F0 Ch06 IntroHexaMeshingV12

Chapter 6
Introduction to Hexa
ICEM CFD Introductory Course
ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.
6-1
July 2009 Inventory #002663
What is Blocking?
A hexa mesh is created by first making a blocking
Training Manual
A blocking breaks down a geometry into large brick-shapes and structures the direction of grid lines by the arrangement of the blocks Each block is easily meshed with a pure Cartesian mesh
Some blocks can be defined as swept and be unstructured along one face
Block entities (faces and edges) are projected onto the geometry The blocking is saved to an independent file, and can be loaded onto a different geometry
Mesh with projection Blocking
Geomtery
Mesh without projection
6-2
Approach Top Down and/or Bottom Up

Block structure is created independent of geometry Top down topology creation
The user as sculptor instead of brick layer One-step creation of advanced topologies (O-grid)
O-grid
Training Manual
Bottom up topology creation

Blocking is built up like laying bricks
Create blocks Extrude face Copy topologies
Combinations of top-down and bottom-up methods can be used

6-3
Geometry Requirements for Hexa

Use same geometry (tetin) as used with Tetra
Does not necessarily need to be a completely enclosed volume
Blocking
Training Manual
Associating Face to Surface to a dummy point family or Interpolation can effectively mesh where geometry doesnt exist
Geometry
Points and curves are not required but are very useful
Use Build Diagnostic Topology to quickly build all curves and points
Block structure is projected to geometry

Surfaces automatically Curves and points manually projected
6-4
Nomenclature
Geometry
Point Surface Volume
Separate part(s) for blocks
Curve Edge
Training Manual
Blocking
Vertex Edge Face Block
Vertex
Curve Geometry/Blocking Nomenclature
Point Surfaces Face
Note: curve refers to lines, arcs, and splines

Block
6-5
Blocking process
Structure blocking to capture the shape of the geometry
Top down
split and discard unused blocks
Training Manual
Bottom up
create block by extrusion, creating, copying
Associate blocking to geometry

Usually just edges to curves
Move vertices onto geometry

Manual and automatic methods
Assign mesh sizes

Quickly by setting sizes on surfaces and/or curves Fine tune by setting edge distributions
View mesh and check/improve quality Write out mesh

6-6
Initialize Blocking-3D or 2D
New Blocking
3D Bounding Box
One 3D volume block encompassing selected entities
Training Manual
2D Planar
One 2D block on constant XY plane around entire 2D geometry
No surfaces required
2D Surface Blocking
Discussed next slide
6-7
Initialize Blocking-2D Surface

2D Surface Blocking
Each surface becomes one 2D block Free blocks fully unstructured Most robust Mapped structured
Training Manual
Aligned mesh along 4 block boundaries edges
Geometry
2D blocking Unstructured
Must Build Topology first Can always convert blocks between free and mapped afterward: Edit Block > Convert Block Type Try BOAT (Shell Meshing) tutorial
6-8
Structuring Blocking to Fit Geometry

Top down approach
Start with one block which encloses the entire geometry Split the block to capture the underlying shape
Training Manual
Delete unused blocks
Note: Deleted blocks are put into the part VORFN by default, so they can be re-used later if wanted
6-9
Associate Blocking to Geometry
Training Manual
Associate blocking to geometry

Usually just Edges to Curves In the final mesh, edges will take the shape (be projected to) these curves Right click on Edges > Show Association in the model tree to display the association arrows
6-10
Move Vertices onto geometry

Move vertices to better represent the shape
All visible vertices can be projected to the geometry at once Can be moved individually along the geometry Single or multiple at a time Along fixed plane or line/vector
Training Manual
6-11
Moving Vertices of Different Association

Color indicates type of association and how a vertex will move (edges also follow these colors, except red) Red Constrained to a point Cant be moved unless association is changed Green Constrained to a curve Vertex slides along that particular curve White (black on light background)
Training Manual
Constrained to surfaces
Vertex will slide along any ACTIVE surface (surface parts which are turned on in the model tree) If not on a surface, it will jump to the NEAREST ACTIVE surface when moved Blue Free (usually internal) vertex Select near the vertex on the edge to move along edge direction
6-12
Workshop 1
2D Pipe Junction
Watch the instructor
Training Manual
6-13
Assign Mesh Size

Assign mesh sizes Hexa sizes can be assigned on surfaces and curves for a quick mesh Or set edge-by-edge for fine tuning
Automatic Copy to parallel edges
Training Manual
6-14
View Mesh
Pre-Mesh
Create mesh at any stage of the process Mesh with different projection methods Use Project faces (default) to fully represent the geometry
Training Manual
View only certain surface mesh by turning on only that Part in the model tree
Use Scan planes to view internal mesh (covered later)
No project ion
Face project ion
6-15
Checking Quality
Using the Quality Histogram
Determinant
Training Manual
Measurement of element deformation

Most solvers accept > 0.1 Shoot for > 0.2
Angle
Element minimum internal angles Shoot for >18 degrees Aspect ratio
Volume
Warpage
Shoot for < 45 degrees
Many more metrics You can display elements in a given range by selecting the histogram bar
6-16
Write Mesh
Convert pre-mesh to a permanent mesh
Two formats depending on what your solver takes
Unstructured: Cells defined by node numbers (connectivity) Structured: Multiblock cells defined by i, j, k index
Training Manual
Blocking changes will no longer affect this mesh
Using the File>Blocking>Save menu only writes the mesh to disk
Pre-Mesh>Convert to a mesh from the model tree saves and immediately loads the mesh
6-17
Workshop 2
3D Pipe Junction
Finish The Cartesian block
Training Manual
6-18
O-Grid Definition
Training Manual
An O-grid is a series of blocks created in one step which arranges grid lines into an O shape or a wrapping nature
3 basic types created through the same operation all referred to as O-grids O-grid C-grid (half O-grid) L-grid (quarter O-grid) Reduce skew where a block corner must lie on a continuous curve/surface
O-grid C-grid
L-grid
Cylinders
Complex geometries Improves efficiency of node clustering near walls for CFD applications
No O-grid
O-grid
6-19
Creating O-Grid
Select blocks for O-grid
Training Manual
Can select by visible, all, part, around face, around edge, around vertex, 2 corner method, or individual selection
5 blocks in 2D
7 blocks in 3D
Select specific blocks or around face, edge, or vertex

Note: Internal block has all internal (blue) edges and vertices
6-20
O-Grid-Adding Faces
Adding faces during O-grid creation
Training Manual
O-grid passes through the selected block faces

In general, add faces on the flat parts Adding a face actually adds blocks on both sides of the face
O-grid passes through this face Half Ogrid (Cgrid)
Examples of uses Pipe ends Symmetry planes Complex geometries

O-grid passes through this face

6-21
Adding Multiple Faces

Any number of faces can be added around a selected block
If all the faces are added around a block, the result is no change since the O-grid passes through all the faces
Training Manual
Quarter Ogrid (L-grid) Quarter Ogrids can be used to block triangular shapes Seen as a Cgrid in one direction and an L-grid in another direction
6-22
O-Grid-Around Blocks
Training Manual
Select Around block(s) to create the O-grid around the selected blocks
Useful for creating wrap-around grid around a solid object Examples
Opposite order of creation from block around/O-grid inside Flow over a cylinder Boundary layer resolution around an airplane or car body
6-23
Scaling O-Grid
Training Manual
O-grids can be re-sized after or during creation

By default the O-grid size is set to minimize block distortion
You are actually scaling all parallel O-grid (radial) edges to the selected edge The selected edge is given a factor of 1 Numbers < 1 will shrink the edge and thus create a larger inner block Factor = 0.3
Selected edge factor = 1
6-24
Why O-Grid?
Training Manual
Before O-grid
This mesh can be improved by using an O-grid An example of bad mesh in the block corners
Right mouse click on the histogram to access options like show, replot, or done
6-25
Workshop 3
3D Pipe Junction
Import existing block Create an Ogrid
Training Manual
6-26
Index Scheme
All blocks and vertices are defined with a global index scheme
Training Manual
Initial block has i,j,k indices aligned with Cartesian x,y,z, global coordinates Subsequent blocks created by the split operation will maintain that orientation O-grids will not conform to this orientation, so each O-grid creates a new index direction (O3, O4, etc) (i,j,k correspond to dimension 0,1,2) Vertex Indices can be displayed by right clicking on Vertices > Indices in the model tree
i=1 j=2 grid3=1 k=4 O-
1 2 4 3:1
6-27
Using Index Control

Blocks can be turned off and on based on indices
Use the index control to turn blocks off and on Many operations can be applied to only the visible blocks
Split blocks Extend split Rescale O-grid
Training Manual
Select corners is often faster than toggling the index arrows
Resets everything to fully visible
6-28
VORFN Part
A region of blocks called VORFN surrounds the blocking
Training Manual
The reserved part name VORFN is created in the model tree when blocking is initialized It is used to maintain the global index scheme Indices begin at 0 (in VORFN region) Deleting blocks normally just changes the part to VORFN
Blocks can be moved back out of VORFN to another part
Deleting blocks permanently gets rid of the block and rebuilds VORFN as an O-grid
Selected blocks are actually removed and VORFN is rebuilt
Turn on to see VORFN

6-29
Removing Splits and O-Grids
Training Manual
Splits and O-grids can be deleted by using Merge vertices > propagate Select two vertices at the ends of an edge running in the direction you want to delete Middle click, then Confirm The second vertex merges to the first vertex when Merge to average is off, and the merge will be propagated If deleting an O-grid, only select the vertices of one radial edge
Deleting a split
Deleting an O-grid
1 2 2 1
6-30
Extrude Face
Training Manual
Select block face (select face or use two corner method) Interactive
Drag with the pointer
Extrude a Fixed distance

Enter distance
2 corner method
Extrude along curve

Select curve
Extrude along curve Select face
6-31
2 Ways of Blocking the Same Geometry

Creating a fork by Merge vertices
Training Manual
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
6-32
2 Ways of Blocking the Same Geometry

Creating a fork by Extrude faces
Training Manual
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Extrude 1
Extrude 2 6-33
Associate
Topology
What is common in these?
Training Manual
Their block topology
6-34
Topology
All these parts have same topology
Blocking strategy for all pipes are similar. Single block with ogrid One difference is of number of split in initialized block to capture the geometry.
Training Manual
splits
Single block with ogrid

Single block with 5 splits and ogrid

6-35
Single block with multiple splits and ogrid

Topology
Helical pipe
This geometry has same topology. Select Block > Extrude Face(s) Instead of splitting single block it is easy to create blocks by Extrude Along Curve. Create single block at one end of geometry Select face and middle click Select mid curve Select End Point on curve Set number of layers Click Apply
Training Manual
#1
#2
#3 #4 #5 #6
#7
Single block with multiple splits and ogrid

6-36
Workshop 4
Elbow Geometry
Import existing block Create an Ogrid
Training Manual
6-37

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Chapter 6

ICEM CFD Introductory Course

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Mesh without projection

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Approach Top Down and/or Bottom Up

Bottom up topology creation

Combinations of top-down and bottom-up methods can be used

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Geometry Requirements for Hexa

Block structure is projected to geometry

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Curve Geometry/Blocking Nomenclature

Point Surfaces Face

Note: curve refers to lines, arcs, and splines

Associate blocking to geometry

Move vertices onto geometry

Assign mesh sizes

View mesh and check/improve quality Write out mesh

July 2009 Inventory #002663

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Initialize Blocking-2D Surface

Aligned mesh along 4 block boundaries edges

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Structuring Blocking to Fit Geometry

Delete unused blocks

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Associate Blocking to Geometry

Associate blocking to geometry

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Move Vertices onto geometry

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Moving Vertices of Different Association

July 2009 Inventory #002663

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Assign Mesh Size

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Face project ion

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Measurement of element deformation

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Blocking changes will no longer affect this mesh

Using the File>Blocking>Save menu only writes the mesh to disk

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2009 Inventory #002663

Select specific blocks or around face, edge, or vertex

O-grid passes through the selected block faces

Examples of uses Pipe ends Symmetry planes Complex geometries

O-grid passes through this face

Adding Multiple Faces

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.