windows registry. In the unlikely event that a product is not found, you can configure the CFX Launcher using the steps outlined in Customizing the Launcher in the TurboGrid Reference Guide.

2.1. Starting the CFX Launcher

You can run the CFX Launcher in any of the following ways: On Windows: From the Start menu, go to All Programs > ANSYS 13.0 > TurboGrid. In a DOS window that has its path set up correctly to run ANSYS TurboGrid, enter cfxlaunch (otherwise, you will need to enter the full pathname of the cfxlaunch command). On UNIX, enter cfxlaunch in a terminal window that has its path set up to run ANSYS TurboGrid. To run ANSYS TurboGrid, first start the launcher, then set the working directory, then click the ANSYS TurboGrid 13.0 button.

2.1. Overview of the Mesh Creation Process Before ANSYS TurboGrid can create a mesh, you must provide it with several pieces of information. Such information includes the location of the geometry files (hub, shroud, and blades), the mesh topology type, and the distribution of mesh nodes. All of the data that you provide is stored in a set of data objects known as CCL objects. After you have specified the CCL objects appropriately, you can issue a command for ANSYS TurboGrid to generate a mesh. The ANSYS TurboGrid user interface organizes the CCL objects in a tree view known as the object selector. You can use the object selector to select and edit the CCL objects; the objects are listed from top to bottom in the standard order for creating a mesh. The user interface also has a toolbar for

selecting and editing the CCL objects; the icons are arranged from left to right in the standard order for creating a mesh.

Regardless of whether you use the object selector or the toolbar, you should generally follow this sequence when creating a mesh: Define the geometry by loading files and changing settings as required. Define the topology by choosing a topology type and optionally changing other topology settings. Optionally modify the Mesh Data settings that govern the number and the distribution of nodes in various parts of the mesh. If you plan to make a fine (high-resolution) mesh, you can optionally set the mesh density at a later time in order to minimize processing time while establishing the topology. Keep in mind that changing the mesh density can affect the mesh quality. Improve the topology on the hub and shroud layers as required. Optionally add intermediate 2D layers that guide the 3D topology and mesh. If you do not add layers at this point, they will be added as required when you generate the mesh. Adding them early gives you a chance to check and adjust the 2D mesh quality on the intermediate layers before generating the full 3D mesh. Issue the command to generate a mesh. Check the mesh quality. As required, adjust the topology type and distribution, and Mesh Data settings. If you make changes, go back to the previous step. Save the mesh to a file.

2.4. Defining the Geometry The provided geometry files, which consist of a BladeGen.inf file plus three curve files, were created using BladeGen. To load the information contained in those files, you will load the BladeGen.inf file. ANSYS TurboGrid uses this file to set the axis of rotation, the number of blades, and a length unit that characterizes the scale of the machine. It also uses this file to identify the curve files which it then loads to define the curvature of the hub, shroud, and a single blade. The geometric data from the input files is processed to generate a geometric representation, an outline of which appears in the viewer.

After the geometry has been generated, you are invited to browse through the objects created under the Geometry object in the object selector. Initially, the blades extend from the hub to the shroud. After inspecting the geometry, you will create the required gap between the blade and the shroud. Load the BladeGen.inf file: Click File > Load BladeGen. Open BladeGen.inf from the working directory. The progress bar at the bottom right of the screen shows the geometry generation progress. After the geometry has been generated, you can see the hub, shroud, and blade for one passage. Along the blade, you can see the leading and trailing edge curves (green and red lines, respectively). An outline drawing (the Outline object) traces the 3D space that is available for meshing; the latter consists of an inlet domain, passage, and outlet domain. In this tutorial, you will generate a mesh for the passage only.

Note: It is possible to adjust the upstream and downstream extents of the hub and shroud surfaces (by changing the Inlet and Outlet geometry objects). It is also possible to create an extended mesh that includes the inlet and outlet domains (by editing the Mesh Data settings). Examine the geometry: To understand the correlation between the geometry objects listed in the object selector and the locations in the geometry, toggle the visibility check box next to each object in the object selector and observe the change in the viewer. In order to avoid cluttering the view, ensure that only the Hub, Shroud, Blade 1, and Outline objects have visibility turned on before continuing to the next step. Open Geometry > Machine Data from the object selector by double-clicking Machine Data in the object selector, or by right-clicking Machine Data and selecting Edit from the shortcut menu that appears. Here you can see basic information about the geometry. Note that the units specified for Base Units represent the scale of the geometry being meshed; these units are not used for importing geometric data nor do they govern the units written to a mesh file; they are used for the internal representation of the geometry to minimize computer round-off errors. Open Geometry > Hub. Here you can see information about which file was used for hub data and how the file was interpreted. Similar information can be seen by opening the Shroud and Blade 1 objects. Note that, for the Hub and Shroud objects, the Curve Type parameter is set to Piece-wise linear; this is a result of loading a BladeGen.inf file.

Click Display all blade instances to obtain a view of the entire geometry. Click Display single blade instance to show a single blade instance once again. To complete the geometry, create a small gap between the blade and the shroud. The blade should be shortened to 97.5% of its original span because the gap width, as specified in the problem description, is 2.5% of the total span. Open Geometry > Blade Set > Shroud Tip. Set Tip Option to Constant Span. Set Span to 0.975. Click Apply. The names of the objects in the Geometry branch of the object selector are shown in black non-italic text, indicating that the Geometry objects are all defined. This completes the geometry definition.

2.5. Defining the Topology Now that the geometry is defined, the next step is to create the topology that guides the mesh. 1. Open Topology Set. 2. Set Topology Definition > Placement to Traditional with Control Points. This provides access to the legacy topology methods. The other option, ATM Optimized, provides access to the newest topology method. 3. Set Topology Definition > Method to J-Grid. Normally, you would choose the H/J/C/L-Grid method for the first attempt at a mesh, then change the method if required. In this case, it was found that the J-Grid method produces a higher-quality mesh than the H/J/C/L-Grid method. The H/J/C/L-Grid method causes ANSYS TurboGrid to choose an H-Grid, J-Grid, C-Grid, L-Grid, or a combination of these, based on heuristics. In this case, the H/J/C/L-Grid method causes ANSYS TurboGrid to choose a J-Grid topology for the upstream end of the passage, and an H-Grid topology for the downstream end. Due to the high blade metal angle on the trailing edge near the shroud, the J-Grid topology is more appropriate for the downstream end. For details on the H/J/C/L-Grid method, see H/J/C/L Topology Definition in the TurboGrid User's Guide. 4. Ensure that Include O-Grid is selected.

This adds an O-Grid around the blade to increase mesh orthogonality in that region. 5. Leave Include O-Grid > Width Factor set to 0.5. This makes the O-Grid thickness equal to half the average blade thickness. In general, a suitable value of the O-Grid thickness depends on the blade geometry, topology type, and mesh density. Trial-and-error adjustments are sometimes required to establish a good value when creating the first mesh for a particular blade. 6. Leave Periodicity > Projection set to Float on Surface. This allows the periodic surface of the mesh to deviate from the geometric periodic surface, in order to improve mesh skewness properties along the periodic boundary. The topology on a given layer floats on the layer, but is not constrained to stop exactly on the intersection of the layer with the geometric periodic surface. 7. Click Apply.

8. Right-click Topology Set and turn off Suspend Object Updates. The Topology Set object name in the object selector changes to black non-italic text, indicating that this object is now fully specified and has been generated. After a short time, the topology appears on the hub and shroud as a structure of thick lines. Thinner lines show a preview of the mesh elements. Object updates are suspended by default. To save computational time, you should generally keep object updates suspended until you have finished defining the geometry. You must re-enable object updates and allow the topology to be generated before freezing the topology settings, which is the next step. 9. Click Freeze. It is recommended that you freeze the topology after you specify and generate it. This prevents the settings on the Advanced Parameters tab of Topology Set > Blade 1 from inadvertently changing. Without freezing the topology, unwanted changes to the topology block counts might occur as a result of making small adjustments to the topology (for example, moving a control point). Estimates of the total number of nodes and elements are displayed at the bottom left of the screen. These estimates are based on the default Mesh Data settings. Change the view to clearly show the topology on the hub:

1. Click Hide all geometry objects . 2. Turn off the visibility of Layers > Shroud Tip to hide the topology on the shroud tip. 3. Right-click a blank area in the viewer, and click Predefined Camera > View From +X from the shortcut menu. The mesh wraps around the blade at the leading and trailing edges. This is the main characteristic of the J-Grid topology. This completes the topology definition.

2.6. Reviewing the Mesh Data Settings The Mesh Data settings control the number and distribution of mesh elements. Open the Mesh Data object and review the settings, but leave them at their default values. Note that the target number of nodes is set to produce a coarse mesh. In the status bar in the bottom-left corner of ANSYS TurboGrid, you can see that the number of mesh nodes is on the order of 40000. As stated in the problem description for this tutorial, you will produce an initial coarse mesh and then, after verifying the mesh quality, you will increase the mesh density to produce a fine mesh. Leaving the mesh density coarse in the meantime will reduce processing time while you adjust the topology.

2.7. Reviewing the Mesh Quality on the Hub and Shroud Tip Layers
Layers are constant-span surfaces that are used for displaying and editing the topology, and for displaying a preview of the refined mesh. You have already seen the hub layer in Figure 2.1. At this point, there are two layers: Layers > Hub, and Layers > Shroud Tip. Before generating the 3D mesh, it is recommended that you check the mesh quality on the layers, especially the hub and shroud tip layers. By correcting any mesh problems early, you can save time by minimizing the number of times you generate the full 3D mesh. If the topology were grossly skewed or distorted on the hub or shroud tip layer, the Layers object would be shown with red text in the object selector. Since the Layers object is shown in black text, the mesh contains no regions with high skew on the hub and shroud tip layers. For a more detailed analysis of the mesh quality on a layer, open the layer object and read the list of mesh measures. If the mesh measures are not shown, select Refined Mesh Visibility and click Apply. The mesh measures show the extreme values for the mesh elements. If any of the mesh measures are considered bad, they are listed in red text. The criteria for bad mesh elements

are set in the Mesh Analysis > Mesh Limits object. You can double-click a red mesh measure to color the bad mesh elements red in the viewer. In this case, elements with a very high aspect ratio exist close to the blade. This is to be expected, especially for a coarse mesh.

2.8. Adding Intermediate Layers ANSYS TurboGrid can add layers as required in order to capture spanwise variations in the geometry. This process happens when you generate a mesh, but can also be initiated manually, as demonstrated next: Turn on the visibility of Layers > Shroud Tip to show the shroud layer, then right-click in the viewer and click Predefined Camera > Isometric View (Y up). By viewing the hub and shroud layers from this angle, you can see where the new layers are added. Open Layers.

Note that the message indicates that 1 layer will be added. Click Auto Add Layers . ANSYS TurboGrid adds additional layers as required; in this case, 1 layer is added. Turn on the visibility of Layers > Layer 1 to see the new layer in the viewer. To check the mesh quality on the new layer, open Layers > Layer 1, select Refined Mesh Visibility, and click Apply. Note that the face angles are acceptable on the new layer.

2.9. Generating the Mesh Now that the topology has been defined and the mesh quality is acceptable on all layers, generate the mesh: Click Insert > Mesh. After the mesh has been generated, 3D mesh measures are available. You will check these in the next section. Mesh visualization objects, listed under 3D Mesh, are also available. By default, one of these objects, called Show Mesh, is shown in the viewer. You can alter this object or view other 3D Mesh

objects to inspect different parts of the mesh. Later in this tutorial, you will view some of the objects listed under 3D Mesh. Before proceeding to the next section, turn off the visibility of 3D Mesh > Show Mesh so that you can see the mesh without obstruction. The mesh is relatively coarse. Such a mesh is suitable when you need to regenerate the mesh repeatedly in the course of improving the mesh quality. After attaining the required level of mesh quality, you should make a finer mesh. Later in this tutorial, you will generate a finer mesh.

Note: In some cases, the mesh quality can be adversely affected by increasing the mesh density, making further adjustments necessary

2.10.1. Analyzing the Coarse Mesh Quality

Now that the mesh has been generated, 3D mesh measures are available. These are analogous to the 2D mesh measures that are calculated on layers. As for the 2D mesh measures, the 3D mesh measures have quality criteria set in the Mesh Analysis > Mesh Limits object. When any mesh measure fails to meet the criteria, Mesh Analysis > Mesh Statistics (Error) will appear in red text in the object selector. With default criteria, there will almost always be some mesh elements that fall outside the criteria; a visual inspection of the mesh measures is usually required to determine whether the mesh is satisfactory. Check the 3D mesh statistics: 1. For a visual frame of reference, ensure that Layers > Hub and Layers > Shroud Tip are visible. 2. Open Mesh Analysis or Mesh Analysis > Mesh Statistics. The mesh statistics shown here may differ slightly from what you see:

In this case, Maximum Element Volume Ratio and Maximum Edge Length Ratio do not meet the criteria. Not all of the mesh statistics carry the same importance. For example, it is necessary to have a mesh with no negative volumes. Generally, poor angles should also be fixed, but Maximum Edge Length Ratio and Maximum Element Volume Ratio values should be judged based on your requirements.

3. Double-click Maximum Element Volume Ratio to display the elements that have an element volume ratio greater than 2 (the default criterion). Alternatively, you can select Maximum Element Volume Ratio and then click Display. A built-in volume object, Mesh Analysis > Show Limits, automatically changes its definition and appears in the viewer. This volume object includes the mesh elements that fail to meet the criteria for the selected mesh measure. The volume object appears mainly on the blade, hub, and shroud surfaces. This is normal. Note that part of the mesh upstream and downstream of the blade is also included in the volume object. To improve the element volume ratio in these regions, you will increase the mesh density later in this tutorial. 4. Double-click Maximum Edge Length Ratio to display the elements that have an edge length ratio greater than 100 (the default criterion). The Mesh Analysis > Show Limits object appears mainly on the blade, hub and shroud surfaces. This is normal. 5. Click Close. 6. Turn off the visibility of Mesh Analysis > Show Limits.
2.10.2. Looking at Mesh Data Values

The Mesh Data editor tabs can be used to set and display information about the mesh. In the following steps, you will examine the number and distribution of elements from hub to shroud tip and from shroud tip to shroud. 1. Open Mesh Data. 2. Click the Passage tab. Look in the Spanwise Blade Distribution Parameters section. Method is set to End Ratio with a value of 200. The other boxes in the section are grayed out, but show the current value for each option that ANSYS TurboGrid has calculated. You can see that # of Elements is 20. This will change when you refine the mesh later in this tutorial. 3. Click the Shroud Tip tab. Look in the Shroud Tip Distribution Parameters section. Method is set to Match Expansion at Blade Tip. You can see that the number of elements from shroud tip to shroud is 11.

2.10.3. Visualizing the Hub-to-Shroud Element Distribution

To demonstrate the use of the 3D Mesh visualization objects, and for comparison with the finer mesh that you will make later in this tutorial, look at the mesh distribution from hub to shroud as follows: 1. Click Unhide geometry objects . 2. Turn off the visibility of the following objects: Geometry > Blade Set > Blade 1 Layers > Hub Layers > Layer 1 Layers > Shroud Tip 3D Mesh > Show Mesh 3. Turn on the visibility of the following objects: 3D Mesh > LOWBLADE 3D Mesh > HIGHPERIODIC. 4. Observe the element distribution from hub to shroud tip and from shroud tip to shroud. See Figure 2.2.

2.14. Saving the Mesh Save the mesh: Click File > Save Mesh As. Ensure that File type is set to ANSYS CFX. Set Export Units to cm. Set File name to rotor37.gtm. Ensure that your working directory is set correctly. Click Save.