Arbitrary Shape Deformation technology to

speed up aerodynamic design processes:

an intake port case.

Whitepaper series
November 2009
Contents

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4
Engine intake port shape Optimization ....................................................................................... 4
The Sculptor™ impact .................................................................................................................. 5
Results ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 8
Executive Summary

This whitepaper discusses a method for improving a generic aerodynamic design process,
by using Arbitrary Shape Deformation (ASD) technologies.

To this end, it proposes a procedure to generate multiple Computational Fluid Dynamics

(CFD) model variants, while keeping Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computing
Grid Generators out of the design process loop. An in-depth explanation of Sculptor™
ASD technology implementation in an automotive engine intake port optimization is
included.

For more in-depth information, visit:

www.optimalsolutions.us
or contact:
sculptor@enginsoft.com
Introduction
This report aims to propose a general
method for speeding up any shape
design process, by using Arbitrary Shape
Deformation (ASD) technologies.
A representative showcase of this
innovative procedure is the shape
optimization of an automotive engine
intake port. In internal combustion
engines, the intake port shape is crucial
to control the air flow entering the
cylinder, and hence emissions and
performances. Therefore, the goal was to
increase the air mass flow rate entering
the cylinder. Simultaneously, cross-
sectional areas of the intake port were
also constrained to vary within a range
of +/- 15% of the baseline geometry
during the optimization.
The challenge was tackled by connecting
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
with Sculptor™ ASD technology. A
total of 124 different configurations
were solved as part of the study, and an
overall gain of 1.94% was found within
the prescribed limits.
Figure 1 – Original and improved designs
Sculptor™ allowed to complete the
optimization in a week, while with a
traditional process it would have taken
several weeks or months.
The total design costs were reduced by
about 86%.
Engine intake port shape
Optimization
The goal of the optimization process was
to increase the mass flow entering an
engine combustion chamber at a fixed
pressure drop, by morphing the intake
port channels. This was crucial to
improve engine emissions and
performances without expensive engine
layout changes.
Such mass flow increase can be
forecasted by CFD simulations. Hence,
CFD had to be integrated with mesh
morphing and optimization techniques,
so that the design process turned out to
be feasible with ordinary resources.
Figure 2 - CFD model of the engine chamber
The CFD model was set up by applying
a total pressure of 0 Pa at the plenum
inlet, and a -16.9kPa pressure outlet
boundary condition at the exit. All
analyses were carried out at a single
valve lift of 10.0mm. A standard k-ε
turbulence model with non-equilibrium
wall functions was used. The volume
mesh was fully tetrahedral, and
contained 2.7 million cells.
The Sculptor™ impact
Sculptor enables to apply rapid, high-
fidelity parameterization and then
deformations of any volumetric
geometry. This can be imported either
from a CFD, mesh or CAD tool.
By defining only eleven independent
parameters, directly over the CFD model
imported in Sculptor, it was possible to
obtain the wanted freedom for the intake
port shape design.
Figure 3 - Design Variable 1
Figure 4 - Design Variables 2 - 6
Figure 5 - Design Variables 7 - 11
Also constraints on maximum cross
sectional area variations were imposed.
Figure 6 – Constraints on section areas
Below, an outline of the operations
performed within Sculptor to create such
a parameterization and define the
optimization is presented.
Step 1 – CFD import, ASD volume
creation
The original CFD case file was imported
in Sculptor.
The ASD volume, that is the entity
needed to implement the volumetric
mesh deformations, had to be defined.
To that purpose, an initial ASD box was
first created around the boundary zone of
interest, and then adjusted and
subdivided with a series of planes. The
nodes at intersections of the planes were
later used to control the deformation of
the geometry. Any geometry/volume
mesh that sits outside of the ASD
volume is not modified so it is possible
to isolate changes to an accurately
defined volume.
Figure 7 -- Generation of the ASD volume

After that, the ASD volume was
“frozen”. This operation links ASD
nodes and volume mesh, so that any
following morphing is almost
instantaneous. With the considered mesh
size, this operation took three hours on a
standard workstation.
Figure 8 -- Completed ASD volume around
runner
Step 2 – Volume Deformation
Once the volume had been frozen, it was
possible to group and deform the
geometry by control points. It was in fact
possible to create new CFD intake port
models by simply moving these points,
and export them in a few seconds.
To apply the desired parameterization,
control points were grouped together
accordingly to Fig.s 3-5.
The allowed deformations (area scaling,
translations and rotations) were set for
each control group. Such entities were
defined as the parameters for the
following optimization. Bounds were
defined for each one of them, in order to
respect both the described geometrical
constraints (cross sectional area
maximum percentage variation) and cell
volume/skewness limits.
This way, the mesh quality remains
consistent with the original case.
Step 3 – CFD automation and
optimization
Sculptor manipulates only the node co-
ordinates in the volume mesh, and not
the connectivity or CFD setup: hence,
re-converging a previously computed
solution is extremely fast.
For the intake port case, re-converging
the solution reduced the number of
iterations required to get to a steady
mass flow from 4000 to 500, saving
nearly 90% of the CPU time
Although Sculptor offers a built-in, easy-
to-use and efficient mono-objective
optimizer, it is as well possible to
connect it with any external optimizer
software or user defined routines.
For the intake port optimization, this last
option was chosen. Sculptor steered the
CFD code automatically, following a
user defined optimization plan, by
applying modifications and running
multiple deformations without requiring
any user input.
The first scan of the design space was a
set of 77 different combinations of the
parameters. This phase was followed by
three design refinement campaigns,
automated by Sculptor, until a
satisfactory solution was found after 124
evaluations (see Fig.9).
Thanks to Sculptor, the overall time for
the optimization was approximately
eight days. The split between CPU time
and man time was approximately 85% -
15%.
Results
Satisfactory improvements were found
after 124 design variant computations,
driven by a user defined optimization
strategy shown below.
increased on the opposite side (Fig.s 11 -
12). The changes to the runner reduced
the local velocities thus reducing some
of the losses. The decrease in cross-
sectional area around the port altered the
flow local to the surface downstream of
the valve stem. With the optimized
geometry the surface flow is injected
behind the valve stem slightly more
rapidly leading to a small reduction in
the size of the stem wake.

Figure 9 - Mass flow rate results over the

optimization process

The results from that run are shown

below: with subtle shape modifications,
a 1.9% increase of the mass flow rate
was achieved without any compromise
on the pressure drop.

Figure 11 - Comparison of geometries, blue =

initial, red = optimized
Figure 10 - Comparison of air mass flow and
total pressure on the surface of the two intake
ports The described optimal solution respects
the constraints imposed in the section
The optimum shown a general increase area maximum variations.
of the cross-sectional areas in the runner,
while the area of the port was reduced
near the centerline of the bore, and
 References

Optimal Solutions Software LLC.

(2009) Motor Company Intake Ports.
Idaho Falls, ID:
http://www.optimalsolutions.us/case-
studies/automotive.php

Cross, M., & Smith, D., Advantage

Figure 12 - Comparison of cross section areas, CFD. (2005). Generic Automotive
blue = initial, red = optimized Engine Intake Port Optimisation
(ACFD # VA178). Brackley, England
The optimum was a complex
combination of the considered
parameters: without Sculptor’s mesh
morphing technology applied to the CFD
model and the optimization approach, it
would have been simply impossible to
reach in a reasonable timeframe. In fact,
these results were obtained while
reducing the overall time needed for the
design process from several weeks or
month to just one week.
Key factors were:

Sculptor applied shape modifications

directly to the CFD model: CAD and
mesher out from optimization loop

Sculptor avoided any re-CAD or re-

meshing operations to generate new
designs;

Sculptor re-started each new CFD

run from the previous
configuration’s converged CFD
solution.
Conclusions
Thanks to Sculptor, the geometry of a
generic automotive intake port was
parameterized by means of eleven
variables, directly at a CFD mesh model
level. The device was successfully
improved through a 124 designs
optimization campaign, keeping only
Sculptor and the CFD tool in the loop.
Intake port air mass flow was increased
by 1.94% for a given pressure drop,
whilst staying within a +/- 15% cross-
sectional area constraint in the runner
and port.
The entire process was possible in just
over a week.
The total costs were 86% less with
respect to the traditional design method:
see table below.
A similar design process can be
extended to any shape design challenge.
Sculptor™:
• parameterizes volumes directly from
the CFD case file or mesh file;
• avoids any re-meshing;
• keeps CAD and mesher out from the
design loop;
• offers built-in, easy-to-use optimizer;
• through batch mode functionality,
can be connected to any external
optimization software (such as
modeFRONTIER®) or user routine.
• transfers the shape of the optimal
CFD model back to the original
CAD file (Back-to-CAD).
About Optimal Solutions Software
Sculptor™ is developed by Optimal
Solutions Software LLC, based in
Idaho, USA. The Optimal Solutions
Management team is comprised
of some of the most experienced CFD-
based shape optimization
personnel in the business. Since 1990,
the research team has
expended thousands of man-hours in
designing and refining the
Sculptor™ software program to its
present form. Through the
development of the Sculptor™ world-
class, patents-pending
product family, Optimal Solutions has
been able to effectively
address the current barriers that prevent
the efficient use of digital
simulation.
www.optimalsolutions.us

About EnginSoft
EnginSoft is a consulting company
operating in the field of
Computer-Aided-Engineering (CAE).
Founded in 1984 to
disseminate new insights and techniques
in computational
engineering, EnginSoft is today a
growing force with over 80
employees, 6 offices, and partnerships
with both companies and
universities all over the Europe.
EnginSoft's mission is to spread the
culture of digital design
technology within both production and
research environments.
EnginSoft is the distributor of Sculptor™
in European countries.
www.enginsoft.com