Lecture 6

Static Data Transfers

14. 5 Release

Solving FSI Applications Using

ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS Fluent
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Outline
Direct Project Schematic Connections
Details on mapping CFD loads to Mechanical by connection cells on the
project schematic

External Data Connection to Mechanical

This discusses using External Data to import loads to Mechanical

External Data Connection to System Coupling

Covers External Data connection to System Coupling, which can then
connect to Fluent or Mechanical

Appendix A: Loads files via Fluent Mapping Panels

Appendix B: Manual Export from CFD-Post

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Direct Project Schematic Connections

Supports surface Force, Temperature or HTC

Supports volumetric Temperature transfer
Does not support transfer from Mechanical to Fluent
Interpolation is performed in the background by CFD-Post
Automated and persistent workflow in a single WB project

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Integrated Process in Workbench

Geometry

CHT Mesh

CFD CHT Solution

Thermal Loads

Pressure Loads

Thermal Stress Solution

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Imported Loads
In Mechanical an Imported Load entry will automatically be added to the
tree when a Fluent Solution cell is connected to a Mechanical system

Right-click on the Imported Load (Solution) to import:

Pressure or Body Temperature load in a Structural system

Temperature or Convection Coefficient surface load in a thermal system

Select the Imported Pressure etc

object to set the details (next slide)
See the Imported Load Transfer
Summary for details on the values
transferred, including any unmapped
nodes

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Imported Loads: Details panel

There are two Scoping Methods for imported loads
Geometry Selection: Select faces on solid geometry to transfer

CFD loads
Named Selection: Select existing named selections to transfer
CFD loads

All boundary condition or zone names in the Fluent

results file will be exposed via a drop-down

Can only pick a single CFD region per Imported Load object

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Imported Loads: Viewing

After setting the details and Generating the Imported Load
object, select the Imported Pressure/Temperature etc
object to view a contour or vector plot

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Imported Loads: Transfer Summary

After Generating the Imported Load object, select the Imported
Load Transfer Summary object to view details about the import

Important to check for unmapped nodes and

comparable values on the CFD and Mechanical
sides

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Pressure Transfer to Mechanical Systems

Pressure data is transferred from Fluent
to a Mechanical Static/Transient
Structural or Shape Optimization system
Mechanical nodal values are calculated
by linear interpolation from the
surrounding CFD nodes

Not conservative

If interpolation process cannot find a

face to map to, then closest point is
chosen

Mapping can be slow for large cases

Octree mapper can be used instead

(beta), discussed later

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Thermal Surface Transfer to Mechanical

Surface Temperature or Wall Heat Transfer Coefficient data is
transferred from Fluent to Mechanical via a Thermal system

Static Thermal, Transient Thermal, Thermal Electric systems

Solid temperature field will be solved in Mechanical

If CFD results already have a solid temperature field, consider using a body
load transfer to a structural system

Make sure thermal material properties (specific heat, thermal

conductivity, density) are consistent between CFD and Mechanical
setups if the CFD solution included the solids
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Thermal Surface Transfer to Mechanical

Can import Temperature or
Convection Coefficient
If conjugate heat transfer (CHT)
has been solved in Fluent,
Temperature will be available on
the solid side and should be used
Otherwise only the fluid-side
temperature will exist, which
should not be used, so choose
Convection Coefficient

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Thermal Surface Transfer to Mechanical

The Convection Coefficient uses
Wall Heat Transfer Coefficient from
CFD-Post

This maps to Wall Func. Heat Tran.

Coef in Fluent

Choose CFD Near-wall Temperature

as the Ambient Temp Type

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This is consistent with the way the HTC

is calculated in Fluent
After solving, check that the calculated
surface temperatures in Mechanical
match those in Fluent

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Thermal Surface Transfer to Mechanical

Wall Func. Heat Tran. Coef, like a
number of post-processing quantities in
Fluent are not stored in the Fluent data
file
Many quantities are computed on-the-fly
in Fluent

To transfer a Convection Coefficient to

Mechanical, Wall Func. Heat Tran. Coef
must be output as an additional data
quantity from Fluent
Also a requirement to post-process Wall

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Heat Transfer Coefficient in CFD-Post

Data file quantities panel is accessible via
File > Data File Quantities or via Data File
Quantities button in Run Calculation panel

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Heat Transfer Coefficients in Fluent

Wall Func. Heat Trans. Coef.

This is the HTC that is transferred to Mechanical

Available for viscous flow, with energy solved but not Eulerian
multiphase

For multiphase/invisid cases schematic connections will not work for

HTC

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For laminar flow is computed based on the Prandtl number (0.85

by default); in general this is not a good representation of the
HTC
For turbulent flow this HTC is based on wall functions
The reference temperature is the adjacent cell temperature
(named Wall Adjacent Temperature in CFD-Post)

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Heat Transfer Coefficients in Fluent

Surface Heat Transfer Coef.

Available for viscous flow, with energy solved but not Eulerian
multiphase

To use this HTC use one of other approaches discussed later

Calculated based on the boundary heat flux, the outer wall

temperature and the reference temperature:
Surface Heat Transfer Coef. = q / (TWALL-TREF)

where TREF is set on the Reference Values panel in Fluent

TREF = Local cell temperature
Note: This can be evaluated using Custom Field Function of (Total Heat Surface
Heat Flux - Radiation Heat Flux) / (Wall Temperature (Outer Surface) - Static
Temperature) and plotting without node values

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Heat Transfer Coefficients in Fluent

Custom Surface HTC based on adjacent cell temperature

A Custom Field Function can be used to calculate the following HTC

HTC = (Total Heat Surface Heat Flux - Radiation Heat Flux) / (Wall
Temperature (Outer Surface) - Static Temperature)

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Like Surface Heat Transfer Coef., this HTC is based on the boundary
heat flux, but the reference temperature used here is the adjacent
cell temperature

It gives exactly the same HTC values as Wall Func. Heat Trans. Coef.

Can be calculated when energy is solved

To use this HTC use one of other approaches discussed later

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Comparing Fluent HTCs

TREF=TINLET
Surface Heat Transfer Coef.

Adjacent Cell Temperature

=
Wall Func. Heat Trans. Coef
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Custom HTC based on adjacent cell temp.

Release 14.5

Surface Data Mapping

CFD-Post performs the mapping process for vector and
scalar quantities

Mechanical nodal values are transferred by linear interpolation

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from the surrounding CFD face nodes

If the interpolation process cannot find a face to map to, then
the closest point is chosen
The mapping is not conservative
The interpolation process can be slow for large cases
An octree surface mapping option (beta) is available to speed
up surface mapping

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Octree Surface Mapper

Surface mapping option (beta) to
speed up surface mapping
Turn on Edit > Options > CFD-Post >
Enable Beta Features and Enable
Octree FSI Surface Mapping
Octree mapping will then be used for
surface transfers from CFX or Fluent to
Mechanical (via Workbench and via Post
manually)
Must set this option in CFD-Post then
restart CFD-Post

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Octree Surface Mapper

The algorithm creates 3D elements
by extruding the CFD boundary
mesh in the surface normal
direction

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These 3D elements are called the

virtual layer

Structural nodes that lie inside the CFD

domain or inside the virtual layer are
mapped

In general, the thinnest virtual layer

that ensures all nodes are mapped will
provide the best results

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Octree Surface Mapper

Set Layer Tolerance by either:

Percentage of Domain Extents

If the domain extents are 50[m], setting

the Layer Tolerance to a value of 0.5,

would result in a Layer Thickness = ( 0.5
/ 100 ) * 50 = 0.25[m]
Setting the value in this way is useful for
cases with coarse CFD meshes

Percentage of Average Face Extents

If the average of all boundary face extents
is 0.2[m], setting the Layer Tolerance to a
value of 20 would result in a Layer
Thickness = (20 / 100) * 0.2 = 0.04[m]
Setting the value in this way is useful for
cases with finer CFD meshes, or for cases
with mesh refinement

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Octree Surface Mapper

Only surfaces that are closely aligned will be mapped

For Temperature transfer, data is mapped from the

Fluent nodes to the Mechanical nodes (i.e. the DOF is
specified directly in Mechanical)
Unmapped nodes are assigned the average domain Temperature

For Heat Flux, HTC and Stress vector transfer, data is

mapped from the Fluent nodes to surface element faces
in Mechanical
The surface element receives the average value of the Fluent
nodes mapped to that face
Only the Fluent nodes that are mapped contribute to the average
If no nodes are mapped for a given element face, a zero
value/vector is sent

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Thermal Body Load Transfer to

Mechanical
Temperature body loads are
transferred from Fluent to a
Mechanical Static/Transient Structural
or Shape Optimization system to
perform a thermal stress analysis

Solve CFD CHT analysis for combined

fluid and solid
Connect to a structural system and
insert a Body Temperature

Can only select a single Fluent solid

zone per import
Can also insert a surface Pressure load
if necessary
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Thermal Body Load Transfer to Mechanical

After importing the load, check the transfer summary

In particular, check for unmapped nodes

Unmapped nodes are currently assigned the average domain

temperature

Adjusting the Interpolation Tolerance in CFD-Post can usually

avoid un-mapped nodes
Start CFD-Post: Edit > Options > CFD-Post

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Is saved as a preference when CFD-Post is closed

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Thermal Body Load Transfer to Mechanical

CFD-Post creates a virtual layer of elements around the
edges of the CFD domain when performing the mapping

Structural nodes that lie inside the CFD domain or inside the virtual
layer are mapped

The Interpolation Tolerance controls the size of the virtual layer. The
default is 0.5% of the CFD domain extent.

Increasing the Interpolation Tolerance may allow un-mapped

structural nodes to fall inside the virtual layer
For some geometries with sharp edges (e.g. cooling fins) a
virtual layer that is too thick produces highly skewed virtual
elements that cause the interpolation to fail

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Reducing the Interpolation Tolerance can help here

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Alternative Thermal Stress Workflow

Instead of passing a Body Temperature to a Structural system, thermal
stress can also be solved by passing a surface temperature/HTC to a
Mechanical Thermal system, solving the solid volumetric temperature,
then passing the Body Temperature to the Structural system

Thermal surface transfer

from fluid to thermal system

Thermal body transfer from

thermal to structural system

Optional Pressure surface transfer

from fluid to structural system
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Thermal Surface Load vs Body Load

Transferring a body load directly to a structural system avoids
the need for re-solving the temperature field in a Mechanical
thermal system
When to consider using a surface load transfer:

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Mapping algorithms are different. Surface mapping provides another

route if there are problems with the volume temperature mapping

If you havent solved CHT in the fluid system, then only Wall HTC data
is available so must use surface mapping

However, the wall temperature used in Fluent to generate the HTC

will not have been exactly correct

Can export the wall temperature from Mechanical, import into

Fluent and re-solve to get a more accurate HTC

Will need to iterate towards a converged HTC

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Time-Averaged Data Transfer

Time-averaged data is useful for
many different applications
Averaged pressure loads from
transient CFD
LES, DES, Multiphase etc.

Averaged HTC or Temperature loads

from transient CFD
Turbine blade cooling, cylinder heads,
electronic cooling, furnaces etc.

No built-in support for timeaveraged data transfer

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Time-Averaged Data Transfer

Variable names transferred from Fluent to
Mechanical are:
Wall Func. Heat Tran. Coef, Pressure and
Temperature

To transfer a time-averaged quantity:

Use Fluent UDF to over-write variables in Fluent
data file with time averaged quantities (sample
outline shown)

Transfer data as usual to Mechanical

Refer to Fluent UDF manual and/or tutorials for
further information

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Example: Time-Averaged Data Transfer

Cycle Averaged Temperature Data

Instantaneous Temperature Data

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Example: Time-Averaged Data Transfer

For this example, two UDF macros are
used
DEFINE_EXECUTE_AT_END
This fills user-defined memory (UDM) locations
with summated and averaged quantity values (i.e.
temperature)
User defines and controls UDM

DEFINE_ON_DEMAND
This overwrites cell and face instantaneous
quantities with the averaged values from userdefined memory (UDM)
Save new Fluent data file such that new timeaveraged values can be transferred to
Mechanical
This macro is invoked at end of cycle
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Execute at End Function Hook

Execute on Demand

Release 14.5

Using Transient CFD Results

Data from Transient CFD results can be
transferred to steady state and transient
Mechanical systems

A single Source Time can be selected from

a drop-down list when the Imported
<Variable> is highlighted in Outline panel
By default, the last time step is used
Load step End Time must match Analysis
Time for Imported Load

Fluent data sets must be complete

Partial data (i.e. cdat) is not supported for

imported loads

Not practical for many time steps

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Need an Imported Load for each time step

Load mapping repeated n times slow

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Select time from drop-down list

Release 14.5

Using Transient CFD Results

Other approaches for 1-way Transient
FSI:
1. Use co-simulation; send data only 1way

This is the preferred approach when

possible
Automated load transfer; faster and
more accurate mapping
Must run both codes simultaneously
with a common time step

In System Coupling the Data

Transfers can be suppressed or
deleted to easily switch to a 1way analysis

2. Use External Data see next section

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Using Transient CFD Results

3. Use ACT (Application Customization Toolkit) extension to
automate load file creation for all time steps and reading
them in during the Mechanical solution

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

Contact support for further information

January 4, 2013

Release 14.5

Outline
Direct Project Schematic Connections
Details on mapping CFD loads to Mechanical by connection cells on the
project schematic

External Data Connection to Mechanical

This discusses using External Data to import loads to Mechanical

External Data Connection to System Coupling

Covers External Data connection to System Coupling, which can then
connect to Fluent or Mechanical

Appendix A: Loads files via Fluent Mapping Panels

Appendix B: Manual Export from CFD-Post

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External Data Component

The External Data Component allows data to be imported into ANSYS
Mechanical from an external ASCII file

Supports volumetric/surface Temperature, Pressure, HTC, Heat Flux,

volumetric Heat Generation and Displacementb

Can be used as an alternative to the standard 1-way mapping

Export a data file from CFD-Post, Fluent or elsewhere, then import via
External Data

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Consider Using External Data When

You want to map a non-standard variable, e.g. a transient
average

You want to perform 2D mapping to Mechanical

The External Data mapping algorithms are preferred to those of
CFD-Post

You want to use lower resolution data from CFD results instead
of mapping every node
Create a Point Cloud in CFD-Post then export data

Fluid and structural geometries are in different coordinate

frames
Export data using a local coordinate frame in CFD-Post or apply
transformations in External Data

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Consider Using External Data When

You want to edit the exported data before import to
Mechanical

You want to perform a transient 1-way FSI simulation in

Mechanical

A workflow based on a single project is not convenient

E.g. fluid and structural groups using different Workbench projects

You dont have a CFD-Post license available when importing the

data into Mechanical

The interpolation is too slow using the standard approach

Could also use the Point Cloud method to speed up

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External Data Component

The main disadvantage of using External Data is that the workflow is
disconnected no automatic data updates
The External Data uses the mapping algorithms built into ANSYS
Mechanical rather than the mapping based on CFD Post

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External Data Approach: Export

1. Load the CFD Results file into CFD
Post
2. Select File > Export External Data
File
Pick the Location that you wish to export
data for and select the variables that you
wish to export for the external data
transfer
Formatting is more automated in
External Data when using this file format
OR

Select File > Export

To perform a generic export, making
sure Export Geometry Information is
checked
Export of volumetric quantities must be
done this way
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Notes for Generic File > Export

Line 7

When using the generic File > Export the csv file that you export from
CFD-Post includes a header which shows the variables that have been
exported along with their units.

When you read the file into External Data, be sure to skip the header
and start the import at the first line of the actual data

You will need to tell External Data what quantity each column
represents
This is automated when using the External Data (.axdt) file format

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Adding an External Data Component

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Drag an External Data Component system on the Project Schematic

Link the Setup cell of the External Data system to the Setup cell of
Mechanical system which will receive the data

Edit the Setup cell of the External Data system to specify the file and
the data that will be imported

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Specifying the External File for Import

Inside the External Data system, click in the Location field to select
the file for import

Browse to select the file

Note that multiple files can be selected
here by using the Ctrl key

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Setting the File Format and Delimiter

The Format Type will be

AXDT if an External Data file
was exported nothing
else needs setting

For other files, including

CFD-Post csv files:
Set the format type to
Delimited and the Delimiter
Type to Comma
Set the Start Import At Line
correctly if the file includes a
header (line 7 in this case)

Can transform
the x, y, z
coordinates
here

Check the preview to see if the

data imported is correct
z [m]
x [m]

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Tnw [K]

h [W/m^2/K]

y [m]

Release 14.5

Setting the Data Columns

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For AXDT files the Data

Type and Data Units will
have been automatically
set, but should be checked

For other files types click in

the drop-downs under
Data Type to correctly set
the variable contained in
each of the columns and
set the correct units under
Data Units

In the Project Schematic

Update the External Data
Setup cell

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Importing the External Load

When you open

Mechanical, the imported
load will appear in the
Model tree

To insert the load, rightclick on the Imported Load

entry and choose Insert >
and the appropriate load

For a thermal system,

choices include Heat Flux,
Heat Generation,
Temperature and
Convection Coefficient

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Convection Coefficient

When importing a
Convection Coefficient,
Mechanical expects both
an Ambient Temperature
and a Heat Transfer
Coefficient in the input file

Make sure the Ambient

Temperature is consistent
with that used when
calculating the HTC - see
earlier discussion on HTCs
in Fluent

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Scaling and Offset

In Mechanical a Scale factor and an Offset value can be applied to the

incoming data values

Recall that coordinate transforms are applied in External Data, but

data transforms are applied here in Mechanical

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Displaying the Mapped Data

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To import load, right click on the imported

load and choose Import Load

If the imported data contains more than

one field (i.e. Convection Coefficient and
Ambient Temperature), you can choose
which is displayed using the Data field in
the Details view for the imported load

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Displaying the Mapped Data

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After import, can right-click on the

imported load to Export the mapped
data to a txt file

Set Displace Source Points to On to

show the data points from External
Data on the model

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Mapping Controls

Mapping Controls available in

Mechanical

Weighting (smoothing) algorithm

options:

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Triangulation: Good default. Can

give poor results if target points not
found within the source point cloud

Kriging: Regression-based
interpolation technique that can
give smoother mapping

Distance Based Average: Simple

robust method which can give a
mapping when other weightings fail

Triangulation versus Kriging smoothing

See Mechanical Applications doc:

// Mechanical User Guide // C. Data Transfer
Mesh Mapping
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Checking Mapped Nodes

When data is mapped to nodes (as

opposed to surface elements), an
option is available to create a
Named Selection based on:

Unmapped Nodes: All target nodes in

Mechanical that cannot be mapped

Mapped Nodes: All target nodes in

Mechanical that were mapped

Outside Nodes: All nodes that cannot

be found within tetrahedrons when
using the Triangulation weighting
algorithm (these nodes would default
to the Distance Based Average
weighting)

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Mapping Validation

Right-click on an Imported Load

to insert a Validation object and
set the Type
See next slide for details

Turn Display In Parent On to show the

validation data when the parent imported
load object is selected (example on next
slide)

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Mapping Validation

Reverse Mapping: maps the

data back to the source and
shows the difference
Distance Based Average
Comparison: maps using the
simple distance weighted
algorithm and then compares
to the data mapped using the
currently selected mapping
method
Source Value: displays the
source data points and values
Undefined Points: unmapped
nodes

Reverse Mapping
differences overlaid with
mapped data (Display In
Parent = On)

Source Value validation draws source

load values directly on model
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Transient Cases with External Data

Transient 1-way FSI to Mechanical is

performed by importing load files for
a number of time steps into External
Data

Do not process files one at a time!

Multi-select files for all time steps when

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importing
Multi-select imported files when setting
properties
Follow documented procedure:
// User's Guide // Systems //
Component Systems // External Data //
Importing Multiple Data Sets
No requirements to use the same time
step in CFD and FEA

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Multiple Data Sets and Master File

Importing multiple load files is also useful when you are mapping
to many different bodies/surfaces

When dealing with multiple files, if all files have the same X,Y,Z
coordinate data (e.g. transient case), designating one file as the
Master will greatly speed up mapping

Mapping weights are only calculated once, then re-used

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Outline
Direct Project Schematic Connections
Details on mapping CFD loads to Mechanical by connection cells on the
project schematic

External Data Connection to Mechanical

This discusses using External Data to import loads to Mechanical

External Data Connection to System Coupling

Covers External Data connection to System Coupling, which can then
connect to Fluent or Mechanical

Appendix A: Loads files via Fluent Mapping Panels

Appendix B: Manual Export from CFD-Post

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External Data to System Coupling

An External Data to System
Coupling connection provides
steady-state 1-way thermal
transfers:
One-way transfer of Heat Flow or
Temperature to Fluent via
External Data
One-way transfer of Heat Flow,
Temperature or Heat Transfer
Coefficient to Mechanical via
External Data

External Data can be used to provide static

thermal data to either Fluent or Mechanical

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External Data to System Coupling

Why have another method for 1-way thermal
transfers?

A step towards 2-way and 1-way transient thermal

transfers in version 15.0

Can transfer data to either Fluent or Mechanical

Other methods only transfer to Mechanical

Can perform a series of 1-way transfers to get a 2-way solution

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Provides access to System Coupling features, e.g. the

conservative mapping algorithm for conserved quantities
(Heat Flow)

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Workflow Example
1

1.

2.

3.

4.
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External Data file (.axdt)

from an existing analysis
provides Temperature
boundary data to Fluent
via System Coupling
After solving Fluent, HTC
and Near Wall
Temperature are
exported to a .axdt file
an read into External
Data
Mechanical solves using
the Fluent HTC
boundary data and
exports a .axdt file
containing Temperature
Repeat 1 3 as
necessary

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AXDT

File

2
AXDT

File

3
AXDT

File

Release 14.5

AXDT File
The AXDT file is a simple text
file format
File contains node locations,
thermal data and element face
data from the source mesh
Face data is necessary to allow
conservative data transfer

AXDT files can be created by:

Export from CFD-Post
Automatically written at the end
of a Steady-State Thermal
analysis
Using Excel or output from other
solvers/post-processors
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AXDT Export from CFD-Post

Use File > Export > Export
External Data File in CFD-Post

Fluent or CFX results

For CHT results pick the

Location carefully

Typically want the solid side

when exporting Temperature
but the fluid side for HTC and
Wall Adjacent Temperature
Heat Flow wont be available
on interface regions in Fluent
results

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AXDT Export from CFD-Post

Recommend variables are
presented

HTC and Wall Adjacent

Temperature: uses Wall Heat
Transfer Coefficient (which is
based on Wall Func. Heat
Trans. Coef) and its associated
reference temperature. Fluent
does not calculate this for
laminar or Eulerian mutliphase
Heat Flow: this is a
conservative quantity
Temperature
Can also select your own variables
if necessary
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AXDT Export from Steady-State Thermal

On a Fluid Solid Interface the
Export Results option (default is
Yes) triggers a macro
(dumpFSIHeats.mac) that writes
out the AXDT file after the solve

File written to the directory

containing the Thermal solution
Named fsin_#.axdt, where #
corresponds to the Interface
Number
Contains Temperature and Heat
Flow
Turn off when export is not needed
can be slow for large cases

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Load AXDT File into External Data

Edit External Data Setup and specify the AXDT file

Follow the same process as discussed earlier in the External Data

Connection to Mechanical section
Connect the External Data Setup cell and either the Fluent or Steady-State
Thermal Setup cell to the System Coupling Setup cell

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Define Regions to Receive the Data

To define the location that will receive the thermal data:
In Mechanical create a Fluid Solid Interface
In Fluent use the via System Coupling option as the Thermal condition on
a Wall boundary

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System Coupling Setup

Update the upstream Setup
cells then Refresh and Edit the
System Coupling Setup cell
External Data regions and
regions that can receive data in
Mechanical/Fluent are listed in
System Coupling
Multi-select regions and rightclick to create Data Transfers
as usual
Enable beta features to allow
1-to-many Data Transfers i.e.
a single External Data region
to many Fluent or Mechanical
boundaries
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System Coupling Setup

Since this is 1-way FSI, under
System Coupling Analysis
Settings use a single Coupling
Iteration
If multiple steps are used then
MAPDL will ramp the load
linearly over the Number of
Steps for a Steady-State
analysis
Update the System Coupling
Solution cell to solve the case

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System Coupling Solution

Mapping is performed at runtime by System Coupling
Check the Mapping Summary
in the output as usual
Temperature and HTC use
Profile Preserving mapping,
Heat Flow uses Conservative
mapping
Same debug controls
E.g. DumpInterfaceMeshes
or DTDiagShowAll to show
additional mapping
diagnostics (beta)

Loads are passed to Fluent or

MAPDL solver at run-time
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Summary

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There are a number of workflows for transferring static data

between Fluent and Mechanical

For Fluent to Mechanical data transfer, the direct schematic

connections are easy to use and are often the first choice

Using External Data provides more workflow flexibility since

theres no need for a single project and it extends easily to
transient 1-way Fluent to Mechanical cases

The External Data connection to System Coupling allows data to

be passed from Mechanical to Fluent in addition to Fluent to
Mechanical and provides conservative Heat Flow mapping

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Outline
Direct Project Schematic Connections
Details on mapping CFD loads to Mechanical by connection cells on the
project schematic

External Data Connection to Mechanical

This discusses using External Data to import loads to Mechanical

External Data Connection to System Coupling

Covers External Data connection to System Coupling, which can then
connect to Fluent or Mechanical

Appendix A: Loads files via Fluent Mapping Panels

Appendix B: Manual Export from CFD-Post

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Fluent Mapping Panels

Supports thermal and structural
loads for surfaces and volumes
Temperature, Heat Transfer
Coefficient (Wall Function,
Adjacent Cell Temperature and
Reference Temperature), Heat
Flux, Pressure, Force

Efficient interpolation to

structural mesh in Fluent

Workflow is not automated or
persistent by default
But can be scripted in WB

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Fluent Mapping Panels

Uses libraries from Visual

Kinematics Inc. (VKI) to read and
write FEA file formats

Libraries also allow FEA mesh to be

displayed in Fluent

For each FEA node/element a binary

search partition (BSP) tree
algorithm is used to find closest
node in Fluent mesh
Example: Find the point on the curved line
which is closest to the blue point BSP tree

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Data is then interpolated from the

closest node

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Fluent Mapping Panels

Scripting and Command Snippets can be used to
automate the workflow

See workshop for example

Consider using the Fluent mapping panels:

If you are using Fluent outside of Workbench and wish to

generate load files for Mechanical/MAPDL

To generate load files for non-ANSYS FEA solvers

If mapping using the CFD-Post algorithms produces unmapped

nodes that cannot be corrected or is slow

See Fluent documentation for further details:

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// User's Guide :: 2 // 4. Reading and Writing Files // 4.20.

Mapping Data for Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) Applications //
4.20.2. Using the FSI Mapping Dialog Boxes

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Outline
Direct Project Schematic Connections
Details on mapping CFD loads to Mechanical by connection cells on the
project schematic

External Data Connection to Mechanical

This discusses using External Data to import loads to Mechanical

External Data Connection to System Coupling

Covers External Data connection to System Coupling, which can then
connect to Fluent or Mechanical

Appendix A: Loads files via Fluent Mapping Panels

Appendix B: Manual Export from CFD-Post

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Manual 1-way Mapping

The project schematic connection approach is launching
CFD-Post in the background to perform the mapping
Can use CFD-Post to manually generate a load file, for
example when using Mechanical APDL:

Write out a .cdb file containing the Mechanical surface or volume

mesh
Load the .cdb and CFD results files into CFD-Post then export a
load file
Read the load file into Mechanical

The following slides describe how to do this in Workbench

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Generally not necessary, but could be used to apply a load from a

CFD solution that is not in the current project or apply a heat flux
(which is not supported via the direct connections)
The commands shown can be applied in MAPDL
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Release 14.5

Manual 1-way Mapping

Write out the .cdb file from Mechanical/
APDL using the CDWRITE command:
For Mechanical in WB, can insert a Command

Snippet similar to that shown and Solve

The example shown for Temperature body
mapping refers to a Named Selection of solid
bodies called SolidPart
This writes the .cdb file without solving the
model due to the /EOF command

/PREP7
CMSEL,S,SolidPart
NSLE,S,ACTIVE
CDWRITE,DB,Export,cdb
ALLS
/SOLU
/EOF

Note that youll get a solution error when

running in WB, but it creates the .cdb file
Comment out the CDWRITE and /EOF
commands or Suppress the snippet when you
come to really solve

Use View > Files from the Project page to

locate the .cdb file

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Manual 1-way Mapping

To write out a .cdb file for
Pressure (stress vector) surface
mapping, create a layer of
SURF154 elements on the
boundary of interest
This example refers to a Named
Selection interface_solid_side
Comment out the CDWRITE and
/EOF commands when really
solving

/PREP7
ET,100,SURF154
CMSEL,S,interface_solid_side
TYPE,100
ESURF
ESEL,S,TYPE,,100
CDWRITE,DB,exported_surface,cdb
ALLSEL
/SOLU
/EOF

Dont suppress the snippet since the

surface elements need to get created
when solving

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Manual 1-way Mapping

To write out a .cdb file for HTC or Heat
Flux surface mapping, use the same
procedure as Pressure but use SURF152
elements
For HTC, associate with the fluid side of
a CHT interface when importing into
CFD-Post
For Heat Flux associate with the solid
side

To write out a .cdb file for Temperature

surface mapping, there's no need to
create surface effect elements since
Temperature will be the DOF and is set
directly
Pick the solid side of a CHT interface
when importing into CFD-Post
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/PREP7
ET,100,SURF152
CMSEL,S,interface_solid_side
TYPE,100
ESURF
ESEL,S,TYPE,,100
CDWRITE,DB,exported_surface,cdb
ALLSEL
/SOLU
/EOF
/PREP7
CMSEL,S,interface_solid_side
NSLE,S,ACTIVE
CDWRITE,DB,exported_surface,cdb
ALLSEL
/SOLU
/EOF

Comment out the CDWRITE and

/EOF commands when solving
Release 14.5

Manual 1-way Mapping

Open CFD-Post with the fluid results of
interest
Load the .cdb file using File > Import >
Import Mechanical CDB Surface
For surface select the associated CFD
boundary
Can only pick one
For volumes disable Specify Associated
Boundary

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Manual 1-way Mapping

After importing the .cdb file a User
Surface object will be created in CFD-Post
For surface mapping you can enable the
visibility and view the mesh using the usual
Render options
For volume mapping enabling the visibility
will not show the Mechanical volume mesh
Instead create a Point Cloud object scoped to
the User Surface with Sampling = Vertex and a
Reduction Factor of 1 to see the node
locations

For Pressure loads, can plot the Stress Vector in CFD-Post by

creating a new Vector Variable and assigning the components as
Force X/Area, Force Y/Area and Force Z/Area
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Manual 1-way Mapping

Export the load file from CFD-Post
using File > Export > Export Mechanical
Load File
For Stress, Heat Flux and HTC the load
file will contain SFE commands to apply loads
via the SURF152/154 elements

For Temperature a surface load file will

contain D commands to set the DOF

A Temperature body load file will

contain BF commands
Must export in Celsius
A structural analysis reads BF loads in Celsius
regardless of the units selection in WB

Can open the exported file in a text editor

and make sure the values look reasonable
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Manual 1-way Mapping

Read the load file into Mechanical
In Workbench can either paste the contents into a Command Snippet
or read in the file while solving using the /input command in a
Command Snippet
!/input,file name,file extension,'C:\file path
! For example:
/input,Pressure,sfe,'C:\Users\username\project

Make sure your solution units are consistent with the values exported
from CFD-Post
In particular, Mechanical is Celsius by default while Fluent is Kelvin

After solving check the Solution Information and .err file to make sure
the /input command was successful. If the file was not read the
solution will still proceed without the load applied

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Manual 1-way Mapping

After solving can visually check the applied load in Mechanical

For an imported Temperature

body load:
Selection Solution
Click Worksheet
Find the Type = BFE, Output
Unit = Temperature entry
Right-click and select Create
User Defined Result
A BFE entry appears under
Solution to show the imported
temperature load
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Manual 1-way Mapping

After solving can visually check the applied load in Mechanical
For an imported surface load,
insert a Command Snippet into
the structural setup as shown
See the doc for /PSF
command options for Heat
Flux, Convection Coefficient
and Pressure
CMSEL points to a Named
Selection
Insert an empty Command Snippet
below Solution; the plot will
appear as an object below this

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! --- set view position

/VIEW,,1,1,-1
! --- reverse video
/RGB,INDEX,100,100,100, 0
/RGB,INDEX, 80, 80, 80,13
/RGB,INDEX, 60, 60, 60,14
/RGB,INDEX, 0, 0, 0,15
! --- turn on pressure load contours
/PSF,PRES,NORM,3,0,1
! --- display to png image
/SHOW,PNG
! --- element display
CMSEL,S,interface_solid_side
ESLN,R,1
EPLOT
ALLSEL

Release 14.5

Exporting csv Files from CFD-Post

CFD-Post can also be used to export data to text files (.csv)

E.g. export CFD nodal pressures for use with External Data
(discussed in the next section)

Since CFD-Post can read Mechanical results, it can also be

used to export displacements for Fluent

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Use in Fluent like any other profile boundary

The EXPROFILE command also exports data from Mechanical results

(discussed in the last section)

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Release 14.5